Meet Our Board Members

DR. ANNE ELLIS,PRESIDENT
MD, MSc, FRCPC
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DR. VANDER LEEK, PAST PRESIDENT
MD, FRCPC, FAAAAI
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DR. EDMOND CHAN, VICE-PRESIDENT
MD, MSc, FRCPC
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DR. DOUG MACK,TREASURER, BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MSc, MD, FRCPC
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DR. ELISSA ABRAMS,BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MD, FRCPC
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DR. PHILIPPE BÉGIN,BOARD OF DIRECTOR
MD, PhD, FRCPC
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DR. MOSHE BEN-SHOSHAN,BOARD OF DIRECTOR
MSC, MD, FRCPC
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DR. KYLA HILDEBRAND, BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MD, FRCPC, MScCH, (HPTE)
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DR. JULIA UPTON,BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MD, FRCPC
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DR. ANDREW O’KEEFE,BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MD, FRCPC
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DR. VY KIM,SECTION ADVISOR – IMMUNOLOGY
MD, DMRF
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DR. LANA ROSENFIELD,SECTION ADVISOR – RHINITIS & SINUSITIS
MD, FRCPC
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JENNIFER PROTUDJER, SECTION ADVISOR – ALLIED HEALTH
PhD
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DR. MARIAM HANNASECTION ADVISOR – PEDIATRIC
MD, FRCPC
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JASMIN LIDINGTON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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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 Director
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 Director
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 Director
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.
Harissios Vliagoftis, Board of Director
MD
Dr. Moshe Ben-Shoshan, Board of Director
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 Director
MD, PhD, FRCPC
Elissa Abrams, Section Advisor – Anaphylaxis and Food Allergy
Andrew O’Keefe, Section Advisor – Asthma
MD, FRCPC
Dr. Vy Kim, Section Advisor – Immunology
MD, DMRF
Elana Lavine, Section Advisor – Pediatrics
MD, FRCPC, FAAAAI
Lana Rosenfield, Section Advisor – Rhinitis & Sinusitis
MD, FRCPC
Jennifer Protudje, Co-Section Advisor – Allied Health
PhD
Dr. Mariam Hanna, Pediatric Interest Section Chair
MD
Jasmin Lidington, Executive Director