Dr. Kopciuk’s research interests focus on the early detection of cancer; genetic and molecular biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and outcomes; identification of families harbouring cancer-causing genes and estimating their lifetime cancer risks; and cancer screening participation and outcomes in Indigenous populations.

Research Interests

Dr. Kopciuk’s current research projects involve these research themes:

  • Early Detection: Identifying personal and health care factors associated with cancer stage at diagnosis using the AB Tomorrow Project data; Developing statistical methods for feature selection of important variables for ordinal response data; Metabolomics screening test for colon cancer; Identifying optimal post-treatment pathways for women with an abnormal PAP test.
  • Biomarkers: metabolomic signatures for staging colorectal cancer; identifying genomic regions associated with overall and breast-cancer specific deaths using a robust feature selection method; prognostic biomarkers for breast cancer metastases to bone.
  • High Risk Families: Characterizing age-at-onset cancer risks for Lynch Syndrome families; Identification of genetic risk models in the presence of major and polygenes.
  • Cancer Screening: Identifying inequities in uptake, outcomes, efficient and timely care for Indigenous people in Alberta.

Current Appointments

Research Scientist
Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Research
Alberta Health Services
Cancer Care Alberta
Calgary, Alberta

Adjunct Professor
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Faculty of Science and Departments of Oncology and Community Health Sciences
Cumming School of Medicine
University of Calgary
Calgary, Alberta

Education and Training

  • 2003    PDF, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario
  • 2001     Ph.D., Statistics, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario
  • 2001     Certificate, University Teaching, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario
  • 1995     M. Math, Statistics, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario
  • 1994     B.Sc., Statistics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
  • 1992     B.Sc., Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
Publications in PubMed
Current Research Studies