====== Soren Gantt ======

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Dr. **Soren Gantt** is a Canadian pediatric infectious diseases epidemiologist based in Montreal, Quebec. He is notable in the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] due to his position with the [[National Advisory Committee on Immunization]] (NACI) when [[COVID-19 vaccines]] were first authorized in Canada.

===== Education =====

Gantt obtained a Bachelor of Sciences with Honours in Evolutionary Biology at [[Brown University]]. He then received M.D. and Ph.D. degrees through the Medical Scientist Training Program at [[New_York_University: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 a Master of Public Health in [[Epidemiology]] at the [[University of Washington]] and [[Seattle Children’s Hospital]], addressing transmission and pathogenesis of [[HIV]] and [[herpes]] viruses.

===== Affiliations =====

Gantt received an [[National Institutes of Health]] (NIH) Pediatric Research Loan Repayment Program Award in 2003. In 2006, he was recognized as a scholar with the NIH Roadmap Clinical Research Career Development Program. 

Gantt is former Head of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the [[University of British Columbia]] and Director of Clinical Research at [[BC Children’s Hospital]]. He departed Vancouver in July 2020.((Wasserman, W. (2020, February 12). //Farewell to Dr. Soren Gantt | Department of Pediatrics.// University of British Columbia. https://archive.ph/fCDZ8))

Gantt is employed as a research and professor by the [[University of Montreal]].((Université de Montréal. //Soren Gantt.// Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie. Retrieved April 16, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220417050458/https://microbiologie.umontreal.ca/recherche/professeurs-chercheurs/soren-gantt/)) He is a Pediatric Infectious Diseases specialist and director of clinical research at [[CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center]].((//Biography.// (2020). CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center. https://web.archive.org/web/20210603074958/https://www.chusj.org/Bio?id=b3e2368d-ae9a-4f08-a8c3-c694adbb0bda&lang=en)) He serves as CHU Sainte-Justine's investigator for the [[MUHC Vaccine Study Centre]] alongside [[Caroline Quach-Trahn.]]((//About.// MUHC Vaccine Center. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from https://archive.ph/MX0cf))
===== COVID-19 =====

Gantt served as a member of Canada's [[National Advisory Committee on Immunization]] (NACI) when [[COVID-19 vaccines]] were first approved in Canada. He later declared receiving funding from [[pharmaceutical_companies:Pfizer]] and [[pharmaceutical_companies:Moderna]], whose vaccines he helped approve. Shockingly, he further discloses that he received funding for a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine trial, investigating its use in babies.((//Montreal clinical trial to vaccinate babies with COVID-19 shot.// (2021, December 3). City News Montreal. https://web.archive.org/web/20220417174636/https://montreal.citynews.ca/video/2021/12/03/montreal-clinical-trial-to-vaccinate-babies-with-covid-19-shot/)) ((Sherwin, C. (2021, November 26). //Babies and toddlers are getting COVID-19 vaccines in Montreal as part of a clinical trial.// CTV News. https://archive.ph/u08Zc)) ((Lebatteux, D., Soudeyns, H., Boucoiran, I., Gantt, S., & Diallo, A. B. (2022). //Machine learning-based approach KEVOLVE efficiently identifies SARS-CoV-2 variant-specific genomic signatures.// bioRxiv. Preprint. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.02.07.479343)) He reported additional funding from [[pharmaceutical_companies:Merck]], [[pharmaceutical_companies:GlaxoSmithKline]] and [[medical_technology_companies:Altona Diagnostics]].((Byrne, C., Coombs, D., & Gantt, S. (2022). //Modestly protective cytomegalovirus vaccination of young children effectively prevents congenital infection at the population level.// medRxiv. Preprint. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.24.22272898))

In a paper published in the [[Canadian Medical Association Journal]], Gantt describes receiving consulting fees related to vaccines from Moderna, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck and [[pharmaceutical_companies:Curevo Vaccine]]; research funding for vaccine research from Merck, GlaxoSmithKline and [[pharmaceutical_companies:VBI Vaccines]]; and research funding for a COVID-19 vaccine trial from [[pharmaceutical_companies:Symvivo]].((Abu-Raya, B., Gantt, S., & Sadarangani, M. (2020). //Challenges in evaluating SARS-CoV-2 vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.// Canadian Medical Association Journal, cmaj.201237. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.201237))