Meet Our Board Members

<span>DR. ANNE ELLIS,</span><span style="font-size:12px;padding:0px 5px;color:#222e50">PRESIDENT</span>

DR. ANNE ELLIS,PRESIDENT

MD, MSc, FRCPC

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<span>DR. VANDER LEEK,</span> <span style="font-size:12px;padding:0px 5px;color:#222e50">PAST PRESIDENT</span>

DR. VANDER LEEK, PAST PRESIDENT

MD, FRCPC, FAAAAI

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<span>DR. EDMOND CHAN,</span> <span style="font-size:12px;padding:0px 5px;color:#222e50">VICE-PRESIDENT</span>

DR. EDMOND CHAN, VICE-PRESIDENT

MD, MSc, FRCPC

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<span>DR. DOUG MACK,</span><span style="font-size:12px;padding:0px 5px;color:#222e50">TREASURER, BOARD OF DIRECTORS</span>

DR. DOUG MACK,TREASURER, BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MSc, MD, FRCPC

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<span>DR. ELISSA ABRAMS,</span><span style="font-size:12px;padding:0px 5px;color:#222e50">BOARD OF DIRECTORS </span>

DR. ELISSA ABRAMS,BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MD, FRCPC

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<span>DR. PHILIPPE BÉGIN,</span><span style="font-size:12px;padding:0px 5px;color:#222e50">BOARD OF DIRECTOR</span>

DR. PHILIPPE BÉGIN,BOARD OF DIRECTOR

MD, PhD, FRCPC

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<span>DR. MOSHE BEN-SHOSHAN,</span><span style="font-size:12px;padding:0px 5px;color:#222e50">BOARD OF DIRECTOR</span>

DR. MOSHE BEN-SHOSHAN,BOARD OF DIRECTOR

MSC, MD, FRCPC

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<span>DR. KYLA HILDEBRAND,</span> <span style="font-size:12px;padding:0px 5px;color:#222e50">BOARD OF DIRECTORS</span>

DR. KYLA HILDEBRAND, BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MD, FRCPC, MScCH, (HPTE)

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<span>DR. JULIA UPTON,</span><span style="font-size:12px;padding:0px 5px;color:#222e50">BOARD OF DIRECTORS</span>

DR. JULIA UPTON,BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MD, FRCPC

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<span>DR. ANDREW O’KEEFE,</span><span style="font-size:12px;padding:0px 5px;color:#222e50">BOARD OF DIRECTORS</span>

DR. ANDREW O’KEEFE,BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MD, FRCPC

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<span>DR. VY KIM,</span><span style="font-size:12px;padding:0px 5px;color:#222e50">SECTION ADVISOR – IMMUNOLOGY</span>

DR. VY KIM,SECTION ADVISOR – IMMUNOLOGY

MD, DMRF

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<span>JENNIFER PROTUDJER,</span> <span style="font-size:12px;padding:0px 5px;color:#222e50">SECTION ADVISOR – ALLIED HEALTH</span>

JENNIFER PROTUDJER, SECTION ADVISOR – ALLIED HEALTH

PhD

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<span>DR. LANA ROSENFIELD,</span><span style="font-size:12px;padding:0px 5px;color:#222e50">SECTION ADVISOR – RHINITIS & SINUSITIS</span>

DR. LANA ROSENFIELD,SECTION ADVISOR – RHINITIS & SINUSITIS

MD, FRCPC

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<span>DR. MARIAM HANNA</span><span style="font-size:12px;padding:0px 5px;color:#222e50">SECTION ADVISOR – PEDIATRIC </span>

DR. MARIAM HANNASECTION ADVISOR – PEDIATRIC

MD, FRCPC

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<span>JASMIN LIDINGTON,</span> <span style="font-size:12px;padding:0px 5px;color:#222e50">EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR</span>

JASMIN LIDINGTON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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<span>DR. DEREK LANOUE,</span><span style="font-size:12px;padding:0px 5px;color:#222e50">FIT REPRESENTATIVE, BOARD OF DIRECTORS</span>

DR. DEREK LANOUE,FIT REPRESENTATIVE, BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MD

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Dr. Anne Ellis, President

MD, MSc, FRCPC

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.

She has served as the Chair of the Division of Allergy & Immunology since May 2010, and is the Director of the Allergy Research Unit of Kingston General Hospital; the flagship of this research program being the Environmental Exposure Unit (EEU), an internationally recognized and validated controlled allergen challenge model of allergic rhinitis. She is also the Co-Director of the Allergic Rhinitis Clinical Investigator Collaborative (AR-CIC), a National multi-centre network of allergic rhinitis researchers, which receives federal funding via AllerGen NCE.

Dr. Tim Vander Leek, Past President

MD, FRCPC, FAAAAI

 

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. Julia Upton, Board of Directors

MD

 

Dr. Julia Upton is a Clinical Immunologist and Allergist at the Hospital for Sick Children, an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, co-Director of the SickKids Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Programme, and the Medical Director of the SickKids Clinical Research Center. She is a past Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Section Head of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. She is on the Health Care Advisory board of Food Allergy Canada. She is the 2022 awardee of the Robyn Allen Leadership Award through Food Allergy Canada. She graduated from Western University Medical school, completed residency at McMaster University, fellowship in Clinical Immunology and Allergy at University of Toronto, and a Master’s in Public Health at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. Her clinical practice focuses on both clinical immunodeficiency and allergy. Her research interests include the identification and optimal care of people with immunodeficiencies and exploring the risk factors, severity, prognosis and optimizing the treatment of food allergies.

Dr. Edmond Chan, Vice-President

MD, MSc, FRCPC

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.

He is the principal author of the latest Canadian Paediatric Society/Canadian Society of Allergy & Clinical Immunology Food Allergy Prevention position statement. He is on the NIAID Coordinating Committee and Expert Panel, for the update to the Food Allergy guidelines (Prevention of Peanut allergy).

Lori Connors, Secretary-Treasurer

MD, MEd, FRCPC

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, Board of Directors 

MD, FRCPC, MScCH, (HPTE)

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. 

She is the program director for the Pediatric Clinical Immunology and Allergy fellowship program at UBC and has completed a graduate degree focused in medical education at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include health advocacy, food allergy, severe asthma and primary immunodeficiency.

Doug Mack, Board of Directors 

MSc, MD, FRCPC

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. Derek Lanoue, FIT Representative, Board of Directors 

MD

Dr. Moshe Ben-Shoshan, Board of Directors 

MSC, MD, FRCPC

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. Philippe Bégin, Board of Directors 

MD, PhD, FRCPC

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 clinical 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, Section Advisor – Anaphylaxis and Food Allergy

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

Andrew O’Keefe, Section Advisor – Asthma

MD, FRCPC

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).

Dr. Vy Kim, Section Advisor – Immunology

MD, DMRF

Dr. Vy Kim is a staff Clinical Immunologist and Allergist at SickKids and Assistant Professor in the Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto. She completed her medical degree at McMaster University, her Paediatric residency and Paediatric Clinical Immunology & Allergy subspecialty residency at SickKids and her Master of Science in Community Health in Health Practitioner Teacher Education at the University of Toronto. She is director of the Immunology clinic and co-director of the Advanced Immunodeficiency Management (AIM) clinic at SickKids. She is the Program Director for the Paediatric Clinical Immunology & Allergy subspecialty residency program at the University of Toronto. Her clinical work includes inborn errors of immunity, stem cell therapy, anaphylaxis and food and drug allergies. She also has a special interest in medical education and quality improvement

Elana Lavine, Section Advisor – Pediatrics

MD, FRCPC, FAAAAI

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.

Lana Rosenfield, Section Advisor – Rhinitis & Sinusitis

MD, FRCPC

Dr. Rosenfield obtained her Undergraduate Bachelor of Science Honours (Genetics) Degree and Doctor of Medicine from the University of Manitoba. Following the completion of her Medical Degree, Dr. Rosenfield completed an Internal Medicine Residency through the University of Manitoba and in 2017, Dr. Rosenfield completed her Clinical Immunology and Allergy Residency at McMaster University. She is an assistant professor at the University of Mantioba in the Section of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and currently practices at The Winnipeg Clinic.

Jennifer Protudjer, Co-Section Advisor – Allied Health

PhD

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. Mariam Hanna, Pediatric Interest Section Chair

MD

Dr. Hanna is a Pediatric Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Specialist. She is an Adjunct Clinical Professor in the Department of Pediatrics in McMaster and is an affiliate of Sick Kids. She is the Chair of the Allergy and Immunology section with the Ontario Medical Association. She is an advisor on the Ontario Immunization advisory committee. Dr. Hanna is co-founder of Halton Pediatric Allergy Clinic in Burlington, Ontario. The clinic focuses on accurate diagnosis, management and treatment of allergic conditions including asthma, environmental and food allergies.

Jasmin Lidington, Executive Director

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 in the medical specialty society sector 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, Jasmin ensures that the CSACI offers the best possible education and programs for Allergists and Immunologists across Canada.