Health Canada's Science Advisory Board

This content was archived on June 24, 2013.

Under its current Terms of Reference, the Science Advisory Board (SAB) may consist of up to 18 experts who are individuals external to the federal government who have scientific knowledge, experience and expertise relevant to the mandate of the Department and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). In addition, the overall composition of the SAB is intended to reflect Canada's geographic, gender and ethnic diversity, and represent both official languages.

Nominations for membership to the Board come from a variety of sources including self-nominations, Board members and senior departmental management. The Assistant Deputy Ministers, the SAB Secretariat and the Chair of the SAB review and develop the slate of nominees and make recommendations to the Deputy Minister.

Current Members 2010

• Renaldo Battista, Chair
• Stephen Bornstein
• Ahmed El-Sohemy
• Claire Franklin, Vice-Chair
• Jack Gauldie
• Susan Kennedy
• Chris Loomis
• Renee Lyons
• Yola Moride
• John O'Neil
• Marie-Élise Parent
• Lori Sheremeta
• Jacques R. Simard
• D. Lorne Tyrrell
• Annalee Yassi

Biographies of Members (terms in parentheses)

Renaldo Battista, MD, M.P.H., Sc.D., F.R.C.P. (C) - Chair (February 2005 - present)

Dr. Renaldo Battista holds the Canada Research Chair in Health Technology Assessment since October 2005 and is a professor in the Department of Health Administration (DASUM) at the Université de Montréal since 2004. In 2008, he was appointed Senior Scientific Advisor to the Health Technology Assessment Unit (UETMIS) of the Centre hospitalier universitaire (CHU) Sainte-Justine and made a member of its Research Centre.

From 1982 to 2003, Dr. Battista was on staff in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Department of Medicine at McGill University. He was also president of the Quebec Council for Health Technology Assessment (CETS) from 1994 to 2000, and President and CEO of the Quebec Health Services and Technology Assessment Agency (AETMIS) from 2000 to 2004.

Dr. Battista earned his medical degree from the Université de Montréal and completed a Master's in Public Health and a Doctorate in Health Policy and Management at Harvard University. He is also a certified specialist in Public Health.

Dr. Battista served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (CCOHTA) from 1994 to 2000, and he was very active with the International Society of Technology Assessment in Health Care (ISTAHC), of which he was president from 1995 to 1997. He collaborated with several colleagues towards the creation of the International Network of Agencies of Health Technology Assessment in Health Care (INAHTA) in 1993 and played an advisory role in the development of health technology assessment in several countries, including France, Spain and Italy. In 2001, he co founded the International Masters Program in Health Technology Assessment and Management (the ULYSSES program).

In 2006, Dr. Battista was elected member of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Selected Publications

• Battista R.N., Hodge MJ. The "Natural History" of HTA. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care 25: supplement 1(2009), 281-284.
• Battista R.N., Côté B, Hodge MJ, Husereau D. Health Technology Assessment in Canada. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care 25: supplement 1(2009), 53-60.
• Lafortune L., Farand L., Mondou I., Sicotte C., Battista R.N. Assessing the performance of health technology assessment organizations: A framework. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care. 2008; 24(1):76-86.
• Battista, R.N. Expanding the scientific basis of Health Technology Assessment: A research agenda for the next decade. International Journal of Technology Assessment on Health Care 2006;22(3):1-8.
• Battista R.N., Hodge MJ. The evolving paradigm of health technology assessment: reflections for the millennium. CMAJ 1999;160(10):1464-1467.

Stephen Bornstein, Ph.D. (December 2005 - present)

Dr. Bornstein is currently Professor of Political Science at Memorial University and the Director of the Newfoundland Centre for Applied Health Research. Dr. Bornstein's areas of academic expertise are comparative politics and public policy and comparative labour relations specializing in Western Europe as well as Canadian public policy, and in particular, Canadian health policy.

In 1990 he taught at McGill University in the Political Science Department, served as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and then from 1991 through 1995, worked with the Ontario provincial government in the Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs as Assistant Deputy Minister and Ontario Representative to Quebec.

Dr. Bornstein received his B.A. from the University of Toronto, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University. Selected papers and publications:

• Kirk S., Bornstein S., Navarro P., Swanson E., and Adamo E. (2009) Effective Non-clinical Interventions to Prevent and Treat Childhood Overweight and Obesity in Newfoundland and Labrador. Report to the Department of Health and Community Services, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, March 2009
• Demeter S., Bornstein S., Butler J., Cramer B., Hollet P., Jones L. (2009). The Development of a PET/CT Program in Newfoundland and Labrador Report to the Department of Health and Community Services, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Barrett B., Bornstein S., Butler J., Doyle M., Gillam S. (2008). The Provision of Dialysis Services in Rural and Remote Populations in Newfoundland and Labrador. Report to the Department of Health and Community Services, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Bornstein S. and Hart S. (2008) IOC-SafetyNet Project: Final Report. Report to the IOC-United Steel Workers Working Group

Ahmed El-Sohemy, Ph.D.(June 2010 - present)

Dr. El-Sohemy is an Associate Professor, Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto where he teaches undergraduate courses in Nutritional Toxicology and Functional Foods & Nutrigenomics and supervises several graduate and undergraduate students. Dr. El-Sohemy leads the Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals theme of the Advanced Foods and Materials Network, which is one of the Networks of Centres of Excellence. He is also a Canada Research Chair in Nutrigenomics (Tier 2)

Dr. El-Sohemy received his B.Sc. (Hon.) and his Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Toronto, Nutritional Sciences (Molecular Biology Major). He received Postdoctoral training at the Harvard School of Public Health - Department of Nutrition, where his studies focused on the role of biomarkers of antioxidants in heart disease.

He has been a consultant for both industry and government agencies and serves as an ad hoc reviewer for a number of journals, granting agencies and international expert advisory panels. Dr. El-Sohemy is currently a member of the Canadian Society for Nutritional Sciences, the American Society for Nutritional Sciences and is a past member of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine

Selected Publications:

• Cahill L., Cory P. and El-Sohemy A. (2009) Vitamin C deficiency in a population of young Canadian adults. Am. J. Epidemiol. 170: 464-71.
• Fontaine-Bisson B., Wolever T.M.S., Connelly P.W., Corey P.N. and El-Sohemy A. (2009) NF-B -94Ins/Del ATTG polymorphism modifies the association between dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids and HDL-cholesterol in two distinct populations. Atherosclerosis 204: 465-470.
• Ozsungur S., Brenner D.M. and El-Sohemy A. (2009) Fourteen well described caffeine withdrawal symptoms factor into three clusters. Psychopharmacology. 201: 541-48.
• Platt I. and El-Sohemy A. (2009) Effects of 9cis,11trans and 10trans,12cis CLA on osteoclast formation and activity from human CD14+ monocytes. Lipids in Health and Disease. 8:15.
• Garcia-Bailo B., Toguri C., Eny K.M. and El-Sohemy A. (2009) Genetic variation in taste and its influence on food selection. OMICS: Journal of Integrative Biology. 13: 69-80.

Claire Franklin, Ph.D. - Vice-Chair (September 2007 - present)

Dr. Franklin has had a distinguished career as a researcher, educator and regulator. Since 2004, she has been a senior member of the LifeLine Group, a non-profit organization dedicated to the development of software tools for assessing exposure and risk assessment to xenobiotics as well as the benefits of dietary nutrients. She is currently on faculty at the Cyprus International Institute in the Harvard School of Public Health-Cyprus University of Technology Program for the Environment and Public Health where she teaches regulatory toxicology. She is also a Research Fellow at the McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, Population Health Institute, at the University of Ottawa.

After joining Health Canada, she was involved in regulation of consumer products, environmental chemicals, pharmaceuticals and pesticides. In 1995, Dr. Franklin became the first Executive Director of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency.

Dr. Franklin holds a Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Ottawa and a BSc from Carleton University.

She is currently a member of the International Society of Exposure Sciences.

Dr. Franklin has edited 5 scientific books and has more than 150 peer-reviewed publications and presentations with published abstracts. The following is a selection of her publications:

Papers

• Jayjock M.A., Chaisson C.F., Franklin C.A., Arnold, S., Price, P.S.: Using publicly available information to create exposure and risk-based ranking of chemicals used in the workplace and consumer products, 19, 5, 515-524, Journal Of Exposure Science And Environmental Epidemiology, (2009)
• Doe J.E., Boobis A.R., Blacker A., Dellarco V.L., Doerrer N.G., Franklin C.A., et al. 2006. A tiered approach to systemic toxicity testing for agricultural chemical safety assessment. Crit Rev Toxicol. 36, 37-68.
• Franklin C.A., Inskip M.J., Baccanale C.L., Edwards C.M.H., Manton W.I., Edwards E., O'Flaherty E.J. (1997). Use of sequentially Administered Stable Lead Isotopes to Investigate Changes in Blood Lead during Pregnancy in a Nonhuman Primate (Macaca fascicularis) Fundam Appl. Toxicol. 39, 109-119.
• Jarrell J.F., Villeneuve D.C., Franklin, C.A., Bartlett S., Wrixon W., Kohut J., Zouves C.G. 1993. Contamination of human ovarian follicular fluid and serum by chlorinated organic compounds in three Canadian cities. Canadian Medical Association Journal 148 (8): 1321-1327.

Dr. Franklin is the recipient of numerous awards from the United States and Canadian governments for work on the International Joint Commission, the US Food and Drug Administration for contributions to the development of electronic submissions for human prescription drugs, from AOAC (The Scientific Association Dedicated to Analytical Excellence®) for being editor of the Journal of the AOAC, and her paper on the research on mobilization of lead to the foetus was named best paper in Fundamental Applied Toxicology and Toxicological Sciences in 1997 by the Society of Toxicology. In 2003 she received the Outstanding Achievement Award for the Public Service of Canada presented by Governor General of Canada and the Prime Minister for her work in Health Canada culminating in the successful establishment of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency.

Jack Gauldie: Ph.D., FRSC, FRCP(E) (June 2010 - present)

Jack Gauldie, is Distinguished University Professor at McMaster University where he has conducted his research in immunology, inflammation, infectious diseases and vaccine development for the past 40 years.

He was Chair of the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, encompassing both clinical laboratory medicine and basic biomedical research, from 1989 to 2004. He is currently the Director of the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Health in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

He holds a Ph.D. from University College London and is a Fellow of the Royal Society (Canada) and the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh).

He was a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Infection and Immunity of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) and is on the Advisory Board of Ontario Research Fund and is Co-Chair of the Medical Review Panel of the Gairdner Foundation.

He has published over 340 scientific articles and a number of book chapters, mainly dealing with the areas of biomedical research including immunology, pathology, infectious disease and cancer. He has received awards from the Canadian Society for Immunology, the Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists and is a frequent evaluator for granting agencies including CIHR, the National Institutes of Health (U.S.) and the Medical Research Council (UK).

Susan Kennedy Ph.D. (June 2010 - present)

Dr. Kennedy is currently Professor Emerita at the School of Environmental Health at the University of British Columbia.

She was the founding Director of the UBC Occupational Hygiene Program (later the School of Environmental Health). She also founded the UBC Centre for Health and Environment Research and was instrumental in creating the Canadian Association for Research on Work and Health. Just prior to retirement, she was Director of the BC Environmental and Occupational Health Research Network.

Dr. Kennedy has a BA in English and a Ph.D. in Pathology from the University of British Columbia and an MSc and post-doctoral training in Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. Her research career has focused on the impact of workplace and environmental hazards on lung health, on knowledge transfer and risk communication in occupational and environmental health, and on gender determinants of chronic lung disease.

Some recent research accomplishments include the development of a new method for estimating occupational exposure risks for asthma, a method that has been incorporated in the multi-country European Community Respiratory Health Survey and adopted by the American Thoracic Society as part of a new standardized questionnaire for respiratory epidemiology. (Kennedy, S.M., et al. Occup Environ Med 2000; 57: 635-641)

This work led to an interest in gender influences in occupational exposure assessment for respiratory disease and the recent invited publication of two articles on this topic (Kennedy S.M., Koehoorn, M., American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2003; 44:576-583. and Camp, P., Kennedy S.M., Ward, H. Clinics in Chest Medicine. 2004,25:269-79) and to the $1.5 Million CIHR Interdisciplinary Capacity Enhancement Team grant - an exciting project that brought together respiratory disease experts and gender studies experts to develop new expertise and strategies for the study of sex and gender influences on COPD (PI: Kennedy S.M., CIHR, 2004).

Her most recent research involves the final stages of a 20 year follow-up of a unique inception cohort of young workers who were studied during apprenticeship and retested several times since. The projects' goal is to evaluate the natural history and risk factors for the development of lung impairment among industrial and construction workers.

Chris Loomis Ph.D. (November 2003 - present)

Dr. Loomis received his Ph.D. from Queen's University in 1983, and joined the School of Pharmacy of Memorial University as an associate professor in 1988, and was appointed director of Memorial's School of Pharmacy in 1998. Since 1984, Dr. Loomis has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), formerly the Medical Research Council (MRC) for his research on the spinal pharmacology of pain, and he is the author of many papers and presentations on this subject.

He is a former member and officer of several MRC/CIHR peer-review committees, and was Memorial's first MRC regional director. He has served as a member of the College of Reviewers for the Canada Research Chairs Program, as president of the Association of Deans of Pharmacy of Canada, and he is currently a member of Canada's Research-based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D) Health Research Foundation Advisory Council. Dr. Loomis twice received the Bristol Myers-Squibb Award for Excellence in Pharmaceutical Teaching, and the Dr. Albert R. Cox Research Award from Memorial University. Dr. Loomis was recently named Memorial University's vice-president (research and international relations).

Renee F. Lyons, BA, MEd Ph.D. (February 2005 - present)

Dr. Lyons holds a Chair in Complex Chronic Disease at Bridgepoint Health and is the Scientific Director of the Bridgepoint Health Collaboratory for Research and Innovation. Her academic appointment is in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

Currently Dr. Lyons is on leave from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia where she is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Health Promotion. Over the past 30 years she has been involved in research on chronic disease prevention and management, concentrating on knowledge translation.

Dr. Lyons holds a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon with a focus on lifestyle adaptation and chronic illness, an MEd from Xavier University, Cincinnati, in counseling and a BA in Psychology and Sociology from Dalhousie University.

She is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and is currently on the Expert Panel for the Chronic Disease in Canada review. She was Special Advisor to the President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and recently was the Scientific Officer for the Innovations in Health Research competition. She has been a member of Industry Canada's Science Advisory Board and a panel member for several years for Canada's Networks of Centres of Excellence grants competition.

Dr. Lyons has written extensively peer-reviewed and other articles relevant to the field of chronic disease and health promotion.

Yola Moride, Ph.D. (June 2010 - present)

Yola Moride has received an MSc in Genetics and a Ph.D. in Epidemiology from McGill University (Canada), and completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Pharmacovigilance at the University of Bordeaux in France.

Dr. Moride has 20 years of experience in the conduct of drug safety and effectiveness studies. She recently completed her term as President of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE) and currently serves on the board of the International Society of Pharmacovigilance (ISoP).

She holds university and hospital appointments at Université de Montréal, Bordeaux University and the Jewish General Hospital (Montreal). She is a National Expert for the European Medicines Agency (EMEA), expert assessor for Health Canada, and consults for the pharmaceutical industry.

Latest publications:

• Tournier M., Lagnaoui R., Moride Y., Wolfson C., Bégaudm B., Moore N. The risk of cognitive impairment in elderly community-dwelling women after benzodiazepine use. Age & Ageing 2008 (Dec.9, 2008); 1-3.
• Tournier M., Moride Y., Galbaud du Fort G., Ducruet T., Abenhaim L. Economic impact of non-persistence to antidepressant therapy in the Quebec community-dwelling elderly population. J Affect Discord. 2008 Aug 9.
• Moride Y., Hegele RA, Langer A., McPherson R., Miler D.B., Rinfret S. Clinical and Public Health Assessment of Benefit-risk of Statins in the Primary Prevention of Coronary Events: Resolved and Unresolved Issues. Can. J. Cardiol April, 2008.
• Gogovor A., Savoi M., Moride Y., Krelenbaum M., Montague T. Contemporary Disease Management in Québec. Healthcare Quarterly 2008; 11: 30-37.
• Blouin J., Dragomir A., Moride Y., Ste-Marie L.G., Fernandes J., Perreault S. Impact of noncompliance with alendronate and risedronate on the incidence of nonvertebral osteoporotic fractures in elderly women. Br. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 2008; 66: 117-127.

John O'Neil, Ph.D. (September 2007 - present)

Dr. John O'Neil has been Professor and Dean in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University since September, 2007. Previously, he was Director of the Manitoba First Nations Centre for Aboriginal Health Research and Professor and Head of the Department of Community Health Sciences in the University of Manitoba's faculty of medicine. Dr. O'Neil received his Ph.D. in medical anthropology from the University of California (San Francisco/Berkley) in 1983. He received his MA and BA in anthropology from the University of Saskatchewan.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, Health Canada's Science Advisory Board, and the Advisory Board of the National Collaborating Centre on Aboriginal Health at the Public Health Agency of Canada. He was the founding chair of the Advisory Board for the CIHR Institute for Aboriginal People's Health (2000 to 2006) and he served on the First Nations, Inuit and Metis Advisory Committee of the Board of the Mental Health Commission of Canada (2007-2008), and the Advisory Board of the Canada Northwest Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Research Network (2004-2007). Dr. O'Neil served as the Research Advisor to the health policy team for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in 1995/96.

He has also worked as a consultant to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Bank on HIV/AIDS prevention projects in India and Afghanistan (2001- 2010). He was awarded a Senior Investigator award (2000-2006) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Most relevant publications include:

• Lavoie J.G., Forget E. and O'Neil J.D. 2007. Why Equity in Financing First Nations On-Reserve Health Services Matters: Findings from the 2005 National Evaluation of the Health Transfer Policy. Health Care Policy 2 (4).
• Mignone J., and O'Neil J.D. 2005. Social Capital as a Determinant of Health in First Nations: An Exploratory Study in Three Communities. Journal of Aboriginal Health: 26-33.
• Blanchard J.F., O'Neil J.D., Ramesh B.M., Bhattacharjee P., Orchard T., and Moses S. 2005. Understanding the Social and Cultural Contexts of Female Sex Workers in Karnataka, India: Implications for Prevention of HIV Infection. Journal of Infectious Disease 191 (Suppl 1):139-46.
• O'Neil J.D., Orchard T., Swarankar R.C., Blanchard J., Gurav K., and Moses S. 2004. Dhandha dharma and disease: traditional sex work and HIV/AIDS in rural India. Social Science and Medicine 59 (4):851-860.
• Young T.K., Reading J., Elias B., and O'Neil J.D. 2000. Type-2 diabetes in Canada's First Nations: Status of an epidemic in progress. Canadian Medical Association Journal 163 (5).
• O'Neil J.D., Reading J., and Leader A. 1998. Changing the Relations of Surveillance: The Development of a Discourse of Resistance in Aboriginal Epidemiology. Human Organization 57 (2):230-237.

Marie-Élise Parent Ph.D. (June 2010 - present)

Dr. Parent is full professor in epidemiology at INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, a research center linked to the Université du Québec. She is also adjunct professor at the Department of social and preventive medicine at the Université de Montréal. Her research activities relate to the identification of environmental, occupational, lifestyle and genetic risk factors in cancer etymology. She has developed a particular expertise in the area of occupational exposure assessment.

She trained as a postdoctoral fellow in environmental epidemiology at the Institut Armand-Frappier. She holds Ph.D. in nutrition from the Université de Montréal, a M.Sc. in nutrition from the University of Toronto, and a B.Sc. in nutrition from the Université de Montréal.

Dr. Parent now sits on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Cancer Society as Director-at-Large-Research, as well as on the Boards of the Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and of the Institut national de la recherche scientifique. She was Vice-Chair of the Management Committee of the Prostate Cancer Research Initiative at the National Cancer Institute of Canada. She has served on several peer-review panels. She has a strong publication record in high-profile peer-review journals in the area of cancer epidemiology.

Lori Sheremeta LL.B., LL.M. (June 2010 - present)

Ms. Sheremeta is a Research Officer at the National Research Council's National Institute for Nanotechnology in Edmonton, Alberta. In her role there over the past 8 years, Lori's research has focused on the ethical, economic, environmental, legal and social issues that nanotechnology raises. Over her career, her work has focused on the interface of science, law and policy - especially around the development and commercialization of emerging technologies (including genomics, stem cell technologies and nanotechnology).

Prior to studying law, Ms. Sheremeta was a registered Nuclear Medicine Technologist and worked as a researcher, studying new drugs in animals and human subjects. She holds a LL.B and LL.M from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta.

She is a member of the British Columbia Bar Association and is Research Associate at the Health Law Institute, Faculty of Law, University of Alberta and is a member of the Cross Cancer Institute Animal Care Committee and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta's Research Ethics Review Board.

Published articles:

• Expert Panel on Nanotechnology, "Small is Different: A Science Perspective on the Regulatory Challenges of the Nanoscale" Council of Canadian Academies, September 2008.
• Sheremeta L., "Public Meets Private: Challenges for Informed Consent and Umbilical Cord Blood Banking in Canada" (2007) 15:2 Health Law Review.
• Caulfield T., Sheremeta L., and Daar, A.S., "Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer - How Science Outpaces the Law" (2003) 21 Nat. Biotech. 969.

Jacques R. Simard, Ph.D. (February 2005 - present)

Dr. Simard is currently Chair of the Canada Research Chair in Oncogenetics, Professor at the Department of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine at Université Laval and the Director of the Endocrinology and Genomics at Research Center of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec/CHUQ.

He was the Director of the Interdisciplinary Health Research International Team on Breast Cancer susceptibility designated INHERIT BRCAs funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (2001-2007), which has been renewed as a clinical research network designated CIHR Team in Familial Risks of Breast Cancer (2008-2013). This team includes 25 investigators from Québec, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, USA, UK and France.

Dr. Simard served both as a member and/or chairman of numerous peer review panels of several funding agencies. He played a key role in the strategic development of health research as member of the Board of Governors of the Medical Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance Management Committee and the Institute Advisory Board of the CIHR Gender and Health Institute and the Board of Directors of Genome Canada. He is currently Chairman of the Science and Industry Advisory Committee of Genome Canada, as well as on the Conseil sectoriel Nouvelle Économie du Fonds de Solidarité FTQ, a key labour-sponsored investment fund.

His CIHR team has extended its international networks to boost the capacity to perform robust genetic epidemiological assessment of the role of individual genetic variants in disease risk and how such a risk may be modified by interactions with other genes and environmental and lifestyle factors. This partnership creates unique opportunities to accelerate the integration of several types of risk factors into breast cancer risk prediction models. Furthermore, this interdisciplinary team also performs studies to improve our understanding of how this information can be communicated to patients, their families and health professionals in order to ensure its usefulness in a clinical setting and its impact on the health of populations at risk.

Fellowships include the:

• Canadian Academy of Health Sciences
• Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation
• American Association for Cancer Research
• American Society of Human Genetics
• Endocrine Society

Dr. Simard has been an author on more than 300 publications.

Awards

2004: "Prix d'excellence 2004" of the Foundation for research into children's diseases.

2003: "Mérites du CQLC 2003, awarded to INHERIT BRCAs by le Conseil québécois de lutte contre le cancer du Ministère de la santé du gouvernement du Québec.

1999: "Richard E. Weitzman Memorial", awarded by The Endocrine Society to a scientist younger than 40.

1997: "André-Dupont Young Investigator Award", Club de recherches cliniques du Québec.

D. Lorne Tyrrell, OC, AOE, MD, Ph.D., FRCP, FRSC (June 2010 - present)

Dr. Tyrrell is Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Alberta as well as CIHR/GSK Chair in Virology. He also serves as a Director at the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology. Previously he was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, and Chairman of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Alberta.

He obtained his BSc in Chemistry and his MD at the University of Alberta and his Ph.D. in Pharmacology at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario. He was an MRC Centennial Fellow at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, and a Fellow in Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine at the University of Alberta.

Dr. Tyrrell is a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Dr. Tyrrell is the Chair of the Board of the Gairdner Foundation, Chair of the Health Quality Council of Alberta, and the Chair of the Board of the Institute of Health Economics.

Published articles (chosen from 146 peer-reviewed papers)

• Joyce M.A., et al. HCV induces oxidative and ER stress, and sensitizes infected cells to apoptosis in SCID/Alb-uPA mice. Plos Pathogens 2009:5(2) On-line.
• Walters K.A., et al. Host-specific Response to HCV Infection in the Chimeric SCID/Alb-upA Mouse Model: Role of the innate Antiviral Immune Response. PLoS Pathogens. 2006 Jun; 2(6):591-602.
• Mercer D., et al. Hepatitis C virus replication in mice with "chimeric" human livers. Nature Medicine 2001; 7 (8):927-933. (*author with equal contribution).
• Lee B., et al. In vitro and in vivo Comparison of the Abilities of Purine and Pyrimidine 2',3'-dideoxynucleosides to Inhibit Duck Hepadnavirus. Ant Agent and Chem 1989; 33(3): 336-339.

Awards/recognition:

• Distinguished University Professor, University of Albert: July 2010
• Principal Award, Manning Innovation Awards, the Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation: 2005
• Member of the Royal Society of Canada: 2004
• Frederic Newton Gisborne Starr Award, Canadian Medical Association: 2004
• Officer of the Order of Canada: 2002
• The Alberta Order of Excellence: 2000
• Gold Medal, Canadian Liver Foundation, Canadian Association for the Study of Liver Diseases: 2000
• University Cup (for teaching and research), University of Alberta: 1999
• Gold Medal in Science (Chemistry), University of Alberta: 1964

Annalee Yassi, MD MSc, FRCPC (Community Med), FRCPC (Occupational Medicine) (June 2010 - present)

Dr. Yassi is Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Global Health and Capacity Building, University of British Columbia (UBC), specializing in the health of healthcare workers, occupational and environmental health, community-based interventions, and global health. Since 1993 she has been a Consultant to the World Health Organization, HIV Health Systems Strengthening and Occupational Health

She was Professor (and former MRC Senior Scientist), 1997 - 2001 at the University of Manitoba, Department of Community Health Sciences and Department of Medicine, and a Director from 2001 - 2006 at the Institute of Health Promotion Research, UBC. She was the Founding Executive Director, 1999 - 2007, Occupational Health & Safety Agency for Healthcare in British Columbia.

Dr. Yassi received her BSc in physiology from McGill University, an MD from McMaster University and an MSc from the University of Toronto.

Since 2009 she has been the Chair of the Scientific Committee on Healthcare; International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH), a member of the British Columbia Provincial Infection Control Network - 2006-current and a past member of the Joint Federal-Provincial Panel on Uranium Mining Development in Northern Saskatchewan.

Published Refereed Articles (selected recent):

• Yassi A., Lockhart K., Buxton J.A., McDonald I. Vaccination of healthcare workers for influenza: Promote safety culture not coercion. Canadian Journal Public Health. 101(2), S41-44, S68. Marc/April 2010.
• Spiegel J.M., Dharamsi S., Wasan K.M., Yassi A., Singer B., et al. Which new approaches to tackling neglected tropical diseases show promise? PLoS Medicine 2010. 7(5): e1000255.
• Yassi A., Nophale L.E., Dybka L., Bryce E.A., Kruge, W., Spiegel J. Building capacity to secure healthier and safer working conditions for healthcare workers: A South African-Canadian collaboration. International Journal Occupational and Environmental Health. 2009; October 15(4): 369-80.
• Pollock S.L., Yassi A., Connell I., Gamage B., Copes R. Are you prepared? Defining occupational health resource needs to prevent infectious disease transmission in the health care sector. Healthcare Management FORUM. 2009 Spring; 22(1):52-6.
• Parkes M.W., Spiegel J., Breilh J., Cabarcas F., Huish R., Yassi A. Building sustainable capacity to promote the health of marginalized populations through international collaboration: Examining community-oriented training innovations in Ecuador. Bulletin World Health Organization. 2009 April; 87(4): 245-324.
• Yassi A., Bryce E.A., Maul Said D., Novak-Launcher H., Zhao K. The impact of requiring completion of an on-line infection control course on health professionals' intentions to comply with infection control guidelines: a comparative study. Canadian Journal Infectious Diseases Medical Microbiology. 2009; 20(1):15-19.