Public Health Agency of Canada Expert Panel on Avian Influenza A(H5Nx) in Canada: Members

About membership

The Public Health Agency of Canada Expert Panel on Avian Influenza A(H5Nx) is composed of a diverse membership to ensure a range of scientific, clinical and public health perspectives and advice. The panel is chaired by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

Members include scientists, researchers and experts who are external to the Canadian federal government and scientists and experts from within the federal government.

Technical participants from federal departments and agencies will be invited to PHAC expert panel meetings on topics relevant to their areas of expertise. This includes PHAC, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, the Office of the Chief Science Advisor, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Questions regarding affiliations and interests

Affiliations and interests disclosed by extramural expert panel members were reviewed by the Chair and Secretariat. Disclosed interests are summarized below. In no instance was a declared interest assessed such that it precluded participation in the expert panel.

Members are expected to review their affiliations and interests against meeting agenda items and advise the Chair and Secretariat if they see a potential cause for concern regarding the integrity and objectivity of their participation. Based on this review, they will decide, if necessary, to limit a member's participation in all or part of the meeting agenda. They will inform the members of this decision.

Summaries are provided for each of the expert panel members based on the following questions.

1. Direct financial interests

Do you, your spouse or common-law partner, or dependent family member have any direct financial interests that are of relevance to the mandate of the expert panel, including current employment, investments in companies, partnerships, equity, royalties, joint ventures, trusts, real property, stocks, shares, or bonds?

2. Indirect financial interests

Within the past 5 years, have you, your spouse or common-law partner, or dependent family member received payment for work done or being done, or financial support, from a party that has an interest in the mandate of the expert panel? Include past employment, contracts or consulting, research support, personal education grants, contributions, fellowships, sponsorships, and honoraria for teaching, speaking, or writing engagements.
Within the past 5 years, have you, your spouse or common-law partner, or dependent family member received materials, discounted products, gifts, or other benefits, or attended conferences or meetings where all or part of the travel and accommodation costs were provided by a party that has an interest in the mandate of the expert panel?
Within the past 5 years, have any of the organizations where you, your spouse or common-law partner, or dependent family member are currently employed or participate in internal decision making (for example, as a board member or as an executive or non-executive director) received grants or other funding from a party that has an interest in the mandate of the expert panel?

3. Intellectual interests

Within the past 5 years, have you provided any formal advice or opinion to industry; a Canadian federal, provincial, or municipal government; a foreign government; or a non-government organization on a matter of relevance to the mandate of the expert panel? Include, for example, expert testimony or acting as witness (full or part-time), participation on an advisory body etc.
Have you ever made public a statement (for example, speeches or lobbying) or publicly stated a point of view (including in scientific papers, articles, journals, or other publications, or on other websites) on issues of relevance to the expert panel's mandate?
Do you currently have any professional or volunteer affiliations (such as membership in professional or scientific societies, trade associations, or in public interest, or advocacy groups) that may have an interest in the mandate and work of this expert panel?

4. Other affiliations and interests

Do you, your spouse or common-law partner, or dependent family member have any other affiliations and interests or potential circumstances that might give a well-informed member of the public reasonable apprehension or grounds for concern regarding the integrity and objectivity of your participation in this expert panel?
Are you active on social media on issues relevant to this expert panel?

Expert panel member responses on affiliations and interests

Summary of responses
Name and affiliation(s)	1a	2a	2b	2c	3a	3b	3c	4a	4b
Guy Boivin Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Stéphane Caron Medical advisor, Occupational Health Scientific Unit, Institut national de santé publique du Québec	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
S. Michelle Driedger Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
	Comments Holds investments made by a financial planner as part of a balanced portfolio that vary on an annual basis and may contain investments in pharmaceutical companies. Recipient of research grants (federal tri-council funding agencies) to investigate topics related to vaccine hesitancy and pandemic risk communications. Recipient of travel funding to participate in Royal Society of Canada cross-sectoral expert meeting on H5N1. Provided expert advice on risk communication to the Government of Canada as an ad hoc advisory committee member (Minister of Health, Privy Council Office, Health Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, Office of the Chief Science Advisor). Delivered public statements on topics related to communication and vaccine hesitancy in webinars, panel discussions and conference presentations. Author of scientific publications on topics related to public risk communications and vaccine communications. Member of the Society for Risk Analysis's Risk Communication Study Group.
Judith Fafard Microbiologist-Infectiologist, Medical Director, Quebec Public Health Laboratory, Institut national de santé publique du Québec	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
	Comments Employed by the Institut National de santé publique du Québec, with activities related to emerging viruses, including assay development funded by Quebec's Ministry of Health, Genome Canada and PHAC.
Robert Fowler Barrie Fairley Professor of Critical Care at the University Health Network and Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto; and Chief, Tory Trauma Program, Sunnybrook Hospital	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Todd Hatchette Chief, Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Nova Scotia Health Authority; and Professor, Departments of Pathology, Immunology and Microbiology, Medicine, Dalhousie University	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
	Comments Recipient of research grants to investigate influenza (CIHR/CIRN SOS Network) and severe outcome surveillance for influenza and community acquired pneumonia in hospitalized adults (Pfizer). Recipient of speaker fees for scientific talks and presentations on COVID-19 vaccines (Sanofi) and bacterial vaginosis (Hologic). Recipient of an honorarium for participation in an online advisory meeting on influenza antiviral drug Baloxavir (Roche). President of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (AMMI) Canada. Member of multiple expert and working groups on the topics of infectious disease, zoonotic disease and One Health (Canadian Public Health Laboratory Network, Nova Scotia, AMMI Canada) as well as Nova Scotia's COVID-19 Network. Member of National Advisory Committee for sexually transmitted and bloodborne infections and National Certifying Committee for Canada's elimination status for measles, rubella and CRS and served on the Board of the Halifax Sexual Health Center. Member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Canada; the Canadian Medical Association; and Doctor Nova Scotia. Author of editorial as member of AMMI Canada One Health working group.
Sean Hillier Associate Professor & York Research Chair in Indigenous Health Policy and One Health; and Interim Director, Centre for Indigenous Knowledges and Languages, York University	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
	Comments Employed by York University and the Government of Canada's Department of National Defence. Recipient of research grants to investigate the topics of community-led wildlife health monitoring (Canada-Inuit Nunangat-United Kingdom Arctic Research Program), and One Health with respect to antimicrobial resistance, infectious diseases and COVID-19 (Public Health Agency of Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research). Steering Committee member and co-author of a report to the Public Health Agency of Canada on the governance of the antimicrobial resistance response. Author of scientific publications on the topics of One Health governance, antimicrobial resistance, and associated spending and financial incentives.
Jessica Hopkins Chief Health Protection and Emergency Preparedness Officer, Public Health Ontario	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
	Comments Knowledge user on multiple Canadian Institutes of Health Research-funded grants related to communicable disease control. Provides advice and recommendations to government ministries on various communicable diseases, including highly pathogenic avian influenza, in the context of current role with Public Health Ontario. Delivered public statements on respiratory virus transmission and the importance of One Health approaches in lectures, media interviews, and public reports. Member at large of the Ontario Medical Association, Section of Public Health and Preventative Medicine.
Alejandra Irace-Cima Medical Advisor, Biological Hazards, Institut national de santé publique du Québec	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Alyson Kelvin Scientist II and Adjunct Professor at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, University of Saskatchewan	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Comments Employed by the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, a national centre that has the capacity to produce vaccines. Recipient of research grant to investigate immune responses to H5N1 and other influenza viruses (National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases). Participated in Royal Society of Canada cross-sectoral expert meeting on H5N1. Author of scientific publications on universal influenza vaccines, avian influenza and H5N1. Delivered public statements on avian influenza, respiratory viruses, pandemics and vaccines in media interviews and on social media. Member of the American Society for Virology and the Canadian Society for Virology.
Joanne M. Langley Professor of Pediatrics and Community Health and Epidemiology and GSK-CIHR Chair in Pediatric Vaccinology, Dalhousie University; and Head, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, IWK Health	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
	Comments Employed by Dalhousie University, an institution that receives/has received funding to run vaccine trials for influenza (GSK and Seqirus). Employer/Department of Pediatrics API was recipient of financial compensation for member's participation in the European Commission Directorate General for Research and Innovation – Review of Vaccelerate, for consultation on influenza mRNA vaccines by FusionMD, and for consultation on influenza vaccines by Seqirus. Member of the COVID-19 Taskforce and Council of Expert Advisors (Government of Canada), the COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization Influenza Working Group, the Nova Scotia Department of Health Infectious Diseases Expert Group and the World Health Organization's Prioritization Advisory Committee. Recipient of travel funding for meeting on influenza pandemic preparedness (Sanofi) and on influenza vaccines (Seqirus, a company that serves as a back-up contractor to the federal government for pandemic influenza vaccine). Delivered public statements on influenza and influenza vaccines in media interviews. Awarded Canadian Institutes of Health Research-GSK Chair in Pediatric Vaccinology in 2013-2018, funding to Dalhousie University.
Allison McGeer Infectious Disease Consultant and Senior Clinician Investigator, Sinai Health; and Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
	Comments Physician with privileges whose institution receives or has received research funding support (Pfizer, Sanofi, and Seqirus). Recipient of honoraria for participation on advisory boards (GSK, Moderna, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, and Seqirus). Recipient of honoraria for webinars and speaking engagements (Moderna, Pfizer, Seqirus). Recipient of travel funding for scientific meeting on influenza (Moderna). Provided expert advice on antiviral recommendations for avian influenza to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Matthew S. Miller Executive Director, Global Nexus School for Pandemic Prevention and Response; Director, Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
	Comments Director and Co-Founder of AeroImmune Biotechnologies. Recipient of research grants on vaccines and antivirals (Providence Therapeutics, Zentek and Pfizer). Recipient of financial compensation between $5,000 and $25,000 for participation on three scientific advisory boards (Grifols, Sanofi, and Seqirus). Recipient of conference travel funding (Seqirus). Member of working groups related to high consequence infectious diseases and COVID-19 (National Advisory Committee on Immunization). Member of the Federal Variants of Concern Leadership Group and the Federal Pandemic Science Coordination and Action Group (Government of Canada). Delivered public statements on the risks associated with highly pathogenic avian influenza in media interviews. Member of the Canadian Society for Virology.
Samira Mubareka Scientist, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Molecular Diagnostics, Microbiology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Sunnybrook Research Institute and Shared Hospital Laboratory; and Associate Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
	Comments Recipient of research funding to develop pathogenomics diagnostics for respiratory viruses (CQDM and Merck). Chair of One Health working group for the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (AMMI) Canada. Provides annual updates to AMMI Canada's guidelines for the management of influenza in humans. Authored editorial on avian influenza and One Health for the Globe and Mail. Co-developed a cross-sectoral meeting on H5N1 in collaboration with the Royal Society of Canada and federal partners.
Chantelle Richmond Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Western University; and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Health and Environment	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Danuta Skowronski Physician Epidemiologist, Immunization Services, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
	Comments Employed by the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority. Provides direct and indirect input on policy matters related to influenza in the context of current role with BCCDC. Recipient of research grants on influenza and other emerging respiratory viruses (BCCDC Foundation for Public Health, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Public Health Agency of Canada, and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research). Author of scientific publications on the influenza-related topics, including emerging variants.

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Date modified:: 2024-04-11

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