Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery

Dr. El-Hawary is Professor, Department of Surgery with cross-appointments with the School of Biomedical Engineering and with the Division of Neurosurgery at Dalhousie. He also serves as Associate Chief of Surgery, Research Director of Surgery, and Chief of Orthopaedics at IWK Health.

Ron is currently on the Board of Directors of the Scoliosis Research Society and of the Pediatric Spine Foundation.

Ron has been Chair of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Orthopaedic Examination Committee and has been President of the Pediatric Spine Foundation, the Canadian Pediatric Orthopaedic Group, and was the founding president of the Canadian Pediatric Spine Society.

Ron enjoys spending time with his family at their cottage, skiing, playing golf, and coaching basketball.

Pediatrics, Clinical Immunology

Dr. Beata Derfalvi is a pediatric immunologist at the IWK Health Centre, and Professor of Pediatrics and Head of the Division of Immunology at Dalhousie University in Halifax. She graduated from Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary, where she completed her pediatric residency, clinical immunology, and rheumatology Fellowships, as well as her Ph.D. in immunology. She was recruited to Dalhousie University in 2013.

From 2019 to 2021 Dr. Derfalvi was the Immunology Section Lead at the Canadian Allergy and Immunology Society, and she is currently a member of the Medical Directors for the Immunity Canada patient organization and Immunodeficiency Canada. As Chair of the Clinical Immunology Network Canada’s Inborn Errors of Immunity Registry Steering Committee, she is leading the initiative to establish a national patient registry.

Dr. Derfalvi’s clinical and translational research program focuses on understanding immune dysregulation in rare forms of inborn errors of immunity, and in common autoimmune inflammatory diseases such as juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Anesthesia, Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain

Dr. Bailey is an anesthesiologist and assistant professor at Dalhousie University. He completed undergraduate and medical school at the University of Saskatchewan before completing his anesthesia training, masters in epidemiology and regional anesthesia fellowship at Dalhousie University.

Dr. Bailey’s clinical and research interests include acute pain, regional anesthesia, education, and global health. He has received the Dalhousie Department of Anesthesiology, Pain Management & Perioperative Medicine Clinical Teacher of the Year award.

Dr. Bailey is the Medical Director for Serving and Engaging Communities in the Department of Anesthesia and the Rwanda Lead for the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society International Education Foundation (CASIEF).

Population Health / Environmental Health

Dr. Ellen Sweeney (she/her) is a health researcher who has been working in spaces of environmental health, cancer and primary prevention for more than 20 years. She completed a PhD in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University and an MA in Social Anthropology at Dalhousie University.

Ellen is the Research Director at the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow's Health (Atlantic PATH) at Dalhousie University. Atlantic PATH is a regional cohort of the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow's Health (CanPath), the largest longitudinal population health study in Canada.

She is also an active volunteer with Prevent Cancer Now, the Environmental Noxiousness, Racial Inequities and Community Health (ENRICH) Project and the Canadian Coalition for Environmental and Climate Justice (CCECJ).

Diagnostic Radiology

Dr. Oldfield is in his third year of residency within Dalhousie's Diagnostic Radiology program. Current research interests include evaluating the efficacy of ultra-low radiation dose CT imaging for assessment of nephrolithiasis and obstructive uropathy.

Prior to earning his MD at Dalhousie University, he completed a BSc at St. Francis Xavier University in Human Kinetics. Outside of medicine Matthew enjoys athletics such as hockey, skiing, and cycling, music, and building computers.

Family Medicine

Dr Sarah Fraser is a family doctor who works in Millbrook First Nation, at the Dartmouth General Hospital and provides gender affirming care. She is also Deputy Editor of the medical journal Canadian Family Physician, and is Co-Director of the Medical Humanities Program at Dalhousie University. She has a passion for writing, editing, general practice, and the combination of the three.

Paediatric Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery

Dr. Liane Johnson joined the Division of Paediatric Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) at the IWK Health Centre in October 2003 to help grow the subspecialty needs of patients in the Atlantic Provinces.  Dr. Johnson’s formative training spans 16 years with a Bachelor of Science (HBSc Genetics and biochemistry) at Western University (’87-’91), a Medical degree (MDCM) at McGill University (’91-’95), and then residency training at Dalhousie University (’95-’01) beginning in anaesthesia, and then changing to OHNS, and ultimately, subspecializing in Paediatric airway surgery at Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center (’01-’03).

As an academic surgeon, Dr. Johnson’s responsibilities encompass teaching medical students & residents in formal lectures, but mostly interactive teaching in clinic and operating room settings. Dr. Johnson’s interest in education have led to the creation of simulation-based airway training locally, throughout Canada and the USA, and 13-year membership and chairing of the Examination Board at Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.  This unique expertise and collaborations have led to publication of numerous textbook chapters and clinically-based research papers.

Dr. Johnson is a mom to 4 kids (14, 12, 12, and 8yo) and a wife and partner in adventures in competitive Ultimate and grape growing. Her motto is “anything is possible”.