Page 19 - CIRN Annual Report 2017-18

UPDATE FROM THE NETWORK LEAD
DR. BRIAN WARD

In September 2017, the sero-epidemiology group began three
national studies to estimate population immunity to varicella,
measles, and mumps in Canada. Led by Dr. Shelly Bolotin,
the goal of these studies is to measure the impact of Canada’s
immunization programs and to determine the risk of future
outbreaks. These studies will generate essential data to inform
public health and policy decision-making about varicella and
mumps control and measles elimination. Furthermore, these
studies aim to determine whether Canada meets the level of
population immunity required to prevent mumps outbreaks, and if
not, determine how far we are from this goal.

Dr. Todd Hatchette’s, lab is continuing the work on the
Development of Critical Tools to Assess Vaccine-Preventable
Disease (VPD) Serostatus in Canada. This comprehensive suite of
VPD assays that is accessible, inexpensive and parsimonious of
serum is urgently needed by public health authorities, practicing
physicians and vaccine scientists. Ideally, such assays would also
be multiplexed and formulated for point-of-care (POC) use. These
assays would be useful to evaluate vaccine programs, to care for
individual patients and to develop improved vaccines.

The RLN labs have also provided infl uenza testing for several
on-going or completed studies for members of CIRN, like Shelly
McNeil and the SOS Network, the larger Canadian scientifi c
community, such as The Arthritis Society, and industry.

CO-INVESTIGATORS

Guy Boivin May Elsherif Tobias Kollmann Alberto Severini
Université Laval Dalhousie University University of British University of Manitoba
Columbia
Shelly Bolotin Ian Gemmill Susan Squiresv
Public Health Ontario Kingston, Frontenac, Jason Leblanc PHAC
Lennox and Addington Dalhousie University
Marc Brisson Public Health Unit Cecile Tremblay
Universite Laval Tony Mazzulliv Université de Montréal
Jonathan Gubbay Mount Sinai Hospital
Brenda Coleman Public Health Ontario Tania Watts
Mount Sinai Hospital Elizabeth McLaughlin University of Toronto
Scott Halperin NML
Natasha Crowcroft Dalhousie University Sarah Wilson
Public Health Ontario Bouchra Serhir Public Health Ontario
Todd Hatchette l’Institut national de santé
Shelley Deeks Dalhousie University publique du Québec
Public Health Ontario

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