Faculty

Dr Faiz Ahmad Khan, MD, MPH, FRCP(c)
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Director TB Clinical Services, Montreal Chest Institute

Research Interests: Tuberculosis, indigenous respiratory health epidemiology, drug-resistant tuberculosis, HIV/TB, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, observational studies, operational/implementation research

Publications:

• Aggressive Regimens Reduce Risk of Recurrence After Successful Treatment of MDR-TB.
• Treatment outcomes of childhood tuberculous meningitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
• Performance of symptom-based tuberculosis screening among people living with HIV: not as great as hoped.

Deborah Assayag, MD, MAS
Assistant Professor, McGill University - Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

My research focuses on interstitial lung diseases (ILD), a group of progressive, devastating lung diseases characterized by inflammation and scarring (fibrosis) of the lung tissue. The burden of disease is heavy: idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, the most devastating form of ILD, has a median survival of only three to five years. The incidence and societal burden of ILD are increasing over time. Unfortunately, the right diagnosis is often initially missed or delayed, which will affect long term prognosis. Certain medications have been shown to slow the decline in lung function, but differences in treatment initiation can occur for reasons that remain largely unknown. My research program aims to identify discrepancies and delays in the care of patients with ILD from diagnosis to management, identify the risk factors for those delays, predict disease progression and explore the use of certain medications in understudied populations.

Publications: PubMed

Andrea Benedetti, Ph.D.
McGill University - Departments of Medicine and of Epidemiology, Biostatistics & Occupational Health

Research Interests: Andrea Benedetti is a biostatistician with interests in flexible regression modelling in the context of mixed models, methodologic issues in individual patient data meta analysis, and statistical challenges in TB research.

Publications:

• National Center for Biotechnology Information website
• ResearchGate
• Google Scholar

Jean Bourbeau, MD, MSc, FRCPC
Director, Center for Innovative Medicine (CIM)
Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre
Professor, Department of Medicine, McGill University

Research Interests: Dr. Bourbeau's research is in COPD with major contributions in 2 areas: 1) COPD management approaches and health service delivery, and 2) COPD epidemiology, phenotyping, outcome research. Research program in COPD management and health service delivery within the tertiary/secondary (interdisciplinary collaboration at the Provincial/National/International) and primary care environments closely linked to clinical needs. Since 2009, Dr Bourbeau has developed/implemented and been leading the Canadian Cohort Obstructive Lung Disease (CanCOLD): longitudinal cohort (9 sites) of early COPD extensively characterized with unique infrastructure to leverage future respiratory research in Canada and worldwide.

Publications:

• Making collaborative self-management successful in COPD patients with high disease burden.
• Underdiagnosed COPD Contributes to the Burden of Health Care Utilization: Data from the CanCOLD Study.

Nicole Ezer, MD
Investigator, RI-MUHC

Research Interests: Lung cancer screening, treatment of early stage lung cancer, lung cancer survivorship.

Publications:

• Outcomes after Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Lobectomy versus Open Lobectomy for Early-Stage Lung Cancer in Older Adults
• Impact of rapid investigation clinic on timelines of lung cancer diagnosis and treatment
• Limited resection versus lobectomy for older patients with early-stage lung cancer: impact of histology

Anne Gonzalez, MD, MSC
Assistant Professor
RECRU

Research Interests: Dr Gonzalez’s interests include the evaluation and use of interventional pulmonary techniques for the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer and the management of pleural diseases. Dr Gonzalez is Director of Interventional Respirology and the lung cancer Rapid Investigation Clinic (RIC).

Publications: PubMed

Tania Janaudis-Ferreira, Ph.D.
Investigator, RI-MUHC

Research Interests: Improving care & rehabilitation outcomes in individuals with COPD & solid organ transplant recipients, focusing on 1) pulmonary rehabilitation post-acute exacerbation of COPD, 2) evaluating interventions to improve physical function & HRQL in SOT recipients and 3) knowledge synthesis, dissemination & implementation.

Publications:

• Can patients with COPD assimilate disease-specific information during an acute exacerbation? Results of a pilot randomized controlled trial
• Rate of, and barriers and enablers to, pulmonary rehabilitation referral in COPD: A systematic scoping review
• Physical activity in solid organ transplant recipients: a description of participation, predictors, barriers and facilitators

Dennis Jensen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology & Physical Education, McGill University
Scientist, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), Translational Research in Respiratory Diseases Program
Associate Member, Respiratory Epidemiology and Clinical Research Unit, Department of Medicine, McGill University and the RI-MUHC
Associate Member, The Meakins-Christie Laboratories, RI-MUHC
Advisor, Physiology Platform, McConnell Centre for Innovative Medicine, RI-MUHC

Research Interests: Clinical exercise and respiratory pathophysiology; Mechanisms, measurement and management of physical activity-related breathlessness; Chronic cardiorespiratory disease

Publications: McGill

CERPL website: www.mcgill.ca/cerpl

Marta Kaminska MD, M.Sc. FRCP(C)
Assistant Professor
Scientist, Research Institute of McGill University Health Center
Associate Member, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health
Associate Member, Department of Medicine
Medical Director of the Home Ventilation Program, Montreal Chest Institute (Programme national d'assistance ventilatoire à domicile)

Research Interests: Sleep-disordered breathing / sleep apnea, particularly in relation to neurological disorders, and impact on cognition and other outcomes; Long-term mechanical ventilation; Respiratory care in neuromuscular disorders, including diagnostic testing, ventilation and other respiratory therapies. 

Publications: PubMed

R. John Kimoff, MD, MSc, FRCP(C), ABIM (Sleep)
Professor of Medicine
Respiratory Division, Department of Medicine
Director, Sleep Laboratory, Montreal Chest Institute, McGill University Health Centre
Research Director, Meakins-Christie Laboratories
Associate Member, Respiratory Epidemiology Clinical Research Unit

Research Interests: Dr. Kimoff’s current research themes are: 1) sleep-disordered breathing (SDB),  inflammation and neuromuscular function, which includes pathophysiologic studies on upper airway neuromuscular dysfunction in OSA and clinical epidemiologic and interventional studies assessing  the effects of SDB treatment on clinical outcomes in Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease; 2) Interactions between SDB and Cardiovascular and Reproductive Health, including epidemiologic and interventional studies on SDB in chronic congestive heart failure and maternal SDB and adverse maternal and fetal outcomes of pregnancy.

Publications:

• Maternal sleep-disordered breathing and the risk of delivering small for gestational age infants: a prospective cohort study.
• Impact of Sleep Disorder Treatment on Fatigue in Multiple Sclerosis.

Dick Menzies, MD
Professor of Medicine, and of Epidemiology & Biostatistics
Director of RECRU - Research Institute, MUHC

Research Interests: Dr. Menzies' research focus is tuberculosis. This includes diagnosis and treatment of latent and active TB, particularly drug resistant tuberculosis (INH mono-resistance and multi-drug resistance). Ongoing studies include individual patient data meta-analyses, economic analyses and decision analyses, and randomized trials. I am also interested in TB epidemiology particularly among Aboriginal populations including studies interpreting results of molecular epidemiology.  Many studies are conducted in collaboration with other members of the RECRU and the McGill International TB Center so there are opportunities also for translational research and inter-disciplinary research in TB.

Publications: PubMed

Ron Olivenstein, MD
Associate Professor
Director, Acute Care, Montreal Chest Institute

Research Interests: Dr Olivenstein's interests include critical care medicine and the pathophysiology of asthma.

Publications: PubMed

Olivia Oxlade, Ph.D.
Associate Member - RECRU

Research Interests: Olivia Oxlade is an epidemiologist and modeler with methodologic interests in decision analysis and economic evaluations of all things related to tuberculosis. She also has substantive interests in TB and its control in indigenous populations as well as the interrelation between social determinants of health, poverty and TB control.

Publications: PubMed

• Emergence of drug resistance in patients with tuberculosis cared for by the Indian health-care system: a dynamic modelling study
• Xpert MTB/RIF for the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in a Remote Arctic Setting: Impact on Cost and Time to Treatment Initiation
• Tuberculosis and poverty: why are the poor at greater risk in India?

Madhukar Pai, MD
Professor of Epidemiology
Canada Research Chair in Epidemiology & Global Health
Director, McGill Global Health Programs
Associate Director, McGill International TB Centre

Research Interests: Tuberculosis is a major threat to human health, with 9 million new cases and 1.5 million deaths every year. My goal is to use translational epidemiology and implementation science to enhance tuberculosis (TB) care and control, so that the products developed, knowledge and policies can translate into saved lives. Specifically, I’m exploring the accuracy of novel TB diagnostics, the clinical impact and cost-effectiveness of their scale-up, the implementation of point-of-care tests, and the quality of TB care in developing countries. For more information, please click here and here.

Publications:

• Use of standardized patients to assess quality of tuberculosis care: a pilot, cross-sectional study.
• Tuberculosis diagnostics in 2015: landscape, priorities, needs, and prospects.
• The feasibility, accuracy and impact of Xpert® MTB/RIF testing in a remote Aboriginal community in Canada.

Sushmita Pamidi, MD, MSc
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine, Division of Respiratory Medicine, Sleep Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University

Research Interest: Dr. Pamidi focuses on the cardiometabolic consequences of sleep apnea in the general population and in pregnancy and has been involved in clinical epidemiological studies.  She is also interested in the treatment implications of sleep apnea in order to improve health outcomes through randomized controlled trials.

Publications:

• Maternal sleep-disordered breathing and the risk of delivering small for gestational age infants: a prospective cohort study.
• Eight Hours of Nightly Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Improves Glucose Metabolism in Patients with Prediabetes. A Randomized Controlled Trial.
• Maternal sleep-disordered breathing and adverse pregnancy outcomes: a systemic review and metaanalysis

Helene Perrault, Ph.D.
Full Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa

Research Interests: Dr. Perrault has, and continues to foster academic and research collaborations between exercise sciences and medicine for health promotion, advancement of knowledge, and the development of therapeutic modalities and applications. Through funding as principal or co-investigator from several national and provincial granting agencies she has contributed to a large number of scientific publications and has supervised the work of numerous graduate students, which focused primarily on the physiology and/or the functional repercussions of chronic heart or lung disorders.

Publications:

• Addressing Assumptions for the Use of Non-invasive Cardiac Output Measurement Techniques During Exercise in COPD.

Kevin Schwartzman, MD, MPH, FRCPC
Professor of Medicine
Director, Respiratory Division

Research Interests: Dr. Schwartzman's primary research interest is the economic and clinical evaluation of programs aimed at tuberculosis prevention, diagnosis and care.  His research focuses on the use of simulation models, particularly decision analysis, for prediction of long term health effects and costs.  He has also investigated the impact of tuberculosis on health utilities and health-related quality of life, and the epidemiology of tuberculosis in Montreal.

Publications:

• ​Xpert® MTB/RIF for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in a remote Arctic setting:  impact on cost and time to treatment initiation.
• The impact of tuberculosis on health utility:  a longitudinal cohort study.

Jason Shahin, MD, MSc.
Assistant Professor, Department Critical Care, Faculty of Medicine

Research Interests: Dr. Shahin's research focus is on risk prediction in the ICU. Specifically he is looking at prediction tools for complex populations in the ICU, including the chronic critically ill and the potential organ donor.

Publications:

• Suspected ventilator-associated respiratory infection in severely ill patients: a prospective observational study.
• Is the volume of mechanically ventilated admissions to UK critical care units associated with improved outcomes?
• Predicting time to death after withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy.

Benjamin M. Smith, MD, MSc
Associate Professor of Medicine
FRQS Research Scholar, Junior 1

Research Interests: Dr. Smith’s interests include the epidemiology and physiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer.

Publications:

• National Center for Biotechnology Information website