Jaclyn Prystupa powers precision automation at GIFS at USask

Jaclyn Prystupa is an Automation Specialist at the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask).

It’s a dynamic role in which she leads the development, optimization, and troubleshooting of automated workflows and laboratory equipment within GIFS’ Omics and Precision Analytics Laboratory (OPAL).

Put more simply, she works with robots to expand the capabilities and throughput of GIFS’ genomics offerings.

Every day, she programs, operates, and maintains a growing number of automated liquid handlers, each one capable of executing complex laboratory tasks with speed and precision.

This work is central to OPAL — a PacBio Certified Service Provider and one of Canada’s largest sequencing and genotyping facilities. There, Prystupa combines genomics and computer science to accomplish big things in small timeframes.

How big is big? Think thousands of plant, animal, and microbial samples. By leveraging automation, these samples are efficiently prepared, processed, and sequenced to generate massive genomic datasets that help GIFS’ partners and customers accelerate research and product development.