Steering Committee
Jean-Yves Savoie
Chair, OCRC Steering Committee
Jean-Yves Savoie completed his university education in chemistry with a PhD from Laval University. His postdoctoral studies in immunochemistry at the University of Alberta made him see the possibility of applying chemistry to the world of health. From then on, he directed his career towards applied research...
Paul Demers
Director and Member, OCRC Steering Committee
Paul comes to OCRC from the University of British Columbia, where he was a Professor in the School of Environmental Health. As well as being Director of the OCRC, he is also a Professor with the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health. He has an MSc in Industrial Hygiene and a PhD...
Sarah Bouma
Member, OCRC Steering Committee
Sarah Bouma is the Senior Manager of Research with the Canadian Cancer Society in Ontario. Sarah completed her undergraduate degree in Life Sciences at Queen’s University and obtained her Master’s degree in Medical Science from McMaster University in Hamilton. Since 2004, Sarah has led the Society’s...
Dafna Carr
Member, OCRC Steering Committee
Dafna Carr is the Director, Policy, Planning and KTE for Prevention and Cancer Control within CCO. She has a Master’s in Business Administration and has served all of her career in health care. Dafna brings knowledge and experience across a spectrum of health organizations. She specializes in healthcare...
D. Linn Holness
Member, OCRC Steering Committee
Dr. Holness graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto in 1977 and has a MHSc from the University of Toronto. She is certified in Occupational Medicine by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and is an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine of the...
H. Roland Hosein
Member, OCRC Steering Committee
Dr. Roland Hosein is a native of Trinidad who took his B.Sc and M.Sc degrees at the University of London and completed his Ph.D in Epidemiology at the University of Western Ontario. He did research on the epidemiology of lung diseases at Yale University, and later led a team in Occupational Health for...
Andrew King
Member, OCRC Steering Committee
Andrew King is the Department Leader for Health, Safety and Environment with the United Steelworkers Union (USW). USW is North America’s largest industrial and most diverse union with membership in manufacturing, steelmaking, oil, chemical, mining and wood as well as in service, health care, and education...
Gary Liss
Member, OCRC Steering Committee
Dr. Liss graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto in 1976, and undertook Occupational Medicine residency training at the University of Cincinnati, where he also obtained a Master of Science degree. Prior to returning to Canada, from 1981-84, Dr. Liss served as an Epidemic Intelligence...
Loraine Marrett
Scientist and Member, OCRC Steering Committee
Loraine Marrett was thrust into the field of occupational cancer research during her first position as a cancer epidemiologist shortly after completing her PhD, and has maintained an interest throughout her career. She played a critical role in the development of the OCRC, advocating for a dedicated...
Anthony B. Miller
Chair, OCRC Scientific Advisory Committee and Member, OCRC Steering Committee
Dr. Anthony Miller is currently Professor Emeritus at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. A physician-epidemiologist, he was a member of the scientific staff of the UK Medical Research Council, 1962-71, Director of the Epidemiology Unit of the National Cancer Institute of Canada...
Scientific Advisory Committee
Anthony B. Miller
Chair, OCRC Scientific Advisory Committee and Member, OCRC Steering Committee
Dr. Anthony Miller is currently Professor Emeritus at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. A physician-epidemiologist, he was a member of the scientific staff of the UK Medical Research Council, 1962-71, Director of the Epidemiology Unit of the National Cancer Institute of Canada...
Kristan Aronson
Member, OCRC Scientific Advisory Committee
Dr. Kristan Aronson is a Professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, and in the School of Environmental Studies, and is also a member of the Division of Cancer Care and Epidemiology at the Cancer Research Institute. Dr. Aronson has held...
Aaron Blair
Member, OCRC Scientific Advisory Committee and Former Interim Director, OCRC
Like many in the field, Aaron Blair took an unexpected route toward occupational cancer research. While teaching at a small college shortly after finishing his PhD in genetics, he took a preparatory course that happened to be offered by the University of North Carolina School of Public Health. In learning...
Jack Siemiatycki
Member, OCRC Scientific Advisory Committee
Jack Siemiatycki has a PhD in epidemiology and is currently Professor of epidemiology at the University of Montreal. He also holds the positions of Canada Research Chair and the Guzzo-SRC Chair in Environment and Cancer, and is a member of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. He has served on over...
Leadership
Paul Demers
Director and Member, OCRC Steering Committee
Paul comes to OCRC from the University of British Columbia, where he was a Professor in the School of Environmental Health. As well as being Director of the OCRC, he is also a Professor with the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health. He has an MSc in Industrial Hygiene and a PhD...
Desre Kramer
Associate Director
Desre comes to OCRC from our sister organization, the Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD), where she established a network of 35 researchers across 11 universities and institutions, and networks of health and safety consultants, organized labour, employers...
Scientists
Shelley Harris
Scientist
Shelley Harris first became interested in occupational and environmental health while travelling in India and Jamaica as part of her undergraduate minor in International Agriculture, where poor working conditions led to exacerbated risk for serious acute illness due to environmental and occupational...
Loraine Marrett
Scientist and Member, OCRC Steering Committee
Loraine Marrett was thrust into the field of occupational cancer research during her first position as a cancer epidemiologist shortly after completing her PhD, and has maintained an interest throughout her career. She played a critical role in the development of the OCRC, advocating for a dedicated...
John McLaughlin
Scientist
John McLaughlin is an epidemiologist and leader in Canadian cancer research. He leads interdisciplinary teams in large population-based studies that aim to discover environmental and genetic factors involved in the development of cancers, such as colorectal, ovarian and lung, and to determine the impact...
Minh T. Do
Junior Scientist
Minh’s primary research interest is in the area of environmental and occupational epidemiology. He recently completed his post-doctoral training at the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL, Barcelona, Spain). He is currently working with the OCRC on two research projects: one assessing...
Affiliated Researchers
Paul Villeneuve
Affiliated Researcher
Paul graduated from the Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto in 2000, and has been accredited as a Professional Statistician (P.Stat) by the Statistical Society of Canada. Paul has long been involved in epidemiological studies dating back to his time spent at the Laboratory Centre...
Staff
Anne Harris
Post-doctoral Fellow
Anne’s research focuses on occupational and environmental risk factors for chronic disease, and she is particularly interested in studying and improving the methods used to conduct this type of research. Her Ph.D. thesis focused on occupational risk factors for Parkinson’s disease (especially whole...
Ann Del Bianco
Research Associate
Ann comes to the OCRC with a unique perspective on occupational cancer. Her multidisciplinary background has left her well versed in the science-policy interface. Ann's research interests are in environmental and occupational cancer; esophageal cancer; environmental and ecosystem health; and alternative...
Priyanka Raj
Research Associate
Priyanka recently joined the OCRC after completing her Master of Public Health in Occupational and Environmental Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Priyanka is currently working on the “Women and minorities in occupational cancer research” project.
Manisha Pahwa
Research Associate
Manisha Pahwa was OCRC’s first student. She completed her M.P.H. major project at the Centre, examining occupational pesticide exposure and cancer risk. Manisha recently received the 2010-2011 Ontario Student Opportunity Trust Fund Institute for Work and Health (IWH) Graduate Fellowship to help support...
Kate Jardine
Research Associate
Kate joined the OCRC after completing her Master's in chemistry at the University of Toronto. Kate is currently working on creating a database of occupational exposures in Canada.
Krisy Moore
Research Associate
Krisy’s interest in occupational cancer is largely influenced by her experience growing up in Sarnia, Ontario. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Political Science and is passionate about disease prevention and access to care. She brings her experience in domestic and international health policy...
Karin Hohenadel
Research Associate
Karin has focused her research career on studying the unequal burden of disease across populations, examining factors such as newcomer status, race and ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. Karin was OCRC’s first full-time employee, and takes special interest in the involvement of the diverse...
Barbara Nelson
Administrative Assistant
Barb joined OCRC after working for seven years at the University Health Network in the Department of Research Support Services, the Office of the VP Research and the Division of Biophysics and Bioimaging. She has a B.A. (Sociology) from the University of Waterloo and also studied Business Management...
Students
Patricia Liu
Student
Patricia is in the final year of her Ph.D. at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University Toronto. She specializes in the history of twentieth-century biology and medicine. At the OCRC, Patricia is working on a report that examines the history of research...
Jill Hardt
Student
Jill Hardt is a student in the MPH Epidemiology program at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Jill was introduced to occupational health research during the co-op placements she completed as an undergraduate student. She worked on a project assessing the gaps in existing supports...
Joanne Kim
Student
Joanne is an MPH student in the division of Occupational and Environmental Health. Inspired by her time at the Occupational Health Clinic (St. Michael’s Hospital) as a volunteer and later, research student, she decided to pursue graduate studies in the field. Her previous projects addressed occupational...
Garthika Navaranjan
Student
While completing a degree in human biology and doing research in microbial ecology, Garthika became interested in combining the two fields to explore the effects of the environment on human health. More specifically, Garthika is interested in exploring the role of environmental chemicals in the development...
Desiree Latour
Student
Desiree is working towards a Master’s degree in Public Health at the University of Toronto. For her summer practicum, she had the opportunity to work at the Public Health Agency of Canada, in the area of chronic disease surveillance. During the first semester of her second year she decided to explore...
Victoria H. Arrandale
Student
Victoria became attracted to the occupational health field when she was a student working as a scales and forklift operator in a British Columbia paper mill. Victoria is interested in the effects of occupational exposures on health outcomes and her research has mainly focused on asthma outcomes, including...
