Board 2020-2021
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.
Dr. Harold Kim currently serves as Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Ontario and as Assistant Clinical Professor at McMaster University where he has been since 1998. He attended the University of Western Ontario from 1985 until he graduated and became a certified Allergist and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 1997.
Dr. Kim is current Chair for the 2021 and 2022 CSACI Annual Scientific Meeting.
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.
Dr Ben-Shoshan graduated from The Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv, Israel and completed his fellowship in Pediatric Allergy/Clinical Immunology at Montreal Children’s Hospital in 2009. Dr Ben-Shoshan has been granted his Msc degree in Epidemiology in McGill in 2011. In 2011 he was granted the Emerging Clinician Scientist fellowship award by AllerGen NCE and in 2013 and 2019 the FRSQ junior 1 and Junior 2 salary awards respectively. In 2017 he has received the F. Estelle R. Simons award for Research by the CSACI. Dr Ben-Shoshan is currently a physician in the division of Allergy/ Immunology at Montreal Children’s Hospital and is involved in research initiatives on anaphylaxis, chronic urticaria and immunodeficiency.
Dr Bégin is an allergist and associate professor from Université de Montréal. He completed his medical and specialty training, as well as a PhD in biomedical sciences at the Université de Montréal. He performed 2 years of complementary research training in food allergy research at Stanford University, after which he was recruited at the CHUM and CHU Sainte-Justine in Montréal. He is a FRQS and CIHR-funded clinicial trialist, with a specific interest in experimental approaches to immunologic and allergic disorders. His program further includes research on patient-centered outcomes, health technology assessment and clinical implementation science. He is the director of a pilot oral immunotherapy program funded by the provincial government and teaches immunology in the MD program and in the adult and pediatric allergy and immunology training programs at Université de Montréal.
Elissa Abrams is an Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, University of Manitoba. She is an Associate Member, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Allergy and Immunology, University of British Columbia. She is completing her MPH at Johns Hopkins with a focus on healthcare policy and risk communication. She is Chair of the Food Allergy/Anaphylaxis Section of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and President of the Allergy Section of the Canadian Pediatric Society. Research interests include food allergy, food allergy prevention, asthma and healthcare policy
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. Jennifer Protudjer is the Endowed Research Chair in Allergy, Asthma and the Environment; and, an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba; a research scientist at the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba; and, an epidemiologist with the Clinical Trials Platform at the George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation. She also holds an adjunct professorship in the Department of Foods and Human Nutritional Sciences, University of Manitoba; and, and is an affiliated researcher at the Karolinska Institute, where she completed her post-doctoral training. Her primary research interests include environmental risk factors for, and societal consequences of allergic disease, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Dr Protudjer has a passion for patient engagement and knowledge translation of allergic disease research with families, schools and other stakeholders, and for academic teaching.
Dr. Angeliki Barlas is a Clinical Immunology and Allergy Fellow-In-Training in Vancouver at the University of British Columbia. She grew up in Saskatoon and completed her undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Saskatchewan before moving to the west coast to pursue her residency in Internal Medicine. Her clinical interests include asthma, allergic rhinitis and anaphylaxis. Outside of medicine, Angeliki stays connected to her Greek culture through music and dance, as well as spending time with her family. Angeliki will pursue a career in community allergy and immunology in British Columbia when she completes her fellowship.
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.
Jasmin comes to the CSACI with over 20 years of executive association experience for medical not-for-profits. Her 13 years experience as the Executive Director for the Canadian Association of General Surgeons has provided her with robust knowledge and experience in governance, membership program development and the delivery of quality medical education.
In collaboration with the CSACI Executive, the CSACI CPD Chair and the Executive Director, Jasmin ensures that the CSACI offers the best possible education and programs for Allergists and Immunologists across Canada.
