Humans of LMP: Daniel Schlam

Each month we speak to a member of the Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology community and find out more about them as part of an initiative from our Wellness, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Committee (WIDE).

This month, we feature Dr. Daniel Schlam, Diagnostic and Molecular Pathology resident.

What are you studying at LMP and why are you interested in studying it?

I am about to complete my residency training in Diagnostic and Molecular Pathology.

This is a massive field of study, lying both as a foundation of clinical medicine and broadly interfacing with the basic sciences. The fundamental nature of the questions answered by pathology is what attracts me the most to this field, as it resonates deeply with the way I think; I like to start from fundamental concepts, and build from there.

Pathologists are endowed with the privilege of having access to information at multiple levels of emergence, spanning molecular, immunophenotypic, histological, gross morphologic and clinical dimensions. We get to integrate findings all the way from complete autopsies to microscopic findings to single nucleotide changes and even methylation profiles.  

Tell us about any research you're currently working on

I completed my PhD at the Hospital for Sick Children / University of Toronto working with Dr. Sergio Grinstein, one of the most astonishingly brilliant human beings I will ever meet. I focused on the role of lipid-based signaling in the orchestration of actin remodelling in phagocytes, both in health and disease. My projects were all anchored on diseases in which phagocytes play a prominent role and more commonly first manifest in childhood, including chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) and cystic fibrosis.

Presently, this research has come full circle for me, bridging basic science and clinical practice. While rotating at the Hospital for Sick Children in pediatric pathology, I had the honour of working with Dr. Iram Siddiqui in a project analyzing the clinical and histological diversity of CGD in a pediatric cohort. This work helps distinguish CGD from more common conditions like Crohn’s disease, and identifies key features in liver and gastrointestinal biopsies that improve the diagnostic accuracy of these rare primary immunodeficiencies. 

What is the most interesting thing you’ve done, seen or got involved with while at LMP?

I always find it fascinating when experienced pathologists can take one careful look at a tumour down the microscope and be able to tell what the genetic alterations are, purely based in morphology. This takes a lot of skill and knowledge, as well as being able to rationalize how specific molecular changes would lead to corresponding morphological alterations.  

What was the best career advice you ever received?

The best carrier advice I ever receives was based on action – not words. It came from Dr. Grinstein, my PhD supervisor. He was so genuinely interested in what he did (uncovering the inner workings of the cell), that he naturally became really good at being a researcher. And when you couple his incredible discipline and work ethic, you get something unstoppable. So, I try and emulate that; choosing to pursue what I am genuinely passionate about, not what is simply convenient. And after staying on that path for long enough, great things start happening. Perseverance and discipline are required friends here. 

What has been an important learning experience in your life?  

One of the most important things I have ever learned is the power of interpretation, and how subjective our existence is. If you spend a few quiet moments and think about it, all of the events that make up our lives must first appear in consciousness. How we then interpret them determines their valence; in a sense, there is no reality – only interpretation. Realizing this opens a very powerful avenue, to train and hone our minds so that we can have serenity. I have recently started mindfulness meditation for this purpose, and its benefits are hard to exaggerate.  

Who is an influential person in your life and why? 

The most influential person in my life has four legs, soft fur and a waggly tail. I’ve been with her since she was only 2 months old, and she has profoundly changed my life. Her name is Pennie, and she is a super wise soul, who only knows love, loyalty, play and being in the moment. There is an infinite number of things to learn from Pennie – as long as you are paying attention.

What activities do you enjoy doing outside of work? 

I really enjoy going for walks at night while listening to music. Hiking while sipping on green tea always makes me feel better. And I really like movies and video games. 

What is your favourite album, film and novel? 

These are impossible questions. That being said, “Give Up” by The Postal Service is a phenomenal album; just one hit after another with incredible lyrics. For films, I have a special place in my heart for “Princess Mononoke”. And for novels, I’ll have to go with The Picture of Dorian Gray, by brilliant poet Oscar Wilde. 

Who would be your dream dinner guests? 

Oscar Wilde would also have to make an appearance here. He would be so witty and funny and the life of the party. 

Where or what is your favourite place?

I recently travelled to this small, completely unexplored beach in Mexico close to the port town of Puerto Escondido (literally “Hidden Port”) in Mexico. I am originally from Mexico City, and my family and I rented a small house in the beach for a week’s vacation. From there, we took a short (~20-minute) boat in moonless night to a river delta – where the river met the Pacific Ocean. What we saw next was out of an Avatar movie: bioluminescent plankton shimmering and glittering in hues of blue and green, with luminescence triggered by movement. We jumped for a night swim in the warm Mexican waters, with magic bioluminescent particles all around us. Definitely a favourite place.

Find out more about Laboratory Medicine for MD students

Residency training programs in LMP