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Member biographies: Advisory Committee on Human Pathogens and Toxins

From: Public Health Agency of Canada

Dr. Margo Moore (Chair)

Margo Moore completed her PhD in Pharmacology at the University of British Columbia followed by post-doctoral studies in Toxicology at the Karolinska Institute. She has been a professor at Simon Fraser University since 1990 where she teaches microbiology and runs a research program on fungal pathogenesis. She has chaired the SFU biosafety committee since 2005.

Ms. Ingrid Abbott-Permell

Ingrid Abbott-Permell is a Certified Biosafety Professional (CBSP) with ABSA international and a Specialist Microbiologist-Biological Safety with the National Registry of Certified Microbiologists (SM [NRCM]). She has over twenty-five years of experience in the development, implementation and monitoring of biorisk management systems in public health, research and development as well as vaccine manufacturing facilities. (Containment Level 2 and Containment Level 3 Laboratories, Small Animal Facilities and Containment Level 2 Large scale facilities) She is a certified trainer and has developed and delivered biosafety courses as well as certification courses on the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Class 6.2 Infectious Substances.

Ingrid has contributed to the international biosafety community in several capacities. She is an active member of ABSA international and has served as co-chair and member of the Technical Review Committee and also as a member of the Pre-Conference Course Committee. She has served as a Mentor/ International Biorisk Management Advisor on the Development and Twinning Program for Sandia National Laboratories' International Biological Threat Reduction Program (SNL/IBTR), a member of the Bi-National Working group on Laboratory Acquired Infections (US and Canada), has represented the province of Ontario on the Biosafety Officer Network, Canadian Public Health Laboratory Network and has co-authored several biosafety presentations at ABSA International annual Biosafety conferences (Winner of the International Poster Award 2011 - presentation on "Implementing Ergonomics in the Laboratory safety Program). Ingrid has also contributed to the validation of the Biosafety Risk Assessment Methodology (BIORAM) for Sandia National Laboratories USA.

Mr. Kevin Cassidy

Mr. Kevin Cassidy, Vice President, Biopharmaceuticals, Microbix Biosystems Inc. has over 30 years in biopharmaceutical, vaccine and medical device experience. That experience includes culture of numerous virus and bacterial species at industrial scale for use in manufacture of human diagnostic medical devices. He is also a specialist in building capability to bring new products through development to market. He has detailed knowledge of industrial development and manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals.

Dr. Ayush Kumar

Ayush Kumar is an Associate Professor of Microbiology at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Kumar completed his PhD in Microbiology from the University of Manitoba. He did his post-doctoral work at Colorado State University's Rocky Mountain Regional Center for Excellence where he studied multidrug resistance mechanisms in bacterial pathogens classified as Select Agents. At the University of Manitoba, Dr. Kumar laboratory studies multidrug resistance mechanisms in Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. His group is also studying the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance genes in source and drinking water from First Nations communities in Manitoba.

Dr. Momar Ndao

Dr. Momar Ndao is a Professor at McGill University in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Director of the Canadian National Reference Centre for Parasitology (NRCP) since 2002. He completed his veterinary studies in Senegal and Diploma in Tropical Medicine, MSc and PhD in International Health and Tropical Diseases at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp. Dr. Ndao is actively involved in 1) bringing cutting edge science to diagnose infectious diseases; 2) studying host-parasite interactions; 3) screening drugs to be used as therapies for infectious diseases; 4) developing vaccines to prevent parasitic diseases and 5) applying proteomic technology to discover biomarkers for infectious diseases.

Dr. James Scott

Dr. James Scott is Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and Head of the Division of Occupational and Environmental Health. Since his appointment in 2002, his chief academic interest has been the recognition, evaluation and control of biological hazards, particularly bioaerosols, in the workplace and community. He is also the owner of Sporometrics Inc, an ISO/IEC17025 accredited commercial environmental microbiology diagnostic laboratory.

Dr. Manal Tadros

Manal Tadros MBBS, MSc, PhD, FRCPC, graduated from Medical School at Cairo University. She received her MSc and PhD degrees from Cairo University in Clinical Pathology, with Medical Microbiology as her subspecialty. She worked as a Medical Microbiologist and Infection Control Consultant at Cairo University Hospitals. She moved to Canada in 2005 and after obtaining her Medical Council of Canada certification, Dr. Tadros joined the residency program at University of Toronto Medical Microbiology department for re-training. She obtained her Royal College certification in 2013. She worked as a Medical Microbiologist and Site Director of Infection Control at Fraser Health Authority, British Columbia from October 2013 until June 2015. She joined St. Michael 's Hospital in July 2015 and has been working as a Medical Microbiologist and the Laboratory Biosafety Advisor at St. Michael's Hospital since then. She is also an Assistant Professor of Laboratory Medicine at University of Toronto. Dr. Tadros' research interests are in the area of antimicrobial resistance, hospital epidemiology, improving diagnostics in the medical microbiology laboratory and other quality improvement initiatives.

Dr. Lionel Berthoux

Lionel Berthoux has been a professor of microbiology and infectious diseases at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières since 2005. He obtained a Ph.D. in virology from École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France, in 1998, and was a post-doctoral fellow at University of Virginia and Columbia University. His research work focuses on HIV-1 and emerging viral pathogens, in particular the dengue virus and SARS-CoV-2.

Dr. Jason Kindrachuk

Dr. Kindrachuk is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in emerging virus pathogenesis in the Department of Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba. The focus of his research program is on the circulation, transmission and pathogenesis of emerging zoonotic viruses that pose the greatest threat to global health. These include ebolaviruses, orthopoxviruses, coronaviruses, and influenzaviruses. Past and present findings from these investigations will help inform emerging virus therapeutic treatment strategies, outbreak prediction and preparedness efforts with impacts on both human and animal health. Currently, he is leading multiple national and international research investigations that include leading the International Mpox Response Consortium (IMREC), co-lead for Pillar 2 of the Coronavirus Variants Rapid Response Network, and lead investigator for ongoing investigations of the long-term health impacts of Ebola virus infection in West Africa. He is also a member of the WHO Guideline Development Group for mpox clinical management and infection prevention and control, and additional mpox and SARS-CoV-2 working groups.

Ms. Rebecca (Becky) McGirr

Becky McGirr, MS, RBP(ABSA), RBSO (CABS), is currently the Biosafety and Industrial Hygiene Lead for Sanofi’s Toronto site. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Master’s degree in Neuroscience from the University of Western Ontario and has a certificate in Occupational Health and Safety.

For over 8 years, Becky has worked as a biosafety professional in various settings, in both Canada and the US, including in academic and hospital-based research institutes, and in the biopharmaceutical sector. In her current role, she leads the biosafety and industrial hygiene programs at Sanofi’s Toronto campus. Becky also manages the health and safety aspects of the site’s pandemic program and response. Becky is a member of ABSA’s Distance Learning Committee and Technical and Regulatory and Review Committee.

Prior to her biosafety career, Becky spent more than 10 years as a Laboratory Manager for basic research laboratories in a hospital-based research institute, specializing in molecular, cell and microbiological techniques.

Dr. Chandrika Senthilkumaran

Dr. Chandrika Senthilkumaran is an Occupational Health and Safety Advisor at Public Health Ontario. She completed her degree in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka. She did her M.Sc. at the University of Guelph, and her Ph.D. is in Veterinary Pathology from the Ontario Veterinary College. She worked in several positions at the University of Toronto, including her post-doctoral training. Within the past decade, she gained significant experience in the operation and maintenance of CL3 and CL4 laboratories. She is a Registered Biological Safety Officer with the Canadian Association for Biological Safety and an active member of the Biosafety Officer Network. Throughout her career, she has contributed and published several research papers on infectious disease and diagnostic assay development. Her research expertise spans from developing animal models for some RG3 and RG4 pathogens to vaccine efficacy studies.

Dr. Paul Van Caeseele

Dr. Paul Van Caeseele is Medical Director of Cadham Provincial Laboratory, Manitoba’s public health laboratory since 2000, and is a longstanding member of the Canadian Public Health Laboratory Network. He is a consultant on the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Service at Winnipeg Children’s Hospital, a travel health physician at the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority Travel Health and Tropical Medicine Clinic, and professor in the Departments of Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, and in Pediatrics & Child Health at the University of Manitoba.

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