Introducing the Medical Advisory Council

Our Medical Advisory Council provides advice and counsel to the Foundation's Board of Directors on all medical and scientific issues.  In particular, the Council:

  • Provides input to overall strategic direction of the Foundation;
  • Reviews all scientific and medical information made available to the public including information found on this website, brochures, information sheets, reports, etc.; and,
  • Reviews, monitors, and evaluates the Foundation's research program to ensure relevant research is pursued, ethical standards are met and sound research protocols are followed.

We are pleased to have some of the most knowledgeable and experienced pemphigus and pemphigoid Canadian practitioners and researchers on our Council.  

Dr Neil H Shear, MD, FRCPC
Professor & Chief of Dermatology
University of Toronto, Ontario
Dr. Shear has over 25 years of dermatological research and clinical experience. In 1976, he obtained his medical degree from McMaster University. In 1984, Dr. Shear joined the staff of Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto and is now the Head of Dermatology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and is also the University Director of Dermatology.  His main research interest is in idiosyncratic drug reactions that involve the skin. He has published more than 300 peer reviewed papers and numerous chapters and abstracts. His clinical interests are diverse with much of his current practice focused on autoimmune blistering diseases. Dr. Shear is a past president of the Canadian Society for Clinical Pharmacology and a recipient of the society's Distinguished Service Award.  He is the Chair of the Canadian Professors of Dermatology, and President of the Canadian Dermatology Foundation. He has served on numerous editorial boards including the Archives of Dermatology, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, the Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery, and Journal Watch Dermatology.

Dr. Scott Walsh, MD PhD FRCPC DABD
Program Director of Dermatology
University of Toronto, Ontario
Trained at the University of Toronto, Dr. Walsh co-manages the immunobullous diseases clinic with Dr. Neil Shear at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.  He has been with the clinic for over four years and is one of the leading practitioners in treating pemphigus and pemphigoid patients in the Toronto area.

Dr. P. Régine Mydlarski, MD, FRCPC, DABD
Director, Immunodermatology & Transplant Dermatology
University of Calgary, Alberta
Upon completion of her medical degree, Dr. Mydlarski received postgraduate training in Dermatology at the University of Toronto. Under the aegis of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the fields of immunodermatology and medical genetics. After developing an immunobullous disease clinic at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, Dr. Mydlarski joined the Division of Dermatology at the University of Calgary. As a Clinician-Scientist, she heads a translational research program in pemphigus and runs a multi-disciplinary clinic that serves as a referral site for patients across Western Canada. In collaboration with international researchers, she has developed one of the world’s largest pemphigus registries and is a leading authority in the field of autoimmune bullous disease.

Dr. Jan Dutz, MD, FRCPC
Associate Professor
University of British Columbia, British Columbia

Dr. Dutz is an Associate Professor at UBC and a scientist with the Child and Family Research Institute and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. He received his B.Sc in Biology from the University of Toronto and his MD degree from Queen's University. He continued with postgraduate training in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology (University of Toronto) and Dermatology (UBC).  Dr. Dutz has been the recipient of numerous honors and grants for research and investigation, and has co-authored over 30 scientific journal publications and 25 journal abstracts, as well as several chapters in books.  Dr. Dutz's practice includes a Connective Tissue Disease clinic, and he is one of a few physicians in North America to be board certified and maintain active clinical interest in both Rheumatology and Dermatology.  Dr. Dutz is the Coordinator of Resident Research for the UBC Department of Dermatology and Skin Science, and the focus of his laboratory has an independent laboratory is to study the skin immune system and its participation in autoimmune disease.

Dr.Peter J. Chauvin B.Sc., D.D.S., M.Sc., F.R.C.D.(C).
Associate Professor and Director of Oral Diagnostic Sciences Faculty of Dentistry, McGill University Associate member, Department of Pathology Faculty of Medicine, McGill University

Upon completion of his Dental Degree from McGill University he completed his residency and postgraduate studies in Oral Pathology at the University of Western Ontario. He holds Fellowships in Oral Medicine and Oral Pathology from the Royal College of Dentists of Canada. Dr. Chauvin has a special interest in the diagnosis and management of patients with oral mucosal disorders.

Sandra Knowles, RPh, BScPhm
Lecturer, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Ontario
Ms. Knowles works in the Immunobullous Clinic at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre to assist in the management of patients with pemphigus and pemphigoid. She has conducted research on changes to the quality of life of pemphigus and pemphigoid patients and is often asked to speak about issues related to medications taken by pemphigus and pemphigoid patients.

Dr. Afsaneh Alavi, MD
Resident Dermatologist, University of Toronto
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Ontario and Former Wound Healing Fellow
Dr. Alavi is a dermatologist (Iranian Board of Dermatology-1998) and completed a 2-year wound healing fellowship at the University of Toronto (2005-2007). She has special interest in wound care and education.  Her wound care expertise has grown from the completion of the International inter-professional wound care course (IIWCC) in 2004-2005. She is International Co-Director and Coordinator for International Interdisciplinary wound care course in collaboration with the University of Toronto in Iran (2007), Saudi Arabia (2008) and United Arab Emirates (2009).  She is currently a dermatology resident at University of Toronto completing the requirements to obtain her Canadian license.   


The Council is guided by the Foundation's Medical Advisory Council Terms of Reference.  For more information, please contact info@pemphigus.ca.