Institute Advisory Board Members
(September 2008 - August 2009)
Victor Han, MD, FRCPC, FRCP (Chair)Director
Child Health Research Institute
Aside from being Director of the Child Health Research Institute, Dr. Han is also a Professor of Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Biochemistry, and Anatomy and Cell Biology, at the University of Western Ontario, a CIHR University Delegate, a past MRC Scholar and Scientist, Co-Director of the CIHR Group in Fetal and Neonatal Health and Development, and a Canada Research Chair in Perinatology.
Dr. Victor Han received his medical degree from the Institute of Medicine, University of Rangoon, in 1973. He trained in Paediatrics in Universities of Southampton and Oxford, UK, and in the subspecialty in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at the University of Western Ontario. He then received research training in molecular biology and biochemistry of growth factors at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, between 1983 and 1987 as an MRC Research Fellow. He has received specialist certification in Pediatrics in the United Kingdom (FRCP), Canada (FRCP) and United States (American Boards), and a sub-specialist certification in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine in United States (American Sub-Board).
Dr. Han’s research furthers the understanding of the role of insulin-like growth factors and mechanisms contributing to fetal and placental development. He has made invited presentations at over 100 national and international conferences and has published over 160 research articles in high impact journals such as Science, Endocrinology and American Journal of Physiology.
Laura Arbour, MD
Clinical Geneticist
Department of Medical Genetics
University of British Columbia
Dr. Laura Arbour is a clinical geneticist in the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree, with a specialization in biology in 1986 at the University of Windsor, and obtained a Master of Science degree, with a concentration in genetic counseling, and another Master of Science degree in genetics and biology, both at McGill University (1988). She received her medical degree at McMaster University in 1991, and conducted postdoctoral fellowship training in pediatrics (1991-94) and genetics (1994-96) at McGill University.
Dr. Arbour's broad interests connect clinical medicine, genetics and ethics. Her clinical practice and research focuses on northern and Aboriginal health issues as they pertain to genetics and child health. Her current research program includes the study of the nutrient and genetic basis of congenital heart defects in the Inuit of Nunavut, Long QT Syndrome (a hereditary heart disorder) in a Northern British Columbia community, and the Genetics of Primary Biliary Cirrhosis in Pacific Northwest Native Peoples.
Dr. Arbour has participated in several Canadian workshops, which explored participatory methods of conducting biomedical research in Aboriginal populations. She is a member of the CIHR Aboriginal Ethics Working Group, which is developing guidelines for carrying out health research in Aboriginal communities. Dr. Arbour serves on the CIHR Science Advisory Council for Rural and Northern Health Research and is on the executive councils of the Canadian Society of Circumpolar Health and the International Union of Circumpolar Health.
Robert (Bob) Armstrong
Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Pediatrics
Dr. Armstrong is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia and Head of the Department of Pediatrics and Chief, Pediatric Medicine at the BC Children’s Hospital and the BC Women’s Hospital. Dr. Armstrong completed his undergraduate medical training at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He completed his graduate training at McMaster in the Human Growth and Development Program. He completed his pediatric training at McMaster and the University of British Columbia and training in Developmental Pediatrics at McMaster University. He joined the University of British Columbia in 1987. His specific clinical interests are related to children with physical disabilities. His research is focused on understanding factors that influence the development of children and the impact that disability has on development, population-based approaches to prevention and intervention, and health services.
Dr. Armstrong is currently President of the Pediatric Chairs of Canada and Chairs the National Coalition for Child and Youth Health. He is Chair of the Steering Committee of the Center for International Child Health at BC Children’s Hospital and has had active involvement in the establishment of the Child Health Network of BC. He is a past-President of the Section of Developmental Pediatrics of the Canadian Pediatric Society and of the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine. Previous positions have also included the Head of Developmental Pediatrics at UBC as well as Vice President of Medicine for the Children’s and Women’s Health Centre of BC.
Dr. Armstrong is married with three children.
Jay M. Baltz, PhDAssociate Director
Ottawa Health Research Institute
Dr. Jay M. Baltz is Associate Director of the Ottawa Health Research Institute (OHRI). He is a Senior Scientist and Head of the OHRI's Reproductive and Developmental Biology in the Hormones, Growth, and Development Program. He is also Associate Chair (Research) and professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa.
Dr. Baltz received his Bachelor of Arts in Physics (1978) from the University of Pennsylvania, and PhD in Biophysics (1986) from Johns Hopkins University. He then conducted postdoctoral training in biophysics at John Hopkins University (1986) and Harvard Medical School (1986-1991). At Harvard, he investigated control mechanisms in early embryos.
The overall goals of our research are to better understand the changing physiology of oocytes and embryos as they rapidly develop at the beginning of life, and to improve the treatment of infertility through research leading to the development of improved techniques for producing healthy oocytes and embryos. To achieve these goals, Dr. Baltz's laboratory is currently investigating transport processes, cell volume regulation, intracellular pH regulation, and other homeostatic mechanisms which help growing and maturing oocytes and preimplantation embryos.
Dr. Baltz is Director of the Program on Oocyte Health, a Strategic Initiative of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health. He has received an Ontario Premier's Research Excellence Award, a James Shannon Award from the US National Institutes of Health, and was a Medical Council of Canada Scholar.
Claire Fortier, B.Sc., Mba
Ms. Claire Fortier has over 20 years experience working in the charitable sector, primarily in the development and management of granting programs. Most recently, she was Vice President, Grants and Finance at SickKids Foundation in Toronto. In this role she was responsible for all aspects of the granting of funds to The Hospital for Sick Children and nationally, as well as all aspects of the financial management of the Foundation. Through the National Grants Program she oversaw the management of a $4 million budget in support of child health research across Canada.
Currently, Ms. Fortier is consulting on the development of foundations and grants programs in Canada, including the development of fundraising strategies to support these programs.
Ms. Fortier has a Bachelor of Science degree, with a major in Agricultural Economics, from McGill University (1978), and a Master of Business Administration degree from INSEAD, France (1983).
Dr. Ellen Hodnett
Professor
M. Reisman Chair in Perinatal Nursing Research
Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing
University of Toronto
Ellen Hodnett is Professor and Heather M. Reisman Chair in Perinatal Nursing Research in the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto. She is an Inaugural Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Since 1996 Dr. Hodnett has been an Editor for the Pregnancy and Childbirth Group of the Cochrane Collaboration, responsible for both writing and editing systematic reviews for the Cochrane Library. Her Cochrane Reviews have had a wide impact internationally. For example, her Review of the trials of continuous support during childbirth has resulted in new legislation in Uruguay and Brazil and has led to new practice guidelines in Canada, the UK, and the USA.
Since 2005 Dr. Hodnett has been a member of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Group (STAG) for the World Health Organization Department of Reproductive Health and Research; she is the first nurse to be appointed to STAG. From 1999-2002, Dr. Hodnett was Chair of the Clinical Trials Grants Review Committee for the Medical Research Council/Canadian Institutes of Health Research; she was the first woman and the first non-physician to hold this position.
Dr. Hodnett's research program focuses on rigorous evaluations of forms of care for childbearing women, usually through international, multi-center, randomized controlled trials. Dr. Hodnett was the principal investigator of the Nursing SCIL ("Supportive Care in Labor") Trial, a large international study of nursing care for women during labor and birth, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NINR), 1998-2001. SCIL Trial results were published in JAMA in 2002. Currently she is the principal investigator of the SELAN ("Structured Early Labour Assessment and Care by Nurses") Trial, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. She is a co-investigator on four other studies concerning the care of childbearing women and their babies, in Canada and internationally. She is also a member of Scientific Advisory Committee for a 5-year, Wellcome Trust-funded research initiative in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, to improve care of childbearing women.
Dr. Hodnett has over 90 publications. She has been a keynote or invited speaker at over 80 international and national conferences, and she has given over 40 peer-reviewed presentations worldwide. Among the awards she has received are: The Lamaze International 2004 Award for Research, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, (2004); "Best Book of the Year" Award, for A Guide to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth, 3rd Edition, American College of Nurse-Midwives (2001); WHO 50th Anniversary commemorative certificate for a national community-based women and/or children's health project, for her work on PROBIT (The Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial), 1998; and an Award Certificate from the Ministry of Health, Republic of Belarus, for PROBIT (Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial), 1998.
Dr. Hodnett is strongly committed to mentoring young researchers who wish to conduct large randomized controlled trials. She developed the Randomized Controlled Trials Unit (RCTU) in the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto. The RCTU has state-of-the-science human and technical resources to assist colleagues and graduate students with the design and conduct of trials of complex nursing interventions.
Lucie Jeannotte, PhD
Professor
Department of Medical Biology
Université Laval
Dr. Lucie Jeannotte is a full professor in the Department of Medical Biology at Université Laval.
Dr. Jeannotte received both her B.Sc. and her M.Sc. training in Biochemistry at Université de Montréal. In 1987, she obtained her PhD in Molecular Biology at the Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montréal, Department of Biochemistry at Université de Montréal. Following her post-doctoral studies in Developmental Genetics at Columbia University in New York with Dr. Elizabeth J. Robertson, Dr. Jeannotte became an assistant professor in the Department of Medical Biology at Université Laval in Québec City in 1991. She was promoted associate professor in 1998 and full professor in 2002.
In Dr. Jeannotte’s laboratory, research is directed towards understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible for the development of the mammalian embryo -- with a particular emphasis on the involvement of members of the Hox gene family.
Throughout her training and her career, Dr. Jeannotte has received studentships, fellowships and scholarships from the Medical Research Council (MRC), the National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) and the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé au Québec (FRSQ). She currently holds a Chercheur National award from the FRSQ. She has served MRC, NCIC, FRSQ and the Cancer Research Society (CRS) as a panel member. Dr. Jeannotte is currently acting as co-chair of the medical advisory board and vice-president of the CRS as well as member of the CIHR Developmental Biology panel.
K. S. Joseph
Perinatal Epidemiologist
Associate Professor
Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Pediatrics
Dalhousie University
Dr. K.S. Joseph works as a perinatal epidemiologist, with a joint appointment as an associate professor in the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Pediatrics at Dalhousie University and the IWK Health Centre.
He received his bachelor of medicine and surgery degree (1982) and medical degree, with a concentration in community medicine (1987) from Christian Medical College, in Vellore, India, and a PhD in epidemiology and biostatistics (1995) from McGill University.
Dr. Joseph's research interests include pregnancy complications, preterm birth, fetal growth, perinatal mortality and serious neonatal morbidity. He has authored numerous publications, some of which have appeared in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, British Medical Journal, Obstetrics Gynecology and Pediatrics.
Dr. Joseph is a member of the Steering Committee of the Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System for the Public Health Agency of Canada. In 2002, he received the Peter Lougheed/CIHR New Investigator Award. More recently, he was awarded the Geoffrey C. Robinson award of the Canadian Pediatric Society for outstanding contributions to child and youth health through population health research.
K.R. Kao, Ph.D
Professor of Oncology
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Dr. Kao received his PhD from the University of Toronto in Developmental Biology. He subsequently completed postdoctoral training on an MRC (Canada) Fellowship at the University of Cambridge and as an NCIC Fellow at the Samuel Lunenfeld Institute before joining Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he is now Professor of Oncology. His lab has been continuously funded by CIHR and he has served as a peer review committee member for CIHR and as CIHR University Delegate for Memorial University. Dr. Kao’s research interests are in the mechanisms of cellular growth and differentiation during early embryonic development and their implications for cancer. He has important publications in this area with papers in prestigious journals including Nature, Development and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA).
Dr. Stephen J. Lye
Associate Director
Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital
Professor
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and of Physiology
University of Toronto
Dr. Lye is Associate Director of the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital and Professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and of Physiology at the University of Toronto. His research is focussed on defining the molecular mechanisms underlying the onset of term and preterm labor and the mechanisms controlling early placental development. Dr. Lye has published over 135 peer-reviewed papers and holds research funding from both the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), March of Dimes and the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation. He is actively involved in peer-review granting agencies, is a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and also acts as a Medical Research Director for The Genesis Research Foundation, a charity focused on women's health research. Dr. Lye holds a Canada Research Chair in Maternal, Fetal and Neonatal Health.
Dr. Lye's research has identified key genes that increase contractile activity of the uterine muscle during labor. With other members of the SLRI and clinical colleagues within the High Risk Pregnancy Program at MSH, Dr. Lye is also investigating new diagnostic tests to predict delivery in women in threatened preterm labor as well as the use of new therapeutic agents to prevent preterm birth, the leading cause of neonatal death and disability.
Donald R. Mattison, Captain, USPHS
Senior Advisor to the Directors of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and
The Center for Research for Mothers and Children
Dr. Donald Mattison was appointed Senior Advisor to the Directors of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Center for Research for Mothers and Children in 2002 and Chief of the Obstetric and Pediatric Pharmacology Branch in the Center for Research for Mothers and Children in 2004. In these roles, he provides oversight to Obstetrical and Pediatric Pharmacology programs within NICHD. As Captain in the U.S. Public Health Service he has been deployed on various missions to provide medical and public health support; recently for Hurricane Katrina and a Joint Forces Humanitarian Mission in the Philippines in 2006. In 2005 he was awarded the PHS Achievement Medal for his role in the National Children’s Study.
Dr. Mattison has previously held numerous academic, clinical and research appointments. He has been Medical Director of the March of Dimes; Dean of the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health and Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences in the University’s School of Medicine. He has also served as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Interdisciplinary Toxicology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and Chief of the Section on Reproductive Toxicology in the Pregnancy Research Branch, at National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
In 1997, he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in 1999, a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, in 2000 a member of the Institute of Medicine, and in 2005 Distinguished Alumni of Augsburg College. He is the author of more than 200 peer-reviewed articles.
Dr. Mattison earned a BA (Chemistry and Mathematics) from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, MN, an MS (Chemistry) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA and a MD from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY. His clinical training in Obstetrics and Gynecology was at the Sloane Hospital for Women in the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. His training in Pharmacology and Toxicology was at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.
Sue Milburn-Hopwood
Director
Health Canada
Sue Milburn-Hopwood is the Director of the Risk Management Bureau within the Chemicals Management Directorate at Health Canada. She is responsible for the risk management of chemical substances under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act; environmental health monitoring and surveillance including biomonitoring and risk communications; and public involvement. She has a BSc in Life Sciences from Queen's University and an MA in Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto. Sue has worked on various environmental health issues at Health Canada and Environment Canada for more than 20 years.
Dr. Peter Mitchell
Professor
Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology and of Physiology
University of Alberta
Dr. Peter Mitchell is a Professor in the Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology and of Physiology at the University of Alberta. He is a clinician-scientist who has held a MRC/CIHR grant almost continuously since 1981, He currently also is a co-Investigator of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Team Grant studying preterm birth and a Mentor in the CIHR Strategic Training Initiative for Maternal-Fetal and Newborn Health. He has served as Chair of the CIHR Clinical Investigations "A" Peer Review Committee for the past two years.
Dr. Mitchell received his M.D. degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1971. After completing a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Western, he was awarded a McLaughlin Traveling Fellowship and went to the University of California at San Francisco. He returned to UWO as an Assistant Professor in 1978. In 1986 he was recruited to the University of Alberta and served as Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology until 2002. He continued active practice, with a focus on Maternal-Fetal Medicine until 2003.
The Mitchell research laboratory studies the regulation of the timing of parturition. Major emphasis is placed on the human but rat and genetically modified mouse models are also used. His group has published more than 90 articles in the peer-reviewed literature. He serves on a number of journal editorial boards and reviews for a number of journals and granting agencies nationally and internationally. He is a recent recipient of a Visiting Professorship from the university of Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Jean-Marie Moutquin, MD, MSc, FRCSC
Department Chair and Full Professor
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Université de Sherbrooke
Research Director, Centre Hospitalier de l' Université de Sherbrooke
Science Director, Centre de recherche clinique Étienne-Le Bel
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Quebec
Dr Jean-Marie Moutquin became an MD in 1968 and an obstetrician gynecologist at the Université de Montréal in 1973. After a research fellowship in the biochemistry, physiology and endocrinology of reproduction under the supervision of Dr GC Liggins in Auckland, New Zealand (1974-1978), Dr Moutquin began his career as a clinician-scientist at the Université de Montréal (1978-1987), continued it at Université Laval in Quebec City (1987-1999), and has been with the Université de Sherbrooke since 1999. He obtained a master's degree in epidemiology from Université Laval in 1995.
A pioneer in funded clinical research in obstetrics in Quebec, Dr Moutquin studies the physiology of pregnant women and its disturbances, more particularly hypertension in pregnancy. His research deals with early identification of clinical, biochemical, genetic, and echographic markers of preeclampsia. The results of his research have included modifications to the classification of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and evidence-based clinical practice guidelines.
Invited by the Medical Research Council of Canada to conduct research on prevention and treatment of preterm labour, Dr Moutquin directed the first pan-Canadian randomized clinical trials on the treatment of preterm labour, involving departments of obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics across the country (1982-1992). He has contributed as principal investigator and co-investigator to numerous national and international randomized controlled trials on perinatal care.
Dr. Moutquin co-founded a research centre in Quebec City with some 30 investigators dedicated to research on reproductive health (1987-1999). He participated in and co-directed the Quebec network on child health and welfare, composed of 100 researchers working both in biomedical and psychosocial disciplines (2001-2007). He was a member of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (1994-2002). Since 1995, he has served as a member of the board of directors and senior science advisor for AETMIS, the agency that evaluates health-care technologies and treatment methods for the Quebec ministry of health and social services. He was elected a member of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2006.
A happy man who has been married for over 40 years, Dr Moutquin has 4 children and, so far, 7 grandchildren.
Rob Santos
Scientific Director and Senior Policy Advisor at the Healthy Child Manitoba Office (HCMO)
Dr. Rob Santos is the Scientific Director and Senior Policy Advisor at the Healthy Child Manitoba Office (HCMO), the staff and secretariat of the Government of Manitoba's Healthy Child Committee of Cabinet (HCCC), the only standing Cabinet committee in Canada dedicated to the well-being of children and youth (prenatal to age 18 years). HCCC comprises the Ministers of Aboriginal and Northern Affairs; Culture, Heritage and Tourism; Education, Citizenship and Youth; Family Services and Housing; Health; Healthy Living; Justice; and Labour and Immigration/Status of Women. HCMO is mandated to work across departments and sectors through integrated research, policy, practice, and evaluation to facilitate successful child, adolescent, family, and community development. Rob is one of Manitoba's representatives for Canada's Federal/Provincial/Territorial Early Childhood Development (ECD) Working Group and co-chairs its Committee on ECD Knowledge, Information, and Effective Practices. He serves as an advisor for Canada's national Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development, the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network, the Canadian Council on Learning's Early Childhood Learning Knowledge Centre, Dr. Fraser Mustard's national Council for Early Child Development, and Statistics Canada's Aboriginal Children's Survey and National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. Rob completed a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Manitoba, with specialization in community psychology, child development, population health, and prevention science and policy. He also has a cross-appointment as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba.
Peter Szatmari, MD, MSc.
Professor, Vice-Chair of Research
Head of Division of Child Psychiatry
Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences
Dr. Peter Szatmari is Professor and Vice-Chair of Research and Head of the Division of Child Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University. He is also Director of the Offord Centre for Child Studies and holds the Chedoke Health Chair in Child Psychiatry at McMaster University.
Dr. Szatmari obtained both his medical degree (1976) and Master of Science degree, with a concentration in design, measurement and evaluation (1986), at McMaster University. He conducted his child psychiatry training at McMaster, as well as the University of Manchester in England.
Previously, Dr. Szatmari studied the diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome. He also conducted a follow-up study of high functioning pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) children with autism and other types of PDD, and a family study of autism/PDD.
Dr. Szatmari is currently trying to identify genes that cause autism and affect severity of expression. He is also conducting a Canada-wide study of how children with autism develop from the initial diagnosis until grade one. He is Director of the Canadian Autism Intervention Research Network (CAIRN), a group made up of parents, clinicians and scientists who are attempting to construct a research agenda for early intervention in autism.
Dr. Szatmari was instrumental in developing the Pervasive Developmental Disorder Team at the Chedoke site of McMaster Children's Hospital. He has written over 100 publications, including a book entitled A Mind Apart: Understanding Autism and Asperger Syndrome.