Co-Scientific Leads
André Carpentier
Dr. André Carpentier’s research interests include: 1) the role of postprandial fatty acid metabolism in the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases; 2) the investigation of brown adipose tissue metabolism in diabetes; and 3) the anti-diabetic mechanisms of bariatric surgery. He is also involved in translational research in collaboration with private partners using in vivo investigations techniques his laboratory develops to help advance diagnostic and treatment of diabetes and lipid disorders.
Gary F. Lewis
The Lewis lab has had a long interest in the mechanisms of various aspects of diabetic dyslipidemia, including postprandial lipemia, HDL lowering and hypertriglyceridemia. We have also had a long standing interest in the mechanisms of type 2 diabetes. Previously we have performed both animal and human mechanistic studies but currently are focusing exclusively on the human.
Researcher List
Mahavir Agarwal
Dr. Mahavir Agarwal is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a Clinician-Scientist in the Schizophrenia Division at the Centre for Addiction at Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto. He is also the Medical Head for Clinical Research in the Schizophrenia Division and co-leads the Metabolic Clinic and the Clozapine Clinic at CAMH.
His research interest lies in understanding the mechanisms underlying metabolic and cognitive dysfunction in mental illness with specific focus on insulin signaling in the brain, and in discovering new treatments for these abnormalities.
Mohammed Al-Omran
Dr. Mohammed Al-Omran is a clinician investigator and currently appointed as a Scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital and a Full Member at the Institute of Medical Science (IMS). His research interests include: atherosclerosis bench to bedside with a special interest in peripheral arterial disease and Diabetic Foot; clinical epidemiology and health services research with a focus on using large healthcare administrative databases to conduct population-based analyses of individuals with aortic, carotid, and peripheral arterial disease; knowledge translation; and systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
Geoffrey Anderson
Dr. Geoff Anderson’s professional interests include clinical effectiveness, health services outcome and evaluation, health services organization and management, knowledge transfer, acute pre-hospital and emergency care, community and home care, and the health care system. His research focuses on reducing health disparities and promoting equity for vulnerable populations, applying measures of access and outcomes at a national level, techniques to improve prescription drug utilization, outcomes of hospital staffing, maternity care guideline implementation demonstration, and improved techniques for analyzing cesarean section rates.
Neil Andersson
Dr. Neil Andersson has three decades of experience designing and managing evidence-based primary health care research initiatives. In 1985, he founded CIET, a group of NGOs, institutes, foundations and charities dedicated to community-based research and planning. His main research interests are related to primary prevention in areas such as diabetes, dengue, HIV, gender violence and maternal mortality. He has supported Indigenous communities in Canada to pursue their own research objectives, often relating to diabetes and cultural resilience for over 20 years. A specific project related to diabetes worked towards revitalizing traditional foodways to reduce diabetes risk across First Nations communities.
Ananya Tina Banerjee
Dr. Ananya Banerjee’s unique dual training in qualitative and quantitative research methods enables her to study the social determinants and lived experiences of diabetes among South Asian migrant communities living in Canada and design health promotion programs for this high-risk ethnic population. The focus of her public health research exemplifies a commitment to providing a strong foundation in methodology guided by principles of the socio-ecological framework, intersectionality, community-based participatory research and cultural safety.
Ereny Bassilious
Dr. Ereny Bassilious’s academic interests are in medical education research, particularly in interprofessional education and technology enhanced patient education. Her current study examines the role of numeracy in diabetes management for teens with type 1 diabetes and the effect of an innovative video game intervention on numeracy skills. Dr. Bassilious has an academic and clinical interest in pediatric obesity and type 2 diabetes
Mathieu Bélanger
The primary focus of Dr. Mathieu Belanger’s research program is to develop a better understanding of how behaviours develop and change over time, particularly with regard to participation in physical activity. Specific aspects of the research include identifying determinants of behavioural change and investigating the effects of behaviour change on health outcomes, including the management of diabetes. Other determinants of optimal diabetes care are also investigated from an epidemiological perspective using administrative databases.
Onil Bhattacharyya
Dr. Onil Bhattacharyya, Frigon-Blau Chair in Family Medicine Research, works closely with policy makers and system partners to evaluate new virtual care models that address system needs and are poised to scale, particularly for patients with complex needs. His research focuses on implementing new virtual care models within a particular clinical context and modifying them until he finds a balance between benefits and barriers for both patients and providers. Addressing factors such as the right features, which clinical model it supports, who is likely to benefit and what types of benefits can be expected help to improve a tool’s successful implementation.
Denis Blondin
Denis P. Blondin is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Université de Sherbrooke and researcher at the Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CRCHUS). His research focuses primarily on identifying organs, mechanisms and therapeutic strategies that can be stimulated to dissipate excess energy and investigating the impact of differentially timed lifestyle interventions on preventing the development of type 2 diabetes (TIMED consortium).
Gillian Booth
Dr. Gillian Booth’s research focuses on health outcomes related to diabetes; specifically how socioeconomic, environmental and health care factors influence the risk of diabetes and its complications. She has extensive experience in using large provincial health care and survey databases, and in using geographic information systems (GIS) methodology to study contextual factors influencing the development of diabetes. One of her major research interests is on the built environment and its role in the obesity and diabetes epidemics.
Jim Bowen
Jim has been a member of the DAC team since 2018, in the role of Program Manager within the Health Technology Assessment and Network Analytics group. Diabetes research is a major focus and he brings a wide range of skills in health technology assessment, health services research, quantitative research, clinical trials and observational study design. Current work includes the use of provincial administrative data to guide diabetic retinopathy screening, a developmental evaluation to guide the development of a foot and wound care pathway for individuals living with diabetes and the network evaluation for Diabetes Action Canada.
Anne-Sophie Brazeau
Dr. Anne-Sophie Brazeau’s research aims to understand the patients’ experience with diabetes self-management, to inform on the effectiveness, benefits and risks of different diets and to explore strategies for timely access to diabetes education and support. Her approach builds on close collaboration between patients, clinicians and researchers. She is co-directing the development and management of a prospective registry of patients with type 1 diabetes in Quebec (BETTER registry) and she is leading the development of an online self-guided training program to improve access to diabetes education.
Michael Brent
Dr. Michael Brent is a participating team member in the development of a national Diabetic Retinopathy screening program that will be accessible to all Canadians living with diabetes. A best practices approach for early diagnosis and management of Diabetic Retinopathy will reduce blindness and visual disability. Tele-ophthalmology will be an important program component, with emphasis on indigenous and inner city communities. Patient engagement in research protocols, and attention to sex and gender issues will be essential cornerstones of program development. Novel imaging equipment, and automated grading software will be integrated into the screening program. A national clinical trials network will be established to assess new treatments for diabetic retinopathy.
Sonia Butalia
Dr. Sonia Butalia is a Clinician-Scientist in the Departments of Medicine and Community Health Sciences. Her research interests are in innovative tools and strategies to improve diabetes and other cardiovascular risk factors in the community. Her multi-method research program includes epidemiology (i.e., the use of large clinical and administrative data sources), health services research, and pragmatic clinical trials. Her award-winning program of work importantly engages and is informed by people (i.e., patient partners), health care providers and decision makers. She has received funding from the CIHR, Diabetes Canada, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.
Joseph Cafazzo
Dr. Joseph Cafazzo is the inaugural Wolfond Chair in Digital Health and Senior Investigator Center for Digital Therapeutics, University Health Network. As a biomedical engineer, Dr. Cafazzo observes healthcare delivery from the inside-out and works on ways to keep people out of hospital by creating technologies that allow for self-care at home.
David J. T. Campbell
Dr. David Campbell is a specialist in Endocrinology and Metabolism and an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Community Health Sciences and Cardiac Sciences. His research interest is improving equity in health services delivery for those with chronic diseases.
André Carpentier
Dr. André Carpentier’s research interests include: 1) the role of postprandial fatty acid metabolism in the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases; 2) the investigation of brown adipose tissue metabolism in diabetes; and 3) the anti-diabetic mechanisms of bariatric surgery. He is also involved in translational research in collaboration with private partners using in vivo investigations techniques his laboratory develops to help advance diagnostic and treatment of diabetes and lipid disorders.
Varun Chaudhary
Dr. Varun Chaudhary is Professor of Surgery and Chief of Ophthalmology at McMaster University. He is the Chair for the Retina Evidence and Trials INternational Alliance (R.E.T.I.N.A.). He is the current President for the Canadian Retina Society.
David Cherney
Dr. David Cherney is currently Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto and a Clinician Scientist at the University Health Network and Mount Sinai Hospitals, where he is a Senior Scientist and director of the Renal Physiology Laboratory.
Karen Cross
Karen Cross MD, Ph.D., FRCSC is a Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeon and a Surgeon Scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto and an Adjunct Professor at Ryerson University. She is also the Co-Founder and CEO of a startup health technology company called MIMOSA Diagnostics. She performs basic science and clinical translation research developing non-invasive optical technologies to assess skin physiology. Her research aims are to bring innovative technology from the bench to the bedside.
Kaberi Dasgupta
Dr. Kaberi Dasgupta’s studies focus on the remission, prevention, and management of gestational diabetes, type 2 diabetes and related complications. In collaboration with her multidisciplinary team, including patient partners, she develops and tests strategies to enhance self-management support. This includes the creation of VPN, a virtual peer support group for youth with type 1 diabetes, formed after demonstration of high levels of stigma in this population, associated with both elevated A1C and severe hypoglycemia (JMIR, 2018).
Charles de Mestral
Dr. Charles de Mestral’s goal is to pursue population-based health services research focusing on people living with diabetes who undergo lower limb amputation. He is interested in better characterizing the epidemiology, outcomes, health-resource use and costs of lower limb amputation in people living with diabetes as well as limb preservation therapies. The purpose of this work is to inform population-level interventions to reduce diabetes-related foot complications.
Jean-Pierre Després
Dr. Jean-Pierre Després is a professor at the Department of Kinesiology at Université Laval in Québec City, Canada. Dr. Després’ research interests include obesity, adipose tissue distribution, visceral obesity, type 2 diabetes, lipids, lipoproteins, cardiovascular disease and their prevention through physical activity and healthy living. More than 30 years ago, he was the first to report that an excess of fat in the abdominal cavity (visceral obesity), was particularly harmful to health. He is personally involved in major education and mobilization activities to prevent chronic societal diseases.
Sophie Desroches
Dr Sophie Desroches, PhD, RD, is Professor at Université Laval School of Nutrition, in Quebec City, Canada. She is also a research scientist at the Centre Nutrition, santé et société (NUTRISS) at the Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods of Laval University. Her research program aims to identify, develop and evaluate knowledge translation strategies that will optimize adherence to dietary advice for preventing and managing chronic diseases. Her more recently funded research projects have explored the use of social media, and more specifically blogs, as knowledge translation strategies to enhance adherence to evidence-based dietary advice for preventing and managing chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
Joyce Dogba
Dr. Joyce Dogba is trained as a physician in Togo. She holds a Master degree in health economics and a PhD in Public Health. She is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Family and Emergency Medicine at Laval University. Her research agenda comprises evaluation of collaborative practices with patients-users in research and the education of health professionals. She is also interested in advancing stakeholders engagement science regarding how to meaningfully involve the underserved including immigrants in patient-oriented research. Joyce Dogba is a co-lead on patient engagement within the SRAP/SPOR Network in Diabetes and Related Complications.
Laura Drudi
Dr. Laura Drudi completed a Diploma of Space Studies at the International Space University while pursuing clinical research with the Canadian Space Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). She subsequently completed her medical degree at McGill University and went on to pursue postgraduate medical training in Vascular Surgery at McGill. During her surgical training there, her passion for clinical research led her to pursue and complete a Master of Science in Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health. Following the completion of her residency, she completed her fellowship training in complex peripheral Endovascular Surgery for limb salvage in Dendermonde, Belgium, and brought this expertise back to Montreal. She is currently pursuing a Diploma of Implementation Science at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) to develop the skills and knowledge to implement an amputation prevention program across Quebec. She also holds the Michael Zinner Fellowship in Health Services Research. She has over 50 peer-reviewed publications, numerous conference abstracts, invited lectures, contributions to grants, correspondences with the media, as well as prestigious local, national, and international awards. Her goal is to continue to build a platform for frailty research and amputation prevention at the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) and become a national and world-renowned clinician scientist.
Neil Drummond
Neil is a professor emeritus in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta, with adjunct appointments in the UA School of Public Health and the Departments of Family Medicine and Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary. He continues to research health care provision and health outcomes in primary care, including for diabetes.
Arnaud Duhoux
Arnaud Duhoux worked 6 years as a Registered Nurse, mainly with the homeless population. He is trained in epidemiology and public health and is an expert in quantitative analysis of administrative health data to measure performance in primary care. He is also the director of the strategic grouping on population mental health of the Quebec Population Health Research Network.
Sherif El-Defrawy
Dr. El-Defrawy is Nanji Family Chair in Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences at the University of Toronto and the Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at Kensington Eye Institute. He is a Past President of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society and the Association of Canadian University Professors of Ophthalmology, and most recently was co-Chair of the Eye Health Council of Ontario. He was the Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at Queen’s University, and Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at the University Hospitals in Kingston, Ontario from 2004 to 2012.
Jean-François Ethier
Dr Jean-François Ethier is a clinician scientist and an associate professor in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Computer Science at the Université de Sherbrooke. He also practices as a general internal medicine attending physician at the Sherbrooke University Health Centre.
Mahyar Etminan
Dr. Mahyar Etminan’s area of research is focused on drug safety. He uses large population-based databases from Canada and the United States as well as epidemiologic methods to quantify adverse drug reactions in the area of ophthalmology as well as other therapeutic areas. He is also interested in causal inference methods and its application in epidemiological research. Recently, Dr. Etminan has co-authored a paper looking at the risk of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor inhibitors, a new class of antidiabetic medications, and risk of diabetic retinopathy. Another area of interest for Dr. Etminan is looking at diabetic outcomes in patients with age related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema.
Michael Farkouh
Dr. Michael Farkouh is internationally known for his work in cardiovascular prevention and acute coronary syndromes. He has a special interest and expertise in the field of cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes. He is currently the project officer for numerous clinical trials on questions related to diabetes and heart disease including the NIH-sponsored FREEDOM trial. He chairs the committee on diabetes and heart disease at the Banting and Best Diabetes Centre at the University of Toronto and serves as Section Editor for Diabetes and Metabolism at the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Paul Fernyhough
There is no FDA-approved treatment for diabetic neuropathy, a condition that afflicts half of the 27 million North Americans who suffer from diabetes. The neurodegeneration seen in diabetes leads to sensory fiber depletion and loss of protective sensation – a primary trigger of the diabetic foot and lower limb amputation. With financial support from several key stakeholders in the field of diabetes, a small start-up company, WinSanTor Inc, was established in 2012 and is developing a proprietary first-in-class therapy to prevent and reverse nerve damage.
Thomas Lawrence Forbes
Dr. Thomas L. Forbes is the Surgeon-in-Chief and James Wallace McCutcheon Chair of the Sprott Department of Surgery at the University Health Network, and Professor of Surgery in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Vascular Surgery, and a Section Editor of Rutherford’s Textbook of Vascular Surgery. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers, editorials and book chapters and given over 100 invited lectures or guest professorships.
Michael Fralick
Dr. Mike Fralick’s main research interest is in understanding the safety and effectiveness of novel medications for adults living with diabetes and cardiovascular disease, including sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) analogues. Mike splits his research time between GEMINI and LKS-CHART, integrating pharmacoepidemiology with Machine Learning in his work.
Rebecca Leigh Ganann
Dr. Rebecca Ganann is a researcher with the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging. Her research program is focused on integrated health and social service delivery innovations to promote physical and mental health, and mobility among community-dwelling older adults. Her previous research has explored mental health and health services accessibility for immigrant women.
Hannah Geddie
Dr. Hannah Geddie is a Pediatric Endocrinologist at McMaster Children’s Hospital. She completed her medical degree, residency training, and fellowship training in Pediatric Endocrinology at McMaster University. She has a Masters degree in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She has a strong interest in the intersection between public health and health promotion and Type 1 Diabetes. Her current research pertains to health policy related to Type 1 Diabetes in school, and the use of interactive tools to support patients and families in managing Type 1 Diabetes.
Michelle Greiver
Dr. Michelle Greiver’s work centres on using Canada’s increasingly large amounts of electronic health data to improve the health and lives of Canadians; diabetes is now a critical health issue for more Canadians than ever. She oversees the Electronic Medical Record data system as well as clinical research activities for UTOPIAN, the University of Toronto Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN), which includes over 1,400 family physicians and is the largest PBRN in Canada. She is the lead for the Primary care Ontario Practice Learning and Research Network (POPLAR), combining EMR data from all seven Networks across Ontario’s six Departments / Sections of Family Medicine and the Alliance for Healthier Communities (Ontario’s Community Health Centres).
Eva Grunfeld
Dr. Eva Grunfeld is a physician-scientist and Director of the Knowledge Translation Research Network, Health Services Research Program, at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. At the University of Toronto, Dr. Grunfeld is a professor at the Department of Family and Community Medicine; professor at the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation; and professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She also holds the position of Chair of the Institute for Cancer Research, Institute Advisory Board, at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr. Grunfeld is a leader in cancer health services and outcomes research
Neeru Gupta
Dr. Neeru Gupta is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, and the Diabetes Canada–New Brunswick Health Research Foundation Chair in Diabetes Research at the University of New Brunswick. Her research focuses on the use of large-scale survey and administrative datasets to support evidence-informed health and social policy to positively impact diabetes outcomes across the lifespan amenable to healthcare improvement, notably as leading to healthy populations, sustainable health system investments, and better patient and provider experiences.
Ahmad Haidar
Dr. Ahmad Haidar is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University. Dr. Haidar leads an interdisciplinary research program that applies feedback control theory and mathematical modelling to diabetes physiological and clinical problems. Since 2011, Dr Haidar’s research focus has been to develop and clinically test novel artificial pancreas systems, as well as using Bayesian modeling and isotope tracers to study the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of insulin, glucagon, and pramlintide. Dr Haidar also leads a graduate program in translational biomedical engineering at McGill University that trains engineers for careers in the biomedical industry.
Huaxiong Huang
Professor Huaxiong Huang has an impressive research record with publications that involve a surprisingly broad cross-section of applied mathematics including partial differential equations, asymptotics, fluid mechanics, probability, stochastic processes, and scientific computing. His work impacts a broad sphere of influence to the study of applications ranging from industrial sectors such as banking, insurance, biomedicine, energy, and material science.
Bernard Hurley
Bernard R. Hurley, BSc, MD, FRCSC is an Assistant Professor at The University of Ottawa Eye Institute where he is also the residency program director and the fellowship program director. He has received awards for top clinical instruction in the department in 2016, 2013 and 2011. He completed his post-graduate medical education with a Retina Fellowship at the Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia where he was twice awarded the Outstanding Fellow Award. He has written several chapters and has been the author or co-author of many peer-reviewed publications on topics including diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration. He has received research support from the E.A. Baker Foundation.
Noah Ivers
Noah Ivers (MD, PhD) is a scientist at WCRI and adjunct scientist at ICES. He is also a family physician at Women’s College Hospital (WCH) and an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and at the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto.
Liisa Jaakkimainen
Dr. Liisa Jaakkimainen’s research interests include examining primary health care access, continuity of care, primary health care indicators and benchmarks, measuring wait times from primary to specialist care, improving the coordination of care in primary care, caring for marginalized and frail seniors in the community, and performance feedback to primary care providers. In 2006, Dr. Jaakkimainen co-lead the “Primary Care in Ontario: An ICES Atlas”. In 2014, Dr. Jaakkimainen published a study using family physician Electronic Medical Record Administrative data Linked Database (EMRALD) measuring the time between a family physician’s referral and the appointment with a specialist.
Caroline Jose
Dr. Caroline Jose is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the Université de Sherbrooke and Research Associate for the Maritime Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) SUPPORT Unit in Moncton since 2015. By collaborating with patients, researchers, clinicians, and policy makers from New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia, her current research seeks to integrate the lived experience of patients into research to facilitate the knowledge transfer into care.
Monika Kastner
Dr. Monika Kastner is the Research Chair in Knowledge Translation (KT) and Implementation at North York General Hospital, an Affiliate Scientist with the KT Program at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital, and Associate Professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) as well as through the Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM) at the University of Toronto. Monika’s research interests and goals are to make a positive impact on the health of vulnerable older adults with the use of innovative eHealth technologies and to advance the science and practice of KT and health services research.
Ahmed Kayssi
Dr. Ahmed Kayssi is a clinical trialist with an interest in vascular surgery and wound care interventions that promote limb preservation and prevent amputation. His other interests are developing capacity and improving health care services among First Nations.
Calvin Ke
Dr. Calvin Ke is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, a clinician scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, an adjunct scientist at ICES, and a staff endocrinologist at the Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network in Toronto, Canada. He received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Toronto. He completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at the University of British Columbia and Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of Toronto. He completed his PhD in clinical epidemiology and global health as a Global Scholar at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto.
Malcolm King
Dr. Malcolm King, a member of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, is co-lead of Pewaseskwan (the Indigenous Wellness Research Group) and faculty in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) where he serves as the Scientific Director of SCPOR, the Saskatchewan Centre for Patient-Oriented Research. Dr. King’s research is aimed at improving wellness and achieving health equity for First Nations, Métis and Inuit through strengths-based approaches that respect self-determination and privilege
Indigenous ways of knowing.