IAB Members (September 2009 - August 2010) - Biographies
Richard Ellen (Chair)
Professor
Faculty of Dentistry and Faculty of Medicine
University of Toronto
Dr. Richard P. Ellen is a professor in the Faculty of Dentistry, cross-appointed to the Graduate Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is the director of the CIHR strategic training program Cell Signaling in Mucosal Inflammation & Pain.
Dr. Ellen received his dental degree, DDS, at Temple University in 1970; a specialty certificate in periodontology and oral medicine at Harvard University in 1973; and a research fellowship certificate in oral microbiology at the Forsyth Dental Center in 1973. He is a recognized authority on oral microbial ecology, the biology of dental plaque and other biofilms, the biology of spirochetes, and the pathogenesis of periodontal diseases. He has published many dozens of peer-reviewed research articles, and is on the editorial board for the Journal of Periodontology. Dr. Ellen is a member of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Group in Matrix Dynamics and is a former member of the CIHR Dental Sciences Committee. He has been the head of the Department of Periodontics (1988-1997), and Associate Dean for Graduate and Postgraduate Studies (1998-2003) at the University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry. Dr. Ellen has also been a visiting research scientist at: the University of Lund's Department of Cariology in Sweden (1980-81), the Biotechnology Laboratory at the University of British Columbia (1991-92), and the Department of Molecular Genetics at the Forsyth Institute in Boston (1999-2000). He is past president of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, and has just finished a 4-year term as regional board member for North America of the International Association for Dental Research.
He has served on several grant review committees for MRC, CIHR, and NIH and advisory committees for NIH. For over 30 years, he has directed the U. Toronto graduate course 'Investigating Pathogenic Biofilms' (formerly 'Biology of Dental Plaque').
Dr. Earl Bogoch
Medical Director, Mobility Program,
St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto
Dr. Earl Bogoch graduated in medicine from the University of Alberta in 1974 and after a rotating internship at Dalhousie University worked in rural general practice for two years. He trained in Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Toronto then worked in Davos and Zurich Switzerland for two years, pursuing a clinical and research fellowship in the surgical management of the rheumatic diseases and abnormal bone remodeling in inflammatory arthritis. He took an academic position at the Wellesley Hospital, University of Toronto in 1985 where he became head of Orthopaedic Surgery and then moved to St. Michael's Hospital in 2000 where he is now Medical Director of the Mobility Program (Neurology, Rheumatology, Plastic Surgery and Orthopaedic Surgery). He is past president of the Canadian Orthopaedic Research Society, and Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto. Dr. Bogoch has published over 100 peer reviewed articles, principally on abnormal bone remodeling in inflammatory arthritis, arthritis surgery and osteoporosis. In recent years Dr. Bogoch has become interested in health care delivery, especially in undiagnosed osteoporosis in patients presenting to fracture clinics with a fragility fracture.
Dr. Lois K. Cohen
Consultant
National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD, USA
A sociologist who has pioneered the integration of the social and behavioral sciences and dental research, Dr. Cohen has published over 120 research papers and edited four books. She co-directed major cross-national collaborative studies on oral health delivery systems and currently serves as the Director of the World Health Organization's Collaborative Center for Dental & Craniofacial Research. As Associate Director for International Health of the National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research, she also directed the Office of International Health which served to coordinate all intramurally and extramurally-funded research relevant to global health priorities and served as the principal liaison for the Institute with international and multinational organizations and agencies.
During her 42 years of Federal service, she had directed the Institute's Extramural Program which encompassed all research grants, cooperative agreements and contracts and had previously headed the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Communications. She is currently retired but continues to serve as a consultant to the NIH and other agencies and organizations and is a Paul G. Rogers Ambassador for Global Health Research.
Dr. Aileen Davis
Senior Scientist
Outcomes and Population Health
Toronto Western Research Institute
Dr. Davis' primary research focus is in musculoskeletal disease, particularly in identifying modifiable predictors of patient outcomes. She has published and lectured extensively on various aspects of patient evaluation and outcomes in arthritis and musculoskeletal oncology. She trained as a physiotherapist (1981) and clinical epidemiologist (1994) and received her PhD from the University of Toronto (1997). Currently, Dr. Davis is a Senior Scientist, Health Care and Outcomes Research, Toronto Western Research Institute and Associate Professor, Departments of Physical Therapy and Surgery and the Graduate Departments of Rehabilitation Science, Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (Clinical Epidemiology) and the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto. She completed tenure as a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator September 2005.
John Esdaile MD, MPH, FRCPC
Scientific Director
Professor of Medicine,
Division of Rheumatology
Department of Medicine,
University of British Columbia
Dr. Esdaile completed his undergraduate medical training at McGill University and went on to post-graduate training in Montreal, Toronto, and London, England and New Haven, CT. He has been University Program Director of Rheumatology at McGill University and the University of British Columbia.
Dedicated to expanding Canada's role in arthritis research, Dr. Esdaile was largely responsible for developing and establishing the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada in 2000. He is the Centre's Scientific Director. The Centre now has a faculty of 12 and includes rheumatologists, orthopaedic surgeons, doctoral level occupational therapists, physical therapists, as well as an epidemiologist, a pharmacoepidemiologist and a specialist in knowledge translation. A full-time biostatistician will be hired in 2009. With the completion of the CFI funded Centre for Hip and Musculoskeletal Health and 2010, the Centre will join approximately 12 other faculty including biomedical engineers and experts in bone health.
Dr. Esdaile's areas of research interest include rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and osteoarthritis. He has authored more than 180 publications in refereed journals.
Dr. Esdaile received the Distinguished Investigator Award from the Canadian Rheumatology Association at its 2005 meeting. In 2006, he was named a Kirkland Scholar by the Kirkland Foundation in New York, NY, and in 2007 he was made a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.
Debbie Feldman
Associate Professor, School of Rehabilitation
Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal
Dr. Debbie Ehrmann Feldman is an Associate Professor at the Université de Montréal, Faculty of Medicine, School of Rehabilitation. She is a member of the Groupe de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Santé, the Centre de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Réadaptation, and the Canadian Arthritis Network.
Dr. Feldman received her BSc in physiotherapy (1978) and practices physiotherapy at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. She also holds an MSc (1984) and a PhD (1998) degree from McGill University in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, following which she completed a post-doctorate at Université de Montréal in health services research (2000).
Dr. Feldman’s main research interests include health services research in patients with arthritis and other chronic diseases, pediatric rehabilitation and musculoskeletal health. She conducts much of her research in conjunction with the Montreal Department of Public Health, as a member of their research team in population health and health services.
She has held a new investigator salary award from The Arthritis Society from 2004-2009, serves on the editorial board for two scientific journals, has over 50 peer reviewed publications and has mentored more than 20 students. She has also served on several grant review committees (CIHR, NCIC, REPAR, CRIR).
Phillip Gardiner
Director, HLHP Research Institute
University of Manitoba
Phillip Gardiner is Director of the Health, Leisure & Human Performance Research Institute, and holds professorial positions in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management (as Associate Dean, Research), and in the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, at University of Manitoba. He currently holds a tier I Canada Research Chair in Physical Activity and Health Studies. Dr. Gardiner is a member of the Spinal Cord Research Center, where he directs a research laboratory, and of the Neurodegenerative Disease Research Group. After receiving his PhD in Exercise Physiology at University of Alberta in 1976, and spending 2 years of post-doctoral studies in Neuromuscular Physiology at UCLA, he took a position as Professor of Kinesiology at University of Montreal, where he worked for 26 years before taking his current position at University of Manitoba in 2002. Dr. Gardiner has been Editor-in Chief of the Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology (1995-2000), and President (2000-2002) and Executive Director (2006-2008) of the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology. He conducts research on the effects of physical activity on the nervous and neuromuscular systems, and has published over 100 articles and 2 books in this area. His research has been supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council Canada, the Canadian Space Agency, and the National Institutes of Health in the US. He has just served as the University of Manitoba representative to the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, and has been a member and Chair of the MOV peer-review committee of CIHR. He is Director of the new PhD program in Applied Health Sciences at University of Manitoba.
Lucie Germain, PhD
Full Professor
Faculty of Medicine
Laval University
Dr. Lucie Germain is a full professor in the Faculty of Medicine at Laval University and Scientific Director of Laboratoire d’organogénèse expérimentale (LOEX). She is also a Canada Research Chair in Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering.
Dr. Germain obtained a bachelor’s degree in physics (1981), and a PhD in Experimental Medicine, with a concentration in cellular and molecular biology, both at Laval University (1986). She completed postdoctoral training in anatomy at McGill University (1989), also with a concentration in cellular and molecular biology.
Dr. Germain is dedicated to post-natal stem cells and the reconstruction of human tissues. Her groundbreaking work involves mainly skin, blood vessels, ligaments, bronchi and cornea for experimental and clinical applications. Her most recent achievements include innovative human tissue engineered blood vessels, the production of reconstructed skin for wound healing studies, a reconstructed skin model containing capillaries, and the development of a cornea substitute.
Dr. Germain has published approximately 100 peer-reviewed articles and 30 book chapters and review articles. She has received several awards for her work, including one of the six 2005 Quality of Life Research Awards from CIHR’s Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis. In January 1999, Dr. Germain was also named Radio-Canada’s Scientist of the Year, along with Dr. François Auger. In 2003, she was chosen by « Le Journal Économique de Québec » as being one of 100 most accomplished researchers from the Québec city and Chaudières-Appalaches regions.
Monique Gignac, PhD
Associate Professor
Health Care & Outcomes Research
University of Toronto
Monique Gignac is a Senior Scientist with the Division of Health Care and Outcomes Research at the Toronto Western Research Institute and Associate Professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Gignac received her MA and PhD in social psychology from the University of Waterloo, Ontario. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in social gerontology at the University of Guelph. She is also an Adjunct Scientist with the Institute for Work and Health.
In 2008, she became Co-Scientific Director of the Canadian Arthritis Network, a Networks of Centres of Excellence. She has served as a member of CIHR’s Social Dimension in Aging (SDA) review committee and on CIHR Team Planning and Development grants.
Dr. Gignac’s research expertise is in the areas of health and social psychology. Her research examines psychosocial factors like stress, coping, and adaptation and their importance in understanding the impact of arthritis and other chronic diseases in the lives of middle- and older-aged adults. In particular, her work focuses on ways to enable people with chronic disease to maintain involvement in employment and other valued roles and activities. She also conducts research in social support related to family caregiving of persons with Alzheimer’s disease and stroke.
Joy MacDermid, BScPT, PhD
Associate Professor
Rehabilitation Science
McMaster University
Joy MacDermid is an Associate Professor in Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University (Hamilton, ON), and is the Co-director of Clinical Research at the Hand and Upper Limb Centre (London, ON).
She is funded as a (physical therapist/ epidemiologist) scientist by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR New Investigator) and has published more than 130 articles, 15 chapters and 2 textbooks. Her methodology expertise is in systematic reviews, clinical trials, knowledge transfer, clinical practice guidelines, cohort studies/clinical prediction and development/validation of impairment and disability measures. Her content expertise is in musculoskeletal pain and disability resulting from upper quadrant disorders and the impact of these disorders on work and quality-of-life.
Dr. MacDermid is the President of the American Society of Hand Therapists (ASHT), has twice won its best scientific paper award, was awarded the Nathalie Barr Lecture in 2006; the Philadelphia Hand Meeting Honored Professorship in 2006, and the CIHR Quality of Life Award in 2007.
She is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Hand Therapy and the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, Editor for the ASHT Clinical Outcome Assessment Recommendations for the Wrist/Hand, and Co-Editor of the textbook Evidence-Based Rehabilitation.
Dr. Chris McGibbon
Professor, Institute of Biomedical Engineering
University of New Brunswick
Dr. McGibbon received his Bachelor's (1988) and Doctorate (1994) degrees from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). After receiving his doctoral degree, Dr. McGibbon was a post-doctoral fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School (1995-1996) in Boston, Massachusetts, and then Technical/ Assistant Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Biomotion Laboratory, Lecturer in Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School, and Associate Professor in the Graduate Programs in Physical Therapy at the MGH Institute of Health Professions (1996-2004). Dr. McGibbon is currently Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology at UNB, and Research Chair in Rehabilitation Biomechanics at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at UNB. Dr. McGibbon's primary research interests include age related disorders of the musculoskeletal system, vestibular and brain disorders affecting balance, locomotion and coordination, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging applications in musculoskeletal research.
Prof. Marc D. McKee
Professor
Associate Dean (Graduate Studies and Research)
Division of Oral Biology
Faculty of Dentistry
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
Faculty of Medicine
McGill University
Dr. Marc D. McKee is a professor at McGill University, with a joint appointment in the Division of Oral Biology in the Faculty of Dentistry and the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology in the Faculty of Medicine. He is Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research (Dentistry), and is a founding member of the McGill Centre for Bone and Periodontal Research.
Dr. McKee received his bachelor of science (1982) and master of science (1984) degrees, both with a concentration in cell biology, from McGill University. He completed his PhD in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at McGill (1987) and a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard University and the Children's Hospital in Boston (1989). He joined McGill University in 1998.
Dr. McKee's ongoing research program is primarily focused on understanding the role of extracellular matrix proteins in regulating biomineralization of bones and teeth, and in controlling pathologic mineralization as seen in kidney stones, arthritis and vascular calcification.
With over 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles, Dr. McKee has received the Young Investigator Award (1996) and the Research in Biological Mineralization Award (2003) from the International Association for Dental Research. He currently serves on the editorial boards for three scientific journals, is a consultant and Scientific Advisory Board member for several biotechnology companies in the Montreal area, and has also participated on CIHR's Dental Sciences peer review committee.
Richard Singleton (Vice Chair)
Professor
Pastoral Studies
Queen’s College
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Dr. Richard Singleton is currently a Professor of Pastoral Studies at Queen’s College in the Faculty of Theology at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He is also the Director of Pastoral Care at the Health Care Cooperation of St. John’s as well as the Volunteer Executive Director of the Bereavement Association in St. John’s.
In 1975, Dr. Singleton completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at Memorial University of Newfoundland. In 1979, Dr. Singleton received his Master of Divinity degree from the University of Western Ontario and in 1992, he received his Doctorate of Ministry from the Graduate Theological Foundation in Donaldson, Indiana.
Dr. Singleton has had a leading role in spiritual care, grief and bereavement services, cultural diversity and health care ethics. He is a certified member of the International Association of Death Education and Counselling. In 2003, he received the Green Award from the Health Care Corporation of St. John’s (HCCSJ).
Ms. Erna Snelgrove-Clarke
Assistant Professor
School of Nursing
Dalhousie University
Ms. Erna Snelgrove-Clarke is an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at Dalhousie University, who also maintains a clinical appointment at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax.
She received a bachelor of nursing degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland (1986) and her master of nursing degree from Dalhousie University. Currently, Ms. Snelgrove-Clarke is a doctoral candidate at McGill University and a trainee with the Centre for Knowledge Transfer at the University of Alberta.
Ms. Snelgrove-Clarke's dissertation focuses on the transfer of knowledge into clinical practice. Her research interests include testing intervention strategies with health professionals that will increase knowledge uptake and transfer, and using randomized controlled methodology to obtain clinical outcome data of interest to families.
Ms.Snelgrove-Clarke has worked as a maternity nurse for 17 years, and has served as a research associate for nursing and interdisciplinary research at the IWK Health Centre. There, she supported health care professionals in both conducting research and transferring research evidence into practice. She is also a member of various professional organizations and is the past recipient of the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation Doctoral Student Scholarship.
Allan Stordy
Director, Business Development and Client Services
Solareh
Allan was born in France but raised on Prince Edward Island, Canada. He received a degree from the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, prior to attending, The University of Calgary, in 1983.
Before coming to Solareh in 1990, Allan held management and supervisory positions in the Faculty of Physical Education and the Department of Public Affairs at The University of Calgary and worked as a staff member with the Olympic Organizing Committee in preparation for the XV Olympic Winter Games in Calgary.
He is currently responsible for Solareh's business relationships with insurance companies, group insurance brokers and employer communication services across Canada. He sits on Solareh's international marketing committee.
Allan developed psoriasis at age 29. He received a variety of treatments over the years including participation in four clinical research trails. He has participated in psoriasis advisory groups and has interviewed through the various media both locally and nationally.
Allan was appointed in April 2006 to the Knowledge Exchange Task Force of the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis. He is a member of the Executive Council of the Canadian Skin Patient Alliance.
Allan currently lives in Calgary with his wife and four sons.
Solareh is an international disability management company that works exclusively with the Insurance Industry with offices in Canada, France, Germany and Belgium.
Klaus Wrogemann, MD, PhD
Professor and Associate Head, Department of Biochemistry & Medical Genetics, Professor of Pediatrics
University of Manitoba
Dr. Wrogemann received his MD degree from the University of Marburg, Germany, in 1966 and a PhD in biochemistry form the University of Manitoba in 1969. He has been on faculty at the University of Manitoba since 1970, where he also served a year each as Acting Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics and as Associate Vice President (Research).
Throughout his research career his prime interest has been the molecular pathology of muscular dystrophies. Initial studies were on energy metabolism and led to the realization that mitochondrial and cellular calcium overloading contribute to muscle cell death in numerous muscular dystrophies. In searching for the cause of muscular dystrophies before the DNA days he applied proteomics methods with some surprising results, and during the last 20 years he used molecular genetic approaches. His lab recently identified two new genes for limb girdle muscular dystrophy in the Hutterite population.
Dr. Wrogemann’s major shifts in research approaches were greatly facilitated by four Research Study Leaves (Sabbaticals). In 1977/78 he spent a year at the Max Planck Institute for Immunology in Freiburg, Germany, in 84/85 and in 92/93 each a year at the Institut de Chimie Biologique (in Molecular Biology) in Strasbourg, France, and in 2001 he was at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin.
Dr. Wrogemann’s current research is focused on the pathogenesis of one of the limb girdle muscular dystrophies.
