IAB Member - Biographies (September 2008 - August 2009)
Dr. Luis Barreto, MBBS, MD, MHSc
Vice President, Public Affairs, sanofi pasteur Ltd.
Dr. Luis Barreto is Vice President, Public Affairs for sanofi pasteur Limited. He was born and educated in India where he completed his medical degree, and post-graduate degree in community medicine in 1975. After completing his master's degree in health sciences, with a concentration in epidemiology, at the University of Toronto in 1982, he worked as an epidemiologist for the government of the Northwest Territories. At sanofi pasteur, he has held a number of positions including Director Medical and Clinical Affairs, Vice- President Medical, Clinical & Regulatory Affairs, and Director Corporate Public Policy-International Public Health Affairs.
Dr. Barreto has been involved with clinical trials in Canada, the United States and internationally on a variety of health problems: measles, BCG-IT, smallpox, haemophilus type b, polio, acellular pertussis, as well as various combination vaccines, including the acellular pertussis combination Pentavalent vaccine for children (PentacelTM and PediacelTM) and Adolescent and Adult Pertussis and Polio vaccines (AdacelTM ) and (RepevaxTM).
Published extensively in scientific journals, Dr. Barreto has managed biosecurity issues for sanofi pasteur in Canada and helped organize the Canadian Conference on Counter-Terrorism and Public Health. He recently coordinated the production and delivery of smallpox vaccine for the Canadian government. He is part of the sanofi pasteur Pandemic Influenza Vaccine Task Force, and has represented sanofi pasteur in international organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), Children's Vaccine Program (CVP) and the World Bank. Dr. Barreto was part of the Canadian SARS Consortium and is also a member of BIOTECanada's Health Policy and Government Relations Committee.
Contact Information:
sanofi pasteur
Connaught Campus
1755 Steeles Ave. West
Toronto ON M2R 3T4
Email: Luis.Barreto@sanofipasteur.com
Robert C. Clarke, DVM, PhD
Deputy Chief Public Health Officer
Public Health Agency of Canada
Dr. Robert C. Clarke is Deputy Chief Public Health Officer at the Public Health Agency of Canada where he is responsible for the Infectious Disease and Emergency Preparedness Branch.
Dr. Clarke obtained both his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree (1976) and a PhD in Veterinary Microbiology (1985) at the University of Guelph, after completing a BSc in Biology at Carleton University in 1972.
His areas of expertise are the planning and delivery of broad based public health and science programs targeted at food and water safety and zoonotic diseases, the management of large laboratory systems, the accreditation of laboratories to ISO standards, large-scale research and development projects involving government, industry and university partners, the training of scientific and regulatory personnel, as well as international disease control.
Dr. Clarke has held senior executive and research positions at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada, and Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. He recently completed a three year assignment as Visiting Professor of Epidemiology and Community medicine in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa and was also Executive Director of the McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment at the Institute of Population Health. In 2004 he conducted a review The Meat Regulatory and Inspection Regimes in Ontario for the Ontario Provincial Laboratories and provided extensive input into the development of the newly created Canadian Food Inspection Agency and its scientific capacity. Prior to his career in the government, Dr. Clarke was a private practitioner of veterinary medicine in British Columbia.
Peter Ernst, PhD
Professor of Medicine
University of Virginia
Dr. Peter Ernst is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. His research interest is in gastrointestinal inflammation with specific interests in lymphoepithelial cell interactions in H. pylori infection and inflammatory bowel disease. The ultimate goal of understanding the pathogenesis of these diseases is to enhance the design of immunotherapies for the treatment or prevention of chronic gastrointestinal inflammation.
Currently, Dr. Ernst is pursuing two main projects. The goal of the first is to understand the role of Th1 cells in the pathogenesis of gastroduodenal disease in humans infected with H. pylori. These studies entail a characterization of the T cell response in gastric mucosa. Dr. Ernst has shown that Th1 responses dominate in the normal and infected stomach, largely in association with the local production of IL-12 and IL-18. These Th1 cell release mediators that promote inflammation, for example but stimulating the production of neutrophil chemokines by the epithelial cells. In addition, activated Th1 cells can target the epithelium by inducing apoptosis and epithelial cell death. This is done directly by cytolytic cytokines produced by both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells as well as the effects of these cytokines on epithelial cell expression of Fas. The latter results in an increase in Fas-mediated killing by adjacent T cells expressing Fas ligand. A novel aspect of this work is the role of reactive oxygen species in selecting for Th1 cells. Studies are being carried out to examine the impact that oxidative stress has on Th cell differentiation and function.
In the second project, Dr. Ernst is using mouse models of chronic colitis to study lymphoepithelial cell interactions. Similar to the events in the stomach, Th1 cells predominate in several models of colitis and lead to epithelial cell death. This occurs directly, via Fas/Fas ligand interactions as well as indirectly, by oxidative stress that is induced by activated T cells.
Some of the pathogenic events in both models are prevented by anti-inflammatory cytokines including IL-10. Regulatory T cells in the gut appear to produce high levels of IL-10 and may be important in preventing autoimmune diseases including colitis. Thus, other studies involve the characterization of regulatory T cells in the gut and their induction by luminal antigen.
Dr. Ernst is also a member of the Beirne B. Carter Center for Immunology Research and the Cancer Center and has active collaborations with scientists in these groups.
Contact Information:
University of Virginia
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Box 800708
Charlottesville, Virginia 229080708
Email: pernst@virginia.edu
Michael Grant, PhD
Professor, Department of Immunology
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Dr. Grant was born and raised in Langley, British Columbia (B.C.), graduated from the University of B.C. with a BSc in biochemistry, then worked as a research technician in the UBC Faculty of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology. He later completed an MSc in Microbiology at UBC and a PhD in Molecular Virology and Immunology at McMaster University. His postdoctoral work was with the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at UBC and with Immune Network Research Limited, a Vancouver based biotechnology company. He was appointed assistant professor of Immunology in the Division of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland and was recently promoted to full professor.
Throughout his career, he has studied the immunology of chronic viral infections, especially human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. He has been successful in earning personnel awards and research operating funds throughout his career. His perspective on research has been broadened by election to the Council of the Canadian Association of HIV Research, which represents all streams of HIV research, and by membership on the Ministerial Council for HIV and AIDS, which advises the Federal Minister of Health on all aspects of the federal initiative addressing HIV. These memberships, combined with his experience as a researcher, scientific reviewer, exposure to the biotechnology industry and residency on and between Canada's two coastlines, will allow him to make a valuable contribution to the Institute Advisory Board.
Contact information:
Faculty of Medicine
Memorial University
300 Prince Philip Drive
St. John's, NL, Canada A1B 3V6
Email: mgrant@mun.ca
Josée Guimond, PhD
Director, Research Programs and Partnerships
Canadian Diabetes Association
Dr. Guimond obtained her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Guelph (Advisor: Dr. Anne Croy) in 1997. She studied the immunobiology of natural killer lymphocytes in the pregnant mouse uterus as a model for female infertility. Subsequently, she did post-doctoral work with Dr. P.K. Lala at The University of Western Ontario, where she studied control mechanisms of tumour progression, at the cellular level, using human extravillous placental trophoblast cells as a model.
In April 2000, Dr. Guimond joined the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CCFF) as Director, Medical/Scientific and Community Programs (national). Her responsibilities included overseeing the management of the Foundation's grants and awards program, monitoring issues of importance to the CCFF constituency, managing the Foundation's research/clinical/transplant budget, developing partnerships/sponsorships with government and industry for funding health research in the area of cystic fibrosis and supporting clinical/transplant care for patients with cystic fibrosis, and developing strategic priorities for the Foundation. In August 2007, Dr. Guimond moved to the Canadian Diabetes Association as Director, Research Programs and Partnerships. Her scientific background and her knowledge of voluntary sector organizations provides a solid base for her participation as a member of the Institute Advisory Board.
Contact information:
Canadian Diabetes Association - National Office
1400 - 522 University Avenue
Toronto, ON M5G 2R5
Email: josee.guimond@diabetes.ca
Robert Hogg, PhD
Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences
Simon Fraser University; and
BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
Dr. Robert Hogg is a Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia and the Director of the HIV/AIDS Drug Treatment Program at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Vancouver.
Dr. Hogg obtained his PhD in Demography (1992) from the Australian National University in Canberra, the capital of Australia. He also has a MA (1985) and BA (1988) in Anthropology from the University of Victoria. His post-doctoral work was done at the University of British Columbia and the Canadian HIV/AIDS Trials Network in Vancouver in 1992 and 1993.
His major areas of expertise are in demography and epidemiology with emphasis on the health status of persons with HIV/AIDS, current treatment and management practices for persons with HIV/AIDS and the health status of marginalized populations.
Dr Hogg has held investigator fellowships from the National Health Research Development Program (1995 to 2000), Canadian Institutes of Health (2001 to 2002), and Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (2001 to 2006). At the University of British Columbia he held the Michael O'Shaughnessy Chair in Population Health. He currently is an adjunct Professor in the Department of International Health and Cross-Cultural Medicine at the University of California, San Diego.
Contact Information:
608-1081 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6
Email: bobhogg@cfenet.ubc.ca
Steven Jones, PhD
Head, Immunopathology Unit of the Special Pathogens Program
National Microbiology Laboratory, Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health
Department of Immunology
University of Manitoba
Dr. Steven Jones was born in Plymouth, United Kingdom, in 1968. He received his Bachelor of Science degree with 1st class Honours in 1992 from the University of Plymouth, United Kingdom. Subsequently, he graduated from the University of Plymouth with his Ph.D. in 1997. His postdoctoral research was conducted in the field of immunity to high containment pathogens (Yersinia pestis, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, Burkholderia mallei, B. psuedomallei and F. tularensis) in the Microbiology Division of the Biomedical Sciences Department, DSTL Porton Down, United Kingdom. Following his postdoctoral training he continued to work in the Microbiology Department Porton Down as the Scientific Leader of the Cellular Immunology Group. Steven Jones joined Health Canada in October 2001. Currently he is the Head of the Immunopathology Unit of the Special Pathogens Program at the National Microbiology Laboratory, Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health and an adjunct professor in the Department of Immunology at the University of Manitoba.
He was involved in the efforts to identify the causative agent for SARS and has subsequently been working on the development of animal models for the disease and the testing of novel treatments, He was the Canadian representative at the WHO meetings on animal models for SARS coronavirus. He has extensive experience of diagnostic testing in the field and ran the Marburg diagnostic laboratory in Angola (2005). He is Head of the Emerging Bacterial Diseases Section and is responsible for the detection and diagnosis of zoonotic bacterial disease for the Agency. He leads the Public Health Agency of Canada's microbiological emergency response teams; these teams exercise regularly with the other members of the national response Team (RCMP and Army) and have provided training in basic microbiology to the other team members.
He is also the head of the Canadian Laboratory Response Network. However, his main research interests are the rational design of immuno therapeutics and vaccines for Ebola, Marburg and Lassa hemorrhagic fever, viruses and the immunopathology of VHF diseases.
Contact Information:
1015 Arlington Street, Rm 2570
Special Pathogens Program
Winnipeg, MB R3E 3R2
Email: Steven_jones@phac-aspc.gc.ca
Dr. Jim Lavery, MSc, PhD
Research Scientist, St. Michael's Hospital
Assistant Professor
University of Toronto
Jim Lavery is a research scientist in the Centre for Research on Inner City Health and Centre for Global Health Research, St. Michael's Hospital, and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences and Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto. Jim received M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the Institute of Medical Science and Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto and subsequently received a post-doctoral fellowship in applied ethics and health policy from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, during which he studied priority-setting in home care in Canada at the Queen's University Health Policy Research Unit.
Most recently, Jim spent 3 years at the Fogarty International Center, and Warren G. Magnuson Clinical Center Department of Clinical Bioethics, both at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. While at the NIH he worked on ethical and regulatory issues in international research. He is a member of the Canadian Interagency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics, the Advisory Board of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Infection and Immunity, and a member of the Board of Directors of Public Responsibility in Medicine in Research.
Jim is currently the co-principal investigator of a project entitled: Addressing ethical, social and cultural issues in the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He currently is the team leader for the International M.H.Sc. in Bioethics program at the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto. He is also developing a project entitled: A brokered dialogue between the rich and poor, which aims to develop innovative strategies for encouraging dialogue about health disparities between the rich and poor. He has recently completed the editing, with colleagues at the NIH, of a book of case studies in international research ethics that will be published in 2006 by Oxford University Press.
Contact information:
St. Michael's Hospital
70 Richmond St. E., Suite 400
Toronto ON M5C 1N8
Email: jim.lavery@utoronto.ca
Dr. Mark Loeb, MD, FRCP(C)
Professor, Pathology and Molecular Medicine,
McMaster University
Dr. Mark Loeb is Professor in the Departments of Pathology and Molecular Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University. He graduated from McGill Medical School in 1990, then completed fellowships in Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology at the University of Toronto and McMaster University, and an MSc in Clinical Epidemiology at McMaster in 1997.
Dr. Loeb's research interests include emerging infectious diseases, respiratory infections, antimicrobial resistance, and hospital epidemiology. He is Principal Investigator of an NIAID Population Genetics Research Program on West Nile Virus and a CIHR New Emerging Team on antibiotic use and resistance in seniors. He has led CIHR funded multidisciplinary teams on pneumonia and SARS and is conducting a CIHR funded cohort study on West Nile virus.
Dr. Loeb serves on numerous national and international advisory committees. He is Associate Editor, ACP Journal Club and Evidence-Based Medicine and is Co-editor of the first textbook on Evidence-Based Infectious Diseases. Recent honours include a Premier's Research Excellence Award and the Nicholas and Hedy Monk Geriatrics Award. Dr. Loeb holds a CIHR New Investigator Award.
Contact Information:
3203 Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning & Discovery
McMaster University
1200 Main St. W
Hamilton ON L8N 3C5
Email: loebm@mcmaster.ca
Vivian Loo, MSc, MD
Chief, Department of Microbiology
McGill University Health Centre
Dr. Vivian Loo is the Chief of the Department of Microbiology at the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Prior to this position, she was the director of the Infection Prevention and Control Program. In addition, she is an associate professor of medicine at McGill University.
She received her medical degree (1985), master's of science in epidemiology (1996) and internal medicine training from McGill University. She completed her fellowship in infectious diseases and medical microbiology at the University of Toronto in Ontario (1991).
Dr. Loo's research interests included antimicrobial resistance and hospital epidemiology. In the last 5 years, her research has concentrated on the clinical and molecular epidemiology of C. difficile. She is a member of the Quebec provincial C. difficile surveillance committee and was an author on the Quebec provincial guidelines for the control of C. difficile.
Contact Information:
1650 Cedar Ave., Room D16.168
Montreal, QC H3G 1A4
Email: vivian.loo@muhc.mcgill.ca
Dr. Joaquin Madrenas, MD, MSc, PhD
Director, FOCIS Centre for Clinical Immunology and Immunotherapeutics
Research Scientist
Robarts Research Institute
Dr. Joaquin Madrenas is Director of the FOCIS Centre for Clinical Immunology and Immunotherapeutics in London, Ontario and is also a Canada Research Chair in Transplantation and Immunobiology.
Dr. Madrenas received his medical degree from Spain's Universitat de Barcelona in 1982, along with his M. Sc. in 1988, and a Ph.D. in immunology both from the University of Alberta in 1992.
Dr. Madrenas studies the regulation of T cell activation through the antigen receptor, having made significant contributions to this field with the development of new drug treatments. As Director of the FOCIS Centre, Dr. Madrenas leads a group of 25 clinicians and scientists who integrate the research operations in basic and clinical Immunology, in order to foster educational programs for professionals and the general public that will help prevent immunological diseases. Dr. Madrenas is currently chairman of review panels for CIHR and Chair of Biomedical Scientific Committee for the Kidney Foundation of Canada.
Contact information:
Robarts Research Institute
100 Perth Drive, P.O. Box 5015
London ON N6A 5K8
Email: madrenas@robarts.ca
Dr. Marc Ouellette, PhD
Canada Research Chair in Antimicrobial Resistance
Professor, Microbiology
Université Laval
Dr. Ouellette obtained his Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biochemistry at Ottawa University and received his PhD at Laval University on antibiotic resistance in bacteria. His postdoctoral studies were done under the mentorship of Pr. Piet Borst of the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, where he further developed his expertise in antimicrobial resistance studying protozoan parasites.
In 1990 he joined the Centre de Recherche en Infectiologie, of Laval University as an Assistant professor and is now full professor. Dr. Ouellette's research is focused on antimicrobial resistance where he has made seminal discoveries on resistance mechanism in protozoan parasites. More recently he has implemented proteomic and DNA microarray strategies to study antimicrobial resistance in the parasite Leishmania and the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae.
Dr. Ouellette has received numerous awards for his work including a New Investigator Award in Molecular Parasitology from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, a MRC Scientist Award, a Scholar Award in Molecular Parasitology of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Antimicrobial Resistance. He has served on numerous panels of national and international granting agencies and is a strong supporter of scientific exchanges with developing countries.
Contact Information:
Centre de Recherche en Infectiologie, Université Laval
CHUQ, pavillon CHUL
2705 boul. Laurier
Québec QC G1V 4G2
Email: Marc.Ouellette@crchul.ulaval.ca
Dr. Christopher Power, MD, FRCPC
Professor, Departments of Medicine and Medical Microbiology & Immunology,
University of Alberta
Dr. Chris Power is currently a Professor in the Departments of Clinical Neurosciences and Microbiology & Infectious Diseases at the University of Calgary. He moved there in 1998, where he has continued to work on the neuropathogenesis of HIV infection together with studies of neuroinflammatory mechanisms underlying multiple sclerosis.
Dr. Power completed his undergraduate and medical degrees at the Universities of Toronto (1981) and Ottawa (1985), respectively. He subsequently trained in Internal Medicine and Neurology at McMaster University and the University of Western Ontario. During residence training, Dr. Power published several papers describing the pathogenesis of viral infections of the nervous system including CMV and HTLV-1 infections. Thereafter, he trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University in the Department of Neurology in the Neurovirology group. During this time, his interests were focused on HIV infection of the nervous system causing dementia. He also spent two years at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory of the National Institutes of Health extending his work on HIV infection of the nervous system.
His first faculty position in Canada was at the University of Manitoba. He currently holds CIHR Investigator and AHFMR Scholar awards and the Strafford Foundation Chair in Alzheimer Research and is a member of the CIHR Virology and Viral Pathogenesis Committee and the CIHR HIV/AIDS Research Advisory Committee.
Contact Information:
University of Alberta
611 Heritage Medical Research Centre
Edmonton AB T6G 2S2
Email: chris.power@ualberta.ca
Dr. David Speert, MD
Professor, Pediatrics
University of British Columbia
Dr. David Speert is currently professor of Pediatrics at the University of British Columbia (UBC), a position he has held since 1990. He is head of the division of Infectious and Immunological Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics, Associate Head (Research) Department of Pediatrics, Associate Head Centre for Microbial Diseases and Immunology Research (UBC) and Head of the Centre for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases at the Child and Family Research Institute.
Dr. Speert obtained his bachelor of arts degree, with a concentration in psychology, from Middlebury College in Vermont (1969) and his medical degree from Columbia University (1973). He received pediatrics training at the University of Michigan and his infectious diseases and research training at the University of Minnesota. He has been at UBC since 1980.
Dr. Speert's research is directed at gaining a clearer understanding of innate host defenses and of microbial determinants of pulmonary pathogenesis, particularly with regards to lung infections in patients with cystic fibrosis. His work has been funded by CIHR, the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Canadian Bacterial Diseases Network (Network of Centres of Excellence). He is currently Chair of the CIHR Microbiology and Infectious Diseases peer review committee.
Contact information:
BC Children's Hospital
Room 377 Research Centre
950 West 28th Avenue
Vancouver BC V5Z 4H4
Email: dspeert@cw.bc.ca
Jana Stankova, PhD
Professor
Department of Immunology
Université de Sherbrooke
Dr. Jana Stankova is a Professor of Immunology and Director of the Graduate Studies Program in Immunology at the Université de Sherbrooke. She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree, with a specialty in microbiology (1979), a Master of Science degree in cellular biology and immunology (1982), and a PhD in cellular biology and immunology (1986), at the Université de Sherbrooke, and continued her postdoctoral work with a fellowship in Immunology at Toronto's Mount Sinai Research Institute (1986-1988).
Currently, her research into inflammation involves two different streams. The first one concentrates on the structural and functional relationships of lipid mediators – specifically on the platelet activating factor (PAF) and the B4 (BLT1), D4 (CysLT1) and C4 (CysLT2) leukotrienes. PAF and leukotriene receptors are part of a family of receptors located on G proteins and seven other transmembrane domains. Through directed mutagenesis, Dr. Stankova is trying to identify the amino acids of the receptors that are involved in the connection of the ligand, the connection of the G protein, the internalization of the receptor and the intracellular signals. The second research stream regards the transfer of signals by these receptors, specifically along the JAK/STAT or MAP kinase channels.
During her career, she has been supported by a research scholarship from the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec, as well as operating grants from CIHR, the National Cancer Institute of Canada, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and the Society for Cancer Research.
Gillian E. Wu, PhD
Dean and Professor
Faculty of Sciences and Engineering
York University
Dr. Gillian E. Wu is Dean and Professor in the Faculty of Sciences and Engineering, as well as Professor in the Department of Biology and the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at York University.
Dr. Wu received her Bachelor of Science degree in biology (1967) at McMaster University, her Master of Science degree, with a specialty in biophysics (1969), and a PhD in medical biophysics (1984), at the University of Toronto.
Currently, Dr. Wu is investigating a female autoimmune disease called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). For SLE sufferers, antibodies produced by B cells cause problems that aren't normally produced by the immune system. Dr. Wu is examining the genetic components that encode the autoreactive antibodies of these B cells, and respond to estrogen or cytokines. She is also trying to develop mechanisms that can reduce the autoreactivity of B cells in SLE.
Dr. Wu is trying to identify which genes affect some of the critical points in a blood cell's development and, as a result, lead to cancer. She will then analyze the functions of other genes and molecules that are known to participate in either the development or the activity of blood cells. The results may provide the basis for new ways to detect or treat various types of cancer.
Dr. Wu's has been a member of national grant panels including CIHR's. She is an associate editor of the Journal of Immunology and President of the Canada Society for Immunology.