Scott Turner, PhD
Molecular Diagnostics
Assistant Professor of Pathology;
Assistant Director of Molecular Diagnostics
Department: Pathology
Phone: (804) 828-9564
Fax: (804) 827-4738
Email: Scott.Turner@vcuhealth.org
Scott Turner, PhD, FACMG joined the VCU Department of Pathology in August 2018, serving as the Assistant Director of Molecular Diagnostics and Associate Director of the Laboratory Genetics and Genomics (LGG) fellowship program. He received his PhD in Genetics from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship in Molecular Pathology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and an American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG) fellowship at Vanderbilt University. He is a board certified Clinical Molecular Geneticist and Fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG)
Dr. Turner is an active member of the Association of Molecular Pathology (AMP) and the ACMG. He serves on the Variant Interpretation Testing Across Laboratories (VITAL) and the Interpretation of Somatic Variants (ISV) working groups. This work is designed to improve inter-laboratory reporting and developing standards and guidelines for reporting of somatic variants in solid and hematologic malignancies.
Dr. Turner’s primary research interests include incorporation of next generation sequencing technologies into the clinical laboratory through assay development and validation for both germline and somatic variant detection. In addition, his work in the area of genetic variant reclassification has elucidated the clinical impact of changing laboratory classifications on patients with hereditary cancer syndromes. He continues to be interested in exploring the mechanisms by which these reclassifications occur to improve upon current laboratory/community variant management and ultimately patient care.
Clinical Specialties: Molecular Diagnostics, Clinical Molecular Genetics
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Dr. Scott Turner abbreviated CV
Education
2002 B.Sc. Biology, Bates College, Lewiston, ME
2014 Ph.D. Genetics, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
2016 Clinical Genomics and Advance Technologies Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH
2018 ABMGG Clinical Molecular Genetics Fellowship, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
Licenses & Certifications
American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG), Clinical Molecular Genetics; certified 2019
Professional Service (outside)
Association of Molecular Pathology (AMP): Clinical Practice Committee Working Group, Somatic Variant Interpretation Across Clinical Laboratories (ISV)
Association of Molecular Pathology (AMP): Clinical Practice Committee Working Group, Somatic Interpretation of Sequence Variant (ISV) guideline update
Association of Molecular Pathology (AMP)/American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) Working Group, Update to Technical standards for the interpretation and reporting of acquired CNAs and CN-LOS in neoplastic disorders
Visiting Professor, NIH/NIGRI, GENE 527 Molecular Genetics in the Era of Cancer Genomics.
Recent Invited Presentations
3-2024: “Low rate of clinical follow-up for potential germline variants identified in hematologic malignancies with a next generation sequencing panel” H Wollenzien, T Olson, K Rafferty, SA Turner, A Ferreira-Gonzalez, E Barrie, American College of Medical Genetics Annual Conference, Toronto, ON
4-2023: “Molecular Profiling in Hematologic Malignancies, National Institutes of Health, Invited Presentation for Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics in the Era of Cancer Genomics Lecture Series. Washington, DC
04-2023: “Molecular Profiling in Solid Tumors”, National Institutes of Health, Invited Presentation for Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics in the Era of Cancer Genomics Lecture Series. Washington, DC
11-2023: “NGS Library Quantification Standardization to Optimize Comprehensive Molecular Profiling in Hematologic Malignancy” F Sabato, E Barrie, A Ferreira-Gonzalez, SA Turner Association of Molecular Pathology Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, UT.
11-2023: “Performance Evaluation of a Novel Multi-variant CFTR DNA Control” F Sabato, J Lynch, A Ferreira-Gonzalez, SA Turner, Association of Molecular Pathology Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, UT.
11-2023: “Validation of BRAF Idylla Mutation Assay for the Detection of V600E/D and V600K/R/M Mutations in Patients with Advanced Melanoma”. J Collie, A Martelli, F. Sabato, R Abou Shaar, J Lynch, E Barrie, SA Turner, A Ferreira-Gonzalez. Association of Molecular Pathology Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, UT.
5-2023: “Application of Molecular Techniques in the Clinical Laboratory: An Immersive Educational Experience for Clinical Learners” SA Turner, G Goa, C Jackson-Cook, E Barrie, A Ferreira-Gonzalez. Association of Professors of Human and Medical Genetics Annual Conference, Kiawah Island, SC.
11-2022: “Profile in Building of Patients with Hematological Cancers Using Machine Learning” V Williamson, B Bullard, T Olson, F Sabato, E Barrie, SA Turner, A Ferreira-Gonzalez Association of Molecular Pathology Annual Conference, Phoenix, AZ.
06-2015: “Clinical validation and implementation of a targeted sequencing panel for predisposition to inherited cancer,” Cancer Genomics Consortium/Cytogenomic/Array Group Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.
11-2014: “Using Chromosomal Microarray Analysis to Diagnose a Rare 17p13.3 Microdeletion,” Molecular Pathology Annual Meeting, Washington, DC
Selected Publications
Peer Reviewed Papers
Zobril EK, Grible JM, Boyd DC, Hairr NS, Leftwich TJ, Esquivel MF, Duong AK, Turner SA, Ferreira-Gonzalez A, Olex AL, Sartorius CA, Dozmorov MG, Harrell JC. Stratification of Tamoxifen Synergistic Combinations for the Treatment of ER+ Breast Cancer. Cancers 2023 Jun 14;15(12):3179 (PMID 37370789)
Boyd DC, Zobril EK, Olex AL, Leftwich TJ, Hairr NS, Byers HA, Valentine AD, Altman JE, Alzubi MA, Grible JM, Turner SA, Ferreira-Gonzalez A, Dozmorov MG, Harrell JC. Discovering Synergistic Compounds with BYL-719 in PI3K Overactivated Basal-like PDXs. Cancers 2023 Mar 3;15(5):1582 (PMID 36900375)
Li MM, Cottrell CE, Pullambhatla M, Roy S, Temple-Smolkin RL, Turner SA, Wang K, Zhou Y, Vnencak-Jones CL. Assessment of Somatic Variant Classification Using the Association for Molecular Pathology/American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologist Guidelines: A Report from the Association of Molecular Pathology. Journal of Molecular Diagnostics 2023 Feb;25(2):69-86. (PMID 36503149)
Turner SA, Abou Shaar R, Yang Z. The basics of commonly used molecular techniques for diagnosis, and applications of molecular testing in cytopathology. Diagnostic Cytopathology 2023 Jan; 51(1):83-94 (PMID 36345929)
Rafferty KA, Barrie ES, Turner SA, Ferreira-Gonzalez A, Jackson-Cook C, Paulraj P, Severe Graft-Versus-Host Disease Following Solid-Organ Transplant Confirmed by Chimerism Studies and Cytogenetic Analysis, Exp Clin Transplant 2022 Mar 15 (PMID 35297330)
Finlay-Schultz, J., Jacobsen, B.M., Riley, D., Turner, S.A. et al. New generation breast cancer cell lines developed from patient-derived xenografts. Breast Cancer Res 22, 68 (2020). (PMID 32576280)
Reichert, SC, Li, R, A. Turner, S, et al. HNRNPH1‐related syndromic intellectual disability: Seven additional cases suggestive of a distinct syndromic neurodevelopmental syndrome. Clin Genet. 2020; 98: 91– 98. (PMID 32335897)
Yang, C, Austin F, Richar H, Idowu M, Williamson V, Sabato F, Ferreira-Gonzalez A, Turner SA. Lynch syndrome-associated ultra-hypermutated pediatric glioblastoma mimicking a constitutional mismatch repair deficiency syndrome, Cold Spring Harbour Molecular Case Study, 2019 Oct 23;5(5) (PMID 31604779)
Scott A. Turner, Smita Rao, Cindy Vnencak-Jones, Georgia Wiesner. The Impact of Variant Reclassification on Management of Hereditary Cancer Syndromes, Genet Med. 2018 Jun 6. doi: 10.1038/s41436-018-0063-z. (PMID: 29875428)
Book Chapters and Monographs
Turner SA, Muthusamy S. Minimal (Measurable) Residual Disease in Solid Tumors, Advances in Molecular Pathology, 6 ed Academic Press Elsevier (2023)
Media
Turner SA “Changing Interpretations of Sequencing Results – Clinical Impact in the Realm of Hereditary Cancers Genetics In Medicine GenePod Podcast Audio, Nature Publishing Group, August 2018 https://www.nature.com/collections/bafjcicdai/2018-archive
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