Board 2018-2019
Harold Kim was born in Pusan, Korea and was raised in Uxbridge, Ontario. He completed medical school, internal medicine and allergy training at the University of Western Ontario.
Dr. Kim has been a section chair in asthma, Board member, Treasurer, Vice President and now President for the CSACI and is a past president of the Canadian Network of Respiratory Care. He practices in Kitchener, Ontario with academic appointments at Western University and McMaster University. Dr. Kim is happily married with five daughters. He strives to provide quality medical care to all of his patients and to support the subspecialty of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in Canada.
Dr. Fischer is also Chair for the 2019 and 2020 ASM.
Dr. Fischer was Chair of the Anaphylaxis Interest Section and the Continuing Professional Development Committee of the CSACI. He is a co-author of the Canadian Immunotherapy Guidelines and an Adjunct Professor of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at Western University.
Dr. Vander Leek completed both medical school and a Pediatric residency at the University of Alberta, followed by subspecialty training in Clinical Immunology & Allergy at National Jewish Health in Denver, Colorado. He is part of a private practice pediatric allergy clinic in Edmonton, Alberta, and is a member of the Department of Pediatrics at the Stollery Children’s hospital, University of Alberta.
Anne K. Ellis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine with a cross-appointment to the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences at Queen’s University, having joined the Faculty in August 2008. Her position is one of a Clinician Scientist with 70% protected time for research.
Edmond S. Chan is the Head of the Division of Allergy & Immunology in the Department of Pediatrics, and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia. He sees patients in the Allergy clinic at BC Children’s Hospital. He created the UBC Pediatric Clinical Immunology and Allergy fellowship training program and was its first program director. He is a Clinical Investigator at the Child and Family Research Institute, and his research interests are in food allergy and eosinophilic esophagitis. He is on the Board of directors of the Canadian Society of Allergy & Clinical Immunology.
Lori Connors is certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in both Allergy/Clinical Immunology and Internal Medicine. She has been in practice since 2010. Her time is spent mainly at Halifax Allergy and Asthma Associates as an allergist and immunologist. The remainder of her time is spent practicing internal medicine at the QEII Health Sciences Centre. Outside of her medical practice Dr. Connors enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter and son. She also is an avid reader and has recently discovered an appreciation for yoga.
Kyla Hildebrand is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Division of Allergy & Immunology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, Canada. She completed her fellowship training in Pediatric Clinical Immunology and Allergy at the Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto.
Dr. Mack is a Pediatric Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Specialist. He is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at McMaster University and is an active member of the Pediatric Emergency Department. His interests include early childhood allergy prevention, anaphylaxis education and oral food desensitization.
Dr. Vliagoftis is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Alberta and holds the GSK/CIHR Chair in Airway Inflammation. Dr Vliagoftis a clinician scientist with a research interest in the regulation of allergic airway inflammation. Dr. Vliagoftis has published over 65 original peer-reviewed publications and is actively involved in the training of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. He is currently funded by CIHR, the GSK/CIHR Chair in Airway Inflammation, and has also been funded by the Lung Association of Alberta, Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions, the National Sanitarium Association, the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation, and the University of Alberta Foundation.
Christine McCusker has a BSc in microbiology/immunology from the University of Toronto and has an MSc from McMaster University in molecular virology. She did her MD degree also at McMaster University and trained in pediatrics and clinical allergy and immunology at McGill. She is a pediatrician and allergist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital where she is the director of the Allergy, Immunology and Dermatology division. She teaches undergraduate and graduate level immunology and organizes the immunology course for first year medical students at McGill University.
Julia Upton MD, FRCPC, MPH
Julia Upton is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Division of Allergy & Immunology at the University of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children with a cross appointment to Saint Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Ontario. She completed her fellowship training in Clinical Immunology and Allergy at the University of Toronto. Her interests include food desensitisation therapies, allergy diagnostics and advancing the recognition and treatment of immunodeficiencies.
Dr. O’Keefe completed medical school and Pediatrics residency training at Memorial University. He trained in Allergy and Clinical Immunology at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, in Montreal, Quebec. He holds board certification from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in Pediatrics and Allergy & Clinical Immunology (pediatric and adult).
Beata Derfalvi is a Pediatric Immunologist, Rheumatologist, Clinical Associate Professor at the Dept. of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University/IWK Health Centre (since 2013), focusing on clinical immunology. She completed her Fellowship training in Clinical Immunology and Allergy in Budapest at Semmelweis University and has been in practice since 2002. She is also cross-appointed to Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology at Dalhousie University. She teaches also graduate level immunology and supervises students in her translational immunology laboratory. Her research interests are inflammation immunology and complex immunodysregulatory disorders.
Elana Lavine trained and in pediatrics and allergy/immunology at the University of Toronto. She now practices at the Vaughan Paediatric Clinic and at Humber River Hospital Paediatric Consultation Clinic, both in the greater Toronto area.
She is an adjunct assistant professor in the Dept of Pediatrics, Queen’s University, and serves as a frequent clinical teacher for their pediatrics and family practice residents.
She is also a clinical teacher with the Paediatric Clinical Immunology and Allergy subspecialty residency program at SickKids. She has three (wonderful) kids who keep her very, very busy, but in the quiet moments she loves fiction and film.
Program Director, McMaster Pediatric and Adult Clinical Immunology and Allergy
Assistant Clinical Professor, McMaster University, Department of Medicine
Private practice in Clinical Immunology and Allergy, Mississauga Ontario
Dr. Lianne Soller is a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Edmond Chan in the Division of Allergy & Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, at the University of British Columbia, and is the Research Manager in the Allergy clinic at BC Children’s Hospital (BCCH). Dr. Soller manages a growing food allergy research program on the prevention and treatment of food allergy at BCCH. Dr. Soller also developed the first research program in Canada to better understand food allergy associated anxiety and create strategies to help families cope.
Keelia Farrell is a fellow in Allergy & Clinical Immunology at Dalhousie University. She completed her medical degree at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Pediatrics residency in Ottawa at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Her interests include food allergy and oral immunotherapy. Outside of medicine she thoroughly enjoys hiking, dancing, and unsweetened lattes.
Louise Tremblay has been responsible, since 2002, for the management and administration of all operations and programs for CSACI and CAAIF. Louise has also worked at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada where she managed a number a medical specialty societies. Prior to her work at RC, she was the Communications, Media Relations and Public Education Coordinator for the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada.
Alexi has been the Manager for the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (CSACI) since 2013. In this capacity, Alexi manages the day-to-day operations and assists with the management of various projects. Alexi has over 10 years’ experience within the not-for-profit sector and enjoys the ongoing challenges. Alexi also serves as the Executive Director for the Canadian Association of Medical Oncologists.”
