Meet our Team Members
Our clinical research team is made up of experts from the Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine, the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec, the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke, HEMA-Quebec, daycare centers, the pharmaceutical company Moderna and an advisory committee.
Members of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine
Principal Investigator
Dr. Isabelle Boucoiran
Dr. Boucoiran is a clinician-researcher in obstetrics-gynecology specializing in maternal-fetal medicine and infectious reproductive diseases. She is a member of the School of Public Health of the University of Montreal and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at CHU Sainte-Justine, where she co-directs the Centre d’infectiologie mère-enfant (CIME), a provincial reference for congenital infections.
Co-investigator
Dr. Soren Gantt
Dr. Gantt is a Pediatric Infectious Diseases specialist, Director of Clinical Research at CHU Ste-Justine, and Full Professor in the Departments of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases & Immunology and of Pediatrics at the University of Montreal. He obtained a B.Sc. with Honors in Evolutionary Biology at Brown University. He then received M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in the Medical Scientist Training Program at New York University School of Medicine, where he worked on malaria vaccine development in the Department of Immunology. Dr. Gantt then completed a residency in Pediatrics, Infectious Diseases Fellowship, and an MPH in Epidemiology at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital, addressing transmission and pathogenesis of HIV and herpes group viruses. Prior to arriving at the University of Montreal and CHU Ste-Justine, Dr. Gantt was the Head of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of British Columbia and Director of Clinical Research at BC Children’s Hospital.  Dr. Gantt’s current research focuses primarily on the prevention of disease due to congenital cytomegalovirus infection.
Project Manager
Suzanne Taillefer
Suzanne has a PhD in Social Psychology with a specialization in Health. She has worked in health research for over 35 years and has been part of the team at the Centre d’infectiologie mère-enfant (CIME) at CHU Sainte-Justine for almost 10 years. Her role within the EDUQ-CMV team is to coordinate the study alongside Dr. Boucoiran.
Research Nurse
Sophie Perreault
Sophie is one of two CHUSJ research nurses who will work on EDUQ-CMV.
Research Nurse
Mélanie Desjardins
Mélanie is one of two CHUSJ research nurses who will work on EDUQ-CMV.
Epidemiologist-statistician
Mi-Suk Kang Dufour
Mi-Suk is an epidemiologist at the Centre de soutien à la gestion et analyse de données (CSGAD) at the Sainte-Justine Hospital. She also holds an associate professorship in the Division of Biostatistics at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests include the implementation of reproductive health, pediatrics, and infectious diseases programs.
Assistante de laboratoire
Niki Abdollahi
Niki is an NC2 research assistant in Dr. Boucoiran's team. She processes and tests clinical samples for several CMV projects, including EDUQ-CMV.
Research Associate
Hinatea Dieumegard
Hinatea holds a PhD in virology and immunology, with a passion for research that she has cultivated since adolescence. For eight years, she studied HIV-specific immune responses in infected children. Today, she is a research associate for the EDUQ-CMV project at the CHU Sainte-Justine research center, supervising all laboratory operations, from sample reception to analysis, as part of her commitment to science and the fight against infectious diseases.
Scientific Translator / Editor
John Davison
A clinical research professional, editor and writer of medical and educational content, John has a background in fundamental research. He is currently Director of the International Clinical Research Academy.
Members of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec - Université Laval
Full Professor
Dr. Emmanuel Bujold
Dr. Bujold is a full professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Université Laval, where he holds the Jeanne and Jean-Louis Lévesque Research Chair in Perinatality. He completed his medical studies and residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Université de Montréal and his fellowship in maternal and fetal medicine at Wayne State University, Michigan, USA. He also earned a master’s degree in epidemiology at Université Laval. His research focuses on the prediction and prevention of preeclampsia, premature birth and uterine rupture. A researcher of merit from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec en Santé (FRQ-S) and author of more than 300 scientific articles, Dr. Bujold currently directs one of the largest pregnancy research units in North America.
Clinical research nurse
Josée Mailhot
Josée is part of Dr. Bujold’s team at the CHUL Research Center.
Research professional
Catherine Perreault
Catherine is part of Dr. Bujold’s team at the CHU Laval Research Center.
Members of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke
Full Professor
Dr. Annie Ouellet
Dr. Ouellet has over 20 years of clinical experience in maternal-fetal medicine in monitoring and management of high-risk pregnancies. She is also a clinician-researcher with recent cohort studies on fetal and child neurodevelopment in relation to exposures during pregnancy to antidepressants and cannabis. She also has expertise in obstetrical ultrasound and MRI imaging for the mother and the fetus. In addition to holding several management positions, she teaches at several university levels and in continuing medical education where she has developed new teaching methods in obstetrical ultrasound. She is the clinical lead for a unique project with the Ministry of Health in Quebec in ultrasound telehealth in the province.
Clinical Research Nurse
Virginie Bouchard
With 15 years of professional experience in the maternity and neonatal departments of CHUS Fleurimont, Virginie has been a research nurse since 2021. She is actively involved in studies aimed at improving the well-being of pregnant women, their children and their families. She is involved in both nursing and coordination.
Research Assistant
Line Boutet
Line is a dedicated research assistant who is passionate about pregnancy. She is committed to being meticulous and reliable. She has over fifteen years of experience supporting women and their babies and nearly four years in clinical research with the CHUS research center in Sherbrooke. She has worked on four different research projects with different researchers. She is known for her warm attitude and her ability to build trusting relationships with participants. With her wealth of personal experience and background in psychology, her contribution to this project will be a great asset.
Members of Moderna Therapeutics, Inc.
Director and Lead Epidemiologist
John D. Diaz-Decaro
John is a pharmacoepidemiologist with experience in developing observational studies of efficacy and safety in domestic and emerging markets.
Associate Director, Clinical Operations
Iliana Leony Lasso
Iliana is an Associate Director, Clinical Operations at Moderna. She is a seasoned clinical operations professional with over 20 years of experience in the biotech industry. Iliana holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Universidad Rafael Landivar in Guatemala, and an MHA from the University of La Verne, in California. She has a proven track record of clinical trial execution at multiple biotech companies. In her free time, Iliana enjoys traveling and spending time with family and friends.
HÉMA-Québec Members
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Medical Director, Microbiologist-Infectious Disease Specialist
Dr. Christian Renaud
Dr Renaud is a medical microbiologist-infectiologist with a subspecialty in diagnostic and clinical virology. He works at CHU Ste-Justine in the CIME clinic and at Héma-Québec as Medical Director, Microbiology and Epidemiology. He has been involved in various seroprevalence projects among blood and plasma donors at Héma-Québec. He is also Clinical Associate Professor in the Departments of Microbiology, Infectiology and Immunology; and Pediatrics at Université de Montréal.
Study Biobank Specialist, Medical Affairs and Innovation
Nathalie C. Simard
Among other things, Nathalie helps Dr. Renaud coordinate the EDUQ-CMV project at Héma-Québec.
The Advisory Committee
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Advisory Committee
Composed of a representative from the Quebec Association of CPEs (AQCPE), an educator, a parent and various key stakeholders, the advisory committee is involved in each stage of the study.
Parent partner
Caroline Leroux
Caroline is an osteopath and mother of a 5-year-old girl who was diagnosed at birth with congenital CMV. Since 2022, she has become more involved in the community and in research. She recently completed a "PaCER" (Patient and Community Engagement Research) program at the University of Calgary whose research project was on CMV. She is also a member of the "Parent advisory committee" of CMV Canada.