Members of the NSCIBD Team
Dr. Jennifer Jones, MD, MSc, FRCPC (IBD)
Dr. Jennifer Jones, MD
Dr. Jennifer Jones, MD is an Associate Professor of medicine at Dalhousie University and Team Lead of the Nova Scotia Collaborative Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (NSCIBD) program at the QE II Health Sciences Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Dr. Jones Completed her core gastroenterology training at Dalhousie University in 2004 and went on to do a clinical and research fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases at Mayo Clinic Rochester in 2004 and 2005 under the mentorship of Drs. William Sandborn and Edward Loftus. From there she completed her MSc in Epidemiology while working in the IBD program at the University of Calgary, Calgary AB. Between 2008 and 2014 Dr. Jones started as an Assistant Professor of medicine developing the first provincial IBD program at the Royal University Hospital (University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Health Region). In 2014 Dr. Jones returned to Halifax to take on her new role in the NSCIBD program. Her clinical and research passions relate to quality improvements through collaborative care initiatives and patient centered program development, care access, nutritional intervention, and use of population-based data to evaluate IBD outcomes.
Dr. Sunil Patel, MD, FRCPC
Dr. Stacey Williams, MD, FRCPC
Dr. Ian Epstein, MD, FRCPC
Dr. Ian Epstein, MD
Dr. Ian Epstein is a graduate of Dalhousie Medical School, 2004. He completed Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology training at Dalhousie and has been in practice here since 2009. Clinical interests include IBD and functional bowel disorders. He has an active clinical practice with a large focus on IBD and endoscopy. Academic interests include medical education and endoscopy. He is currently serving as the Program Director for Dalhousie’s Internal Medicine Residency training program.
Dr. Steven Gruchy, MD, MSc, FRCPC (therapeutic endoscopy)
Dr. Steven Gruchy, MD
Dr. Steven Gruchy obtained his medical degree and Internal Medicine residency at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He went on to complete his Residency in Gastroenterology as well as a Fellowship in ERCP / Therapeutic Endoscopy at Dalhousie University. In addition, he completed a Masters of Clinical Epidemiology Degree (MSc) at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Dr. Gruchy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University and Co-Division Head for the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. He is an active member on many regional and national committees including serving as the current Vice President Education for the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology and the Regional representative for the Royal College Gastroenterology Subspecialty Committee.
Dr. Dana Farina, MD, FRCPC (therapeutic endoscopy)
Dr. Dana Farina, MD
Dr. Dana Farina completed his medical degree at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He then did his Internal Medicine Residency, Gastroenterology Residency, and ERCP fellowship at Dalhousie University.
His subspecialty areas of interest include chronic pancreatitis, spyglass cholangioscopy for hilar/intrahepatic biliary malignancy, and advanced polypectomy.
Dr. Farina continues to be heavily involved in Endoscopy education. He has been part of the CAG Skills Enhancement for Endoscopy™ (SEE™) Faculty since its conception, being involved also as faculty at the CAG polypectomy course.
Dr. Farina currently serves as the Chair of the Royal College GI exam board, and as a lecturer and clinical teacher at Dalhousie Medical School for medical students, residents, and fellows. Locally, he serves as the Central Zone Endoscopy Co-Lead.
Dr. Geoff Williams, MD, FRCPC (therapeutic endoscopy & EUS)
Dr. Geoff Williams, MD
Dr. Williams is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at Dalhousie University. Dr. Williams completed his medical degree at Memorial University, followed by Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology Residencies at Dalhousie. He then completed a Therapeutic Endoscopy Fellowship at University of Calgary.
He performs ERCP and Endoscopic Ultrasound, with a clinical focus in Therapeutic Endoscopy and Hepatobiliary diseases.
He is a former Assistant Dean of PGME at Dalhousie, Chair of GRIT committee and is currently Chair of PGME Quality Committee, Chair of GI Division Competency Committee and a member of the Royal College Gastroenterology Examiners Committee.
His research interests are in Education and Pancreaticobiliary Diseases. Dr. Williams has won numerous awards for Education and was also awarded the Doctor’s Nova Scotia Patient’s Choice Award in 2017.
Dr. Chad Williams, MD, FRCPC
Dr. Jaclyn Flemming, MD, FRCPC
Dr. Anthony Otley, MD, MSc, FRCPC
Dr. Michael Stewart, MD, FRCPC
Dr. Michael Stewart, MD
Dr. Stewart is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at Dalhousie University. He completed his undergraduate medical education at Dalhousie University followed by Internal Medicine residency University of Calgary, Gastroenterology residency at Dalhousie University, and an advanced clinical fellowship in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, California under the mentorship of Drs. Gil Melmed and Stephan Targan. He joined the IBD Unit at the University of Calgary in 2013 with a clinical focus on IBD and colon cancer. In 2019 Dr. Stewart completed training in intestinal ultrasound with Dr. Kerri Novak in Calgary and Dr. Giovanni Maconi in Milan. He joined the Division of Digestive Disease and Endoscopy at the QEII Health Sciences Center in 2019 with a clinical focus in IBD and system innovation. He is currently the director of the intestinal ultrasound program at the QEII, co-Director of the Nova Scotia Collaborative IBD Program, and Medical Director of the Nova Scotia Colon Cancer Prevention Program.
Dr. Ali Kohansal, MD, FRCPC
Dr. Matt Miles, MD, FRCPC
Dr. Harrison Petropolis, MD, FRCPC
Nurse Practitioners
Barbara Currie, IBD NP
Nurses
Jessica Robar, RN, IBD Nurse Navigator
Allied Health Professionals
Dr. Tiffany Shepherd, PhD, R Psych
Dr. Tiffany Shepherd, PhD, R Psych
Dr. Tiffany Shepherd is a clinical health psychologist in Primary Health Care in Halifax, NS, specializing in health psychology and chronic disease self-management. She provides psychological services to patients with chronic diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, and obesity, and is involved in various research studies in these patient populations. She completed her BA (Hons) and MA at the University of Manitoba, and completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Simon Fraser University in 2018. She regularly supervises clinical psychology residents and graduate students and also provides behaviour change counselling skills training to health care providers. Her interests include chronic disease management, disease-based distress, stress and coping, and health behaviour change.
Sam Firth, Registered Dietician
Shabnam Sobhani, MSW, RSW
Shabnam Sobhani, MSW, RSW
Shabnam Sobhani (she/her) is a clinical social worker with the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) clinic with Nova Scotia Health, specializing in trauma, attachment, anxiety and depression. In her role with the IBD clinic, she provides psychosocial services to patients with IBD, including managing the stress and distress of living with a chronic disease, regulating the nervous system, healing from health-related trauma, and supporting people to find ways to live a meaningful life despite the burden of a chronic disease. Additionally, she provides advocacy, system navigation, and resource navigation to patients of the IBD clinic. Shabnam has experience working with individuals living with chronic health conditions and their caregivers, second generation immigrants, those struggling with chronic workplace stress, individuals experiencing grief, individuals who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) and members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. She completed her BA (Honours) at Mount Allison University, and BSW and MSW at Dalhousie University in 2017.
Consulting Physicians
Dr. Christopher Kenyon, MD, FRCPC
(colorectal surgery)
Dr. Paul Johnson, MD, FRCPC
(colorectal surgery)
Dr. Katerina Neumann, MD
(colorectal surgery)
Dr. Shelly McNeil, MD, MSc, FRCPC
(Infectious diseases)
Research
Lorena Morrison, Research Coordinator
Shari Smith, CCRP, Research Manager
Leah Cahill, RD/PDt, PhD
Leah Cahill, RD/PDt, PhD
Leah Cahill, RD/PDt Phd is the Howard Webster Department of Medicine Research Chair, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, with a cross-appointment to the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology. She is also an Affiliated Scientist with the Nova Scotia Health Authority and a Visiting Scientist at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. She is a licensed and registered dietitian.
Her research interests include dietary and genetic origins of cardiometabolic disease (cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes) and immune-mediated disease (inflammatory bowel disease, leukemia), nutritional sciences and dietetics (in-patient, out-patient, and public health), and patient-centered research. Her work aims to identify the optimal eating practices and the biological pathways, proteins, and microbiota that are important for the prevention and treatment of cardiometabolic and immune-mediated disease, researching at both the patient and population levels.
Slava Khovratovich, MSc
Slava Khovratovich, MSc
Slava obtained his MSc in biomedical sciences from Russian State Medical University. After working in Europe (4 completed vision research projects with Belarus National Academy of Science and 5 completed clinical trials with pharmaceutical products of the Schering-Plough company) he moved to Ontario, where he coordinated oncology survey with the Princes Margaret Hospital and Cancer Care Ontario.
Slava is currently working as a research assistant with NSCIBD on the SPOR-IMAGINE study (Inflammation, Microbiome, and Alimentation: Gastro-Intestinal and Neuropsychiatric Effects: the IMAGINE-SPOR chronic disease network). As a research assistant, Slava is involved in patient recruitment, collecting samples, reporting data, and communicating with other study sites.
Natalie Willett, Research Associate
Natalie Willett, Research Associate
Natalie is the Research Associate for NSCIBD. She is currently completing her MSc degree at Dalhousie University in Epidemiology and Applied Health Research. Her masters thesis work focuses on measuring frailty in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Previously, Natalie obtained her Bachelor of Science Degree at Mount Allison University. She has been working with the research team at NSCIBD since 2019 where she began working a summer student research aide. Her current work as a research associate involves supporting patient-oriented research projects that focus on improving quality and access to IBD care across the province.