Medical Advisory Board
The CPFF Medical Advisory Board (MAB) is comprised of some of Canada’s most highly respected respirologists and pulmonary fibrosis specialists. Its primary goal is to support the CPFF’s mission to fund research, provide patient support, and raise awareness of pulmonary fibrosis.
The CPFF will seek their guidance to:
- Ensure that the CPFF continues to deliver high quality, evidence-based and accurate programs related to pulmonary fibrosis.
- Oversee all health and medical information available through the CPFF, such as educational materials, website content, and discussion forums.
- Provide expert counsel on all scientific matters related to the CPFF, such as the allocation of research grants and identification of new areas of interest.
- Establish a link to the Canadian pulmonary health community and promote awareness for the CPFF among healthcare professionals and patients.
Please scroll down to view the members of the MAB and their biographies.
Dr. Charlene Fell, Chair, Calgary
Dr. Charlene Fell obtained her medical degree from the University of Toronto and completed her Internal Medicine residency and Respiratory Medicine fellowship training at the University of Calgary. She completed a Clinical Research Fellowship in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis at the University of Michigan. Her research interests include determining the clinical predictors of diagnosis and survival in patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonias, clinical trials of novel therapeutic agents for patients with IPF, and improving the health-related quality of life for patients with fibrotic lung disease.
Dr. Matthew Binnie, Toronto
Dr. Matthew Binnie is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto and Staff Physician at the Toronto Lung Transplant Program and TGH Interstitial Lung Diseases Clinic as well as St Michael’s Hospital. He did his MD and residency in Toronto followed by research fellowships with Dr. Susan Quaggin and then with Dr. Dean Sheppard at UCSF. His clinical interests include ILD, lung transplantation and endobronchial ultrasound. His research interests have included lung development, mechanisms of fibrosis and lung transplantation allograft dysfunction.
Dr. Jolene Fisher, Toronto
Dr. Jolene Fisher received her Doctor of Medicine in 2008 from the University of Manitoba where she went on to complete Internal Medicine residency training. She then completed a Respirology residency and Interstitial Lung Disease fellowship at the University of Toronto, where she also received research training in Clinical Epidemiology. She currently works as a Respirologist at the University Health Network and is the Research Director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Clinic at the Toronto General Hospital.
Dr. Meena Kalluri, Edmonton
Dr. Meena Kalluri is the founder and director of the Multidisciplinary Interstitial Lung Disease Clinic at the University of Alberta. Her clinic is the first of its kind where an early integrated palliative approach is used concurrently with IPF specific therapies. Patient centered care includes new dyspnea treatment protocols that facilitate self-management at home. Her research interests include the impact of patient-centered, collaborative care and the use of palliative approaches to improve quality of life and quality of dying and death in patients with advanced lung diseases (interstitial lung diseases).
Dr. Nasreen Khalil, Vancouver
Dr. Nasreen Khalil, is a Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Division of Respiratoy Medicine, The University of British Columbia and practices at the Vancouver General Hospital. Nasreen’s research interests are in the molecular and biological mechanisms of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Dr. Khalil’s most recognized work is demonstrating the role of TGF-β1 in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis and was the first investigator to demonstrate that IPF is not an inflammatory lung disease. The findings changed the paradigm of pathogenesis and motivated development of more appropriate therapeutic agents.
Dr. Martin Kolb, Hamilton
Dr. Martin Kolb is a German-Canadian Respirologist who obtained his MD and “Venia Legendi” (PhD equivalent) for Experimental Medicine at the Julius-Maximilian University Medical School in Würzburg, Germany. He is licensed to practice in Germany and Canada, and the Moran Campbell Professor and Chair of Respiratory Medicine at McMaster University, Director of the Division of Respirology and Research Director of the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health in Hamilton, Ontario.
Dr. Chris Ryerson, Vancouver
Dr. Chris Ryerson completed his core clinical training at UBC and an ILD fellowship and Masters degree in clinical research at University of California San Francisco. He is an Associate Professor at UBC and director of the St. Paul’s Hospital ILD clinical and research program. His research focuses on management and prognostication of fibrotic interstitial lung disease, including his leadership of a prospective national registry as well as a multi-centre randomized control trial evaluating the role of oxygen therapy during exercise training in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Dr. Shane Shapera, Toronto
Dr. Shane Shapera is the director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Program at the University Health Network and an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. He attended medical school and completed his residency training at the University of Toronto. Following his sub-specialty training in Respirology, he was the 2009 recipient of the Cameron C. Gray fellowship and studied interstitial lung diseases during his fellowship year. He is the recipient of numerous teaching awards and his research interests are focused on the safety of lung biopsy in ILD and the treatment of acute exacerbations of ILD.
