====== Allison McGeer ====== {{ ::dr-allisonmcgeer-200x251.png?150|}} **Allison J. McGeer** is a Professor in Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the [[Dalla Lana School of Public Health]] at the [[University of Toronto]] in Ontario, [[Canada]]. She is also an Infectious Disease Specialist and Senior Clinician Scientist at the [[Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute]] of the [[Sinai Health System]] in Toronto. She has a research interest in adult immunization and emerging issues. Since February 2020, she has been working on research related to the prevention and management of [[COVID-19]]. McGeer has been a member of Canada’s [[National Advisory Committee on Immunization]] (NACI).((Public Health Ontario. //Ontario Immunization Advisory Committee (OIAC).// Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/about/our-organization/external-advisory-committees/oiac)) ===== Affiliations ===== ==== Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease ==== McGeer presented at the 2021 Annual Conference for the [[Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease]] (AMMI) Canada and the [[Canadian Association for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases]] (CACMID). She received the John G. FitzGerald – CACMID Outstanding Microbiologist Award.((//Final Program - 2021 Annual Conference.// AMMI. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from https://www.ammi.ca/Content/2021%20Final%20Program_FINAL.pdf)) ==== Canadian Advisory Group on Antimicrobial Resistance ==== McGeer is a member of the [[Canadian Advisory Group on Antimicrobial Resistance]]. Fellow members include [[Scott Weese]], [[Andrew Morris]] and [[public_health_agencies:canada:John Conly]].((//Expert Advisory Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (EAGAR) - Membership.// (2021, June 11). Government of Canada. https://archive.ph/T5QcZ)) ==== COVID-19 Expert Panel ==== McGeer is a member of the [[COVID-19 Expert Panel]]. It is described as a "multidisciplinary science expert panel" created to advise the Chief Scientific Advisor, Dr. [[Mona Nemer]], "on the latest scientific developments relevant to COVID-19. This information will assist the CSA in providing current and cross-disciplinary advice to the Prime Minister [ [[covid-19_pandemic:politics:Justin Trudeau]] ] and government."((Communications and Marketing Branch. (2021, January 14). //COVID-19 Expert Panel.// Government of Canada. Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://archive.ph/9FGfX)) ==== National Advisory Committee on Immunization ==== She is also a former member of the [[National Advisory Committee on Immunization]] (NACI), the group responsible for approving [[COVID-19]] [[vaccine]] products for use in Canada. McGeer explained that NACI deliberations to approve [[COVID-19 vaccines]] can’t be available to the public because “has nothing like the budget or staff that would be needed” to do so, and despite the fact that the need for the agency to “gather and evaluate the available data relevant to vaccines,” she claims “they are not adequately resourced for rapid and comprehensive scientific assessment.”((Semeniuk, I. (2021, May 11). //Once a little-known health body, NACI finds itself in the pandemic spotlight over COVID-19 vaccine debate.// The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://archive.ph/OZ89j)) ==== National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases ==== As of at least 2015, McGeer is listed as a Partner at the [[National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases]].((//Partners.// National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases. Retrieved January 16, 2022, from https://archive.ph/CC1RX)) The centre is hosted at the [[University of Manitoba]], and receives funding from the [[public_health_agencies:canada:Public Health Agency of Canada]]. ==== Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table ==== McGeer is a member of the [[Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table]], which is hosted and funded by the [[Dalla Lana School of Public Health]] at the [[University of Toronto]] and [[public_health_agencies:canada:Public Health Ontario]].((Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. (2021, April 13). //About Us.// Retrieved November 3, 2021, from https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/about/)) ==== Ontario Immunization Advisory Committee ==== McGeer is a member of the [[Ontario Immunization Advisory Committee]] (OIAC) under [[public_health_agencies:canada:Public Health Ontario]].((Public Health Ontario. //Ontario Immunization Advisory Committee (OIAC).// Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/about/our-organization/external-advisory-committees/oiac)) ==== Sinai Health System ==== McGeer is an Infectious Disease Specialist and Senior Clinician Scientist at the [[Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute]] of the [[Sinai Health System]] in Toronto, Ontario.((Public Health Ontario. //Ontario Immunization Advisory Committee (OIAC).// Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/about/our-organization/external-advisory-committees/oiac)) ((Mount Sinai Hospital Department of Microbiology. //Staff Directory: Allison McGeer.// Mount Sinai Hospital. Retrieved November 11, 2021, from https://archive.ph/SrhEb)) The bottom of the McGeer's staff directory page carries a message bar reading "This website has been made possible through an unrestricted educational grant from [[pharmaceutical_companies:Pfizer]] Canada Inc." {{:3iqocpru_400x400.jpeg?200 |}} In her role at SHS, McGeer acted as a Local Principal Investigator for the "CONvalescent Plasma for Hospitalized Adults With COVID-19 Respiratory Illness" (CONCOR-1) study, funded by [[Canadian Blood Services]], [[Héma-Québec]], [[University of Toronto]] (Toronto COVID-19 Action Initiative 2020), [[Université de Montréal]], [[Canadian Institutes of Health Research]] COVID-19 May 2020 Rapid Research Funding Opportunity, [[Ontario COVID-19 Rapid Research Fund]], [[Fondation du CHU Ste-Justine]], [[Ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation du Québec]], [[Fonds de Recherche du Québec]], [[University Health Network]] Emergent Access Innovation Fund, [[Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre]] (University Health Academic Health Science Centre Alternative Funding Plan; Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Foundation), [[Saskatchewan Ministry of Health]], [[University of Alberta Hospital Foundation]], [[public_health_agencies:Alberta Health Services]] COVID-19 Foundation Competition, [[Fondation du CHUM]], [[Ottawa Hospital Academic Medical Organization]], [[Ottawa Hospital Foundation]] COVID-19 Research Fund, [[Sinai Health System Foundation]], and [[McMaster University]].((Bégin, P., Callum, J., Jamula, E., Cook, R., Heddle, N. M., Tinmouth, A., Zeller, M. P., Beaudoin-Bussières, G., Amorim, L., Bazin, R., Loftsgard, K. C., Carl, R., Chassé, M., Cushing, M. M., Daneman, N., Devine, D. V., Dumaresq, J., Fergusson, D. A., Gabe, C., Glesby, M. J., … Arnold, D. M. (2021). //Convalescent plasma for hospitalized patients with COVID-19: an open-label, randomized controlled trial.// Nature medicine, 27(11), 2012–2024. https://archive.ph/5vlNR)) ==== University of Toronto ==== McGeer is a Professor in Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the [[Dalla Lana School of Public Health]] at the [[University of Toronto]].((Public Health Ontario. //Ontario Immunization Advisory Committee (OIAC).// Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/about/our-organization/external-advisory-committees/oiac)) Her research interests are “clinical effectiveness, health services delivery, health care system, surveillance for infectious diseases, population and [[public health]]”. Relevant studies include: * [[https://archive.ph/8T0hg|December 23, 2020]]: Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Against All-Cause Mortality Following Laboratory-Confirmed Influenza in Older Adults, 2010-2011 to 2015-2016 Seasons in Ontario, Canada((Chung, H., Buchan, S. A., Campigotto, A., Campitelli, M. A., Crowcroft, N. S., Dubey, V., Gubbay, J. B., Karnauchow, T., Katz, K., McGeer, A. J., McNally, J. D., Mubareka, S., Murti, M., Richardson, D. C., Rosella, L. C., Schwartz, K. L., Smieja, M., Zahariadis, G., & Kwong, J. C. (2020). //Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Against All-Cause Mortality Following Laboratory-Confirmed Influenza in Older Adults, 2010–2011 to 2015–2016 Seasons in Ontario, Canada.// Clinical Infectious Diseases, 73(5), e1191–e1199. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa1862)) * Funded by the [[Canadian Institutes of Health Research]] (CIHR) and [[public_health_agencies:canada:Public Health Ontario]]. * McGeer reported Conflicts of Interest due to receiving “grants and personal fees” from [[pharmaceutical_companies:Sanofi]] Pasteur and [[pharmaceutical_companies:Merck]]; personal fees from [[pharmaceutical_companies:GlaxoSmithKline]]; and grants from [[pharmaceutical_companies:Seqirus]]. * [[https://archive.ph/Ca7Ug|August 27, 2021]]: //Neutralizing antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 variants in vaccinated Ontario long-term care home residents and workers//((Abe, K. T., Hu, Q., Mozafarihashjin, M., Samson, R., Manguiat, K., Robinson, A., Rathod, B., Hardy, W. R., Wang, J. H., Iskilova, M., Pasculescu, A., Fazel-Zarandi, M., Li, A., Paterson, A., Chao, G., Green, K., Gilbert, L., Barati, S., Haq, N., . . . Gingras, A. C. (2021). //Neutralizing antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 variants in vaccinated Ontario long-term care home residents and workers.// medRxiv. Published. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.06.21261721)) ((Ireland, N. (2021, September 28). COVID-19 vaccine boosters recommended for long-term care residents, national advisory committee says. CBC News. Retrieved November 20, 2021, from https://archive.ph/NXtRs)) * McGeer discloses that she had received "investigator-initiated research grants from Pfizer, Inc, and funds for participation in advisory boards from [[pharmaceutical_companies:Pfizer]] and [[pharmaceutical_companies:Moderna]]." * [[https://archive.ph/t8yS4|September 2, 2021]]: //Evaluation of the SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Response to the BNT162b2 Vaccine in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis//((Yau, K., Abe, K. T., Naimark, D., Oliver, M. J., Perl, J., Leis, J. A., Bolotin, S., Tran, V., Mullin, S. I., Shadowitz, E., Gonzalez, A., Sukovic, T., Garnham-Takaoka, J., de Launay, K. Q., Takaoka, A., Straus, S. E., McGeer, A. J., Chan, C. T., Colwill, K., . . . Hladunewich, M. A. (2021). //Evaluation of the SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Response to the BNT162b2 Vaccine in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis.// JAMA Network Open, 4(9), e2123622. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.23622)) * McGeer disclosed that she received funding from [[pharmaceutical_companies:Pfizer]], [[pharmaceutical_companies:Merck]], [[pharmaceutical_companies:Medicago]], [[pharmaceutical_companies:Moderna]], [[pharmaceutical_companies:Janssen]], [[pharmaceutical_companies:GlaxoSmithKline]], and [[pharmaceutical_companies:AstraZeneca]]. ===== External links ===== * [[https://wiki.whiteroseintelligence.com/en/Allison-McGeer|White Rose Wiki]] {{tag>Pro-narrative_scientists}}