Scientific Advisory Panel on Bioequivalence Requirements for Gender-Specific Drug Products (SAP-GSDP)

Membership List

Jake J. Thiessen, PhD (Chair)
Director, Health Sciences Campus, School of Pharmacy
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario

Jake Thiessen is the Founding Director of both the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Campus at the University of Waterloo.  Furthermore, he is Professor Emeritus and the former Professor and Associate Dean at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto.  He earned his B.Sc. (Pharm) degree from the University of Manitoba, and went on to complete a M.Sc. at Manitoba and a Ph.D. at the University of California, San Francisco.  His area of particular specialization is time-dependent processes defining drug fate in the body (pharmacokinetics) and drug response (pharmacodynamics).  His research interests have included new approaches in cancer treatment and new molecules to treat patients with iron overload.  Most recently, his studies explored new applications of terahertz technology in the pharmaceutical and medical fields.  His broader non-academic experience and expertise has come particularly from work with government agencies.  Notable among these are the Drug Quality and Therapeutics committee of the Ontario Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Pharmacy Council, and Health Canada's Scientific Advisory Committee on Bioavailability and Bioequivalence.

Robert Herman, MD, FRCPC
Head, Division of General Internal Medicine
University of Calgary
Calgary, Alberta

Robert Herman is Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine at the University of Calgary.  He earned his Medical Degree from the University of Saskatchewan and has a certificate in Clinical Pharmacology obtained from Vanderbilt Medical University in Nashville Tennessee.  His areas of particular interest include clinical pharmacology, drug metabolism and disposition, bioequivalence, drug interaction, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, weight management and smoking cessation.  He has acquired broader, non-academic experience and expertise from work with Health Canada's Scientific Advisory Committee on Bioavailability and Bioequivalence and the Scientific Advisory Panel on Bioequivalence Requirements for Modified-Release Dosage Forms.

Elaine E. Jolly, OC, MD, FRCSC
Professor, Dept. of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Care
University of Ottawa
Ottawa, Ontario

Elaine Jolly is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Ottawa.  She earned her medical degree from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and went on to complete postgraduate training in Denver, Colorado; Ottawa, Ontario; and Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Her area of particular specialization lies in Women's Health..  She developed the first Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Treatment Program in Ottawa and introduced Contraception and Family Planning Services at the Ottawa General Hospital.  In 1986, she developed the first Mature Women's Health Initiative in Ontario and made available essential comprehensive services to menopausal women in multi-disciplinary fashion.  More recently, she founded the Ottawa Women's Health Council which led to the creation of The Shirley E. Greenberg Women's Health Centre at the Riverside site of The Ottawa Hospital in January 2005.  She is the founder and Medical Director of this unique, integrated Women's Health Centre.

William J. Racz, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Queen's University
Kingston, Ontario

William Racz is Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Queen's University in Kingston.  He has served as president of the Society of Toxicology of Canada.  He earned his B.Sc. (Pharm) from the University of Saskatchewan and his M.Sc. in Medicinal Chemistry and Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Alberta.  His research interests include drug-induced liver injury, pulmonary toxicity and heavy metal toxicity.  He has also served on several grant panels for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.  Over the last 20 years, he has been a consultant on generic drugs to the Committee to Evaluate Drugs for the ministry of Health and Long Term Care of Ontario.  He provides expertise on bioequivalence of drug products and basic pharmacology and toxicology as a member of Health Canada's Scientific Advisory Committee on Bioavailability and Bioequivalence.

Heather M. Shapiro, MD, FRCSC
Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
The Toronto Hospital
Toronto, Ontario

Heather Shapiro is Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Director of Postgraduate Medical Education for the University of Toronto.  She earned her Medical Degree from McMaster University at the University of Toronto and completed further training in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Bern, Switzerland.  She undertook further graduate training in Clinical Epidemiology and Biostats at McMaster University.  Her key interests lie in improving aspects of assisted reproductive technologies, evidence based decision making in medicine and minimally invasive surgery.  She has acquired broader, non-academic expertise and experience through her work as Chair of Health Canada's Scientific Advisory Committee for Human Reproductive Therapies, as a member of the Nucleus Committee of the Royal College of Physician and Surgeons of Canada, and on the Examination Committee of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Daniel S. Sitar, PhD
Professor, Departments of Pharmacology and Therapeutics and Internal Medicine
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Daniel Sitar is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba and Editor of the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.  He earned his B.Sc. (Pharm), M.Sc. in Pharmacy and Ph.D. in Pharmacology all from the University of Manitoba.  His academic associations include the Departments of Internal Medicine (Clinical Pharmacology Section), Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Pediatrics and Child Health (Faculty of Medicine), and Faculty of Pharmacy.  He holds Fellowship status in the American College of Clinical Pharmacology, and in the Gerontological Society of America (Health Sciences).  He currently serves on the Editorial Board of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

Scott E. Walker, MSc. Pharm., FCSHP
Director of Pharmacy
Sunnybrook Health Science Centre
Toronto, Ontario

Scott Walker is the Director of Pharmacy at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and is cross-appointed as an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto teaching pharmacokinetics.  He earned both his B.Sc. (Pharm) and his Master of Science in Pharmacy at the University of Toronto.  His area of particular specialization and research interest lies within drug stability in support of the IV-additive program within Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre as well as the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drugs which has resulted in the evaluation of many drug-drug and drug-food interactions.  His research addresses clinically relevant questions and provides a better understanding of the effects of disease or age on drug disposition, rational population-based dosing guidelines, and the relationship between serum concentrations of a given drug and the therapeutic outcome and/or toxicity.  He is a fellow of the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists and served as the Associate Editor and Editor of CJHP.  His broader, non-academic experience and expertise has come particularly from work with the Federal Health Protection Branch Working Group on Bioavailability, Health Canada's Scientific Advisory Committee on Bioavailability and Bioequivalence and the Drug Quality and Therapeutics Committee of the Ontario Ministry of Health.