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Joshua Dubland
PhD, MSc

Investigator, BC Children's Hospital
Scientist, Newborn Screening and Biochemical Genetics Laboratories, BC Children's Hospital

Advances in mass spectrometry are the primary driving force behind the increasing number of inborn-errors of metabolism screened population-wide. The Newborn Screening laboratory at BC Children’s Hospital utilizes mass spectrometry for screening 45,000 newborns annually for a panel of 24 treatable disorders. Initial screening involves the analysis of dried blood spot cards by flow injection mass spectrometry. For a subset of conditions, abnormal screens are followed up with a second tier analysis using liquid chromatographic separations followed by mass spectrometry to increase analytical specificity and confirmation of diagnosis. My current research focuses on the development of novel mass spectrometry based assays for clinical diagnosis of inborn errors of metabolism.

Additional research interests include applications of mass spectrometry and other next generation analytical technologies for biomarker and drug target discovery. Investigation of inherited lipid metabolism disorders, lysosomal storage disorders, and environmental stress factors associated with lifetime cardiovascular disease risk are of particular interest.

Academic Affiliations

  • Clinical Assistant Professor, , Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia
  • Research Theme: Childhood Diseases
  • Research Group(s): Rare Diseases

Contact Information

Location

4500 Oak Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6H 3N1

(604) 875-2345 ext. 7449

joshua.dubland@cw.bc.ca

Inhibition of xanthine oxidoreductase with febuxostat, but not allopurinol, prevents inflammasome assembly and IL-1 release

Life Science Alliance

Lauar de Brito Monteiro and Anne-Sophie Archambault and Lucas F Starchuk and Armando Alcazar and Ju Hee Oh and Joshua A Dubland and Bojana Rakic and Annette E Patterson and C Bruce Verchere and Ramon I Klein Geltink

DOI: 10.26508/lsa.202403191

08 / 2025

Editorial commentary: Role of inflammatory cytokines in genesis and treatment of atherosclerosis. Looking at foam cells through a different lens

Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine

Joshua A. Dubland

DOI: 10.1016/j.tcm.2021.02.008

04 / 2022

Lipid analysis by ion mobility spectrometry combined with mass spectrometry: A brief update with a perspective on applications in the clinical laboratory

Journal of Mass Spectrometry and Advances in the Clinical Lab

Joshua A. Dubland

DOI: 10.1016/j.jmsacl.2021.12.005

01 / 2022

Interference of ketone bodies on laboratory creatinine measurement in children with DKA: a call for change in testing practices.

Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany)

DOI: 10.1007/s00467-021-05324-0 PubMed: 34757480

11 / 2021

Low LAL (Lysosomal Acid Lipase) Expression by Smooth Muscle Cells Relative to Macrophages as a Mechanism for Arterial Foam Cell Formation

Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology

Joshua A. Dubland and Sima Allahverdian and Katrina J. Besler and Carleena Ortega and Ying Wang and Collin S. Pryma and Kamel Boukais and Teddy Chan and Michael A. Seidman and Gordon A. Francis

DOI: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.120.316063

06 / 2021

Analysis of 2-methylcitric acid, methylmalonic acid, and total homocysteine in dried blood spots by LC-MS/MS for application in the newborn screening laboratory: A dual derivatization approach.

Journal of mass spectrometry and advances in the clinical lab

DOI: 10.1016/j.jmsacl.2021.03.001 PubMed: 34820666

03 / 2021

Smooth Muscle Cells Contribute the Majority of Foam Cells in ApoE (Apolipoprotein E)-Deficient Mouse Atherosclerosis.

Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology

DOI: 10.1161/atvbaha.119.312434 PubMed: 30786740

05 / 2019

Pathways of smooth muscle foam cell formation in atherosclerosis.

Current opinion in lipidology

DOI: 10.1097/mol.0000000000000574 PubMed: 30664015

04 / 2019

LAL (Lysosomal Acid Lipase) Promotes Reverse Cholesterol Transport In Vitro and In Vivo.

Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology

DOI: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.117.310507 PubMed: 29599133

03 / 2018

Randomized Controlled Trial for the Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on Vascular Stiffness in CKD.

Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN

DOI: 10.2215/CJN.10791016 PubMed: 28550081

05 / 2017

Lamivudine, Entecavir, or Tenofovir Treatment of Hepatitis B Infection: Effects on Calcium, Phosphate, FGF23 and Indicators of Bone Metabolism.

Annals of hepatology

DOI: 10.5604/16652681.1231577 PubMed: 28233741

03 / 2017

So Much Cholesterol: the unrecognized importance of smooth muscle cells in atherosclerotic foam cell formation.

Current opinion in lipidology

DOI: 10.1097/mol.0000000000000279 PubMed: 26836481

04 / 2016

Lysosomal acid lipase: at the crossroads of normal and atherogenic cholesterol metabolism.

Frontiers in cell and developmental biology

DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2015.00003 PubMed: 25699256

02 / 2015

Determination of serum aldosterone by liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry: a liquid"liquid extraction method for the ABSCIEX API-5000 mass spectrometry system

Journal of Clinical Pathology

DOI: 10.1136/jclinpath-2011-200564

05 / 2012

Carbon"carbon bond-forming reactions of a-carbonyl carbocations: exploration of a reversed-polarity equivalent of enolate chemistry

Tetrahedron

DOI: 10.1016/j.tet.2011.07.065

09 / 2011

Serum-protein interactions with anticancer Ru(III) complexes KP1019 and KP418 characterized by EPR.

Journal of biological inorganic chemistry : JBIC : a publication of the Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry

DOI: 10.1007/s00775-009-0578-5 PubMed: 19707803

08 / 2009

Grants

BCCHR Clinical Research Support Development Award; Next generation urine metabolic profiling for the diagnosis and monitoring of Inborn Errors of Metabolism, $25,000; Principal Investigator

Bojana Rakic; Co-Investigators

Joshua Dubland, Ramona Salvarinova-Zivkovic, Graham Sinclair

Honours & Awards

2019 Young investigator educational grant from Mass Spectrometry

Applications to the Clinical Lab

2018 Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, & Vascular Biology travel award for young investigators

2018 CIHR travel award - Institute Community Support in partnership with Institute of Circulatory & Respiratory Health

2017 Canadian Lipoprotein Conference graduate student presentation award

2017 Canadian Society for Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis & Vascular Biology travel award

2016 Canadian Lipoprotein Conference graduate student presentation award

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