Prior to joining Health Canada, Jillian Ashley-Martin received her Ph.D. from Dalhousie University, completed postdoctoral training at the IWK Perinatal Epidemiology Research Unit, and was faculty in the Obstetrics & Gynecology Department at Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine. She has a long-standing interest in perinatal and environmental epidemiology. Her research focuses on investigating levels of exposure to environmental chemicals during pregnancy and childhood and understanding associations between environmental chemical exposures and prenatal and child health. Jillian started working with MIREC during her doctoral research on environmental chemicals and biomarkers of newborn immune system function and has been involved ever since. In 2020, she became a Research Scientist at Health Canada and Co-Principal Investigator of the MIREC and MIREC-ENDO studies. Having grown up on a farm, Jillian has always had an interest in and connection to the environment and possible environmental concerns. After having two children, she became interested in research on women’s health, particularly the potential impacts of environmental chemical exposures during pregnancy. Working with MIREC is a dream job for her!

Linda Booij obtained her Ph.D. degree in Clinical Psychology at Leiden University in the Netherlands, where she studied the role of the neurotransmitter serotonin in mood and cognition in depression. She then did her postdoctoral training in the Department of Psychiatry of McGill University, where she was trained in brain imaging and genetics. Since then, she has led various studies as Principal Investigator on the role of genetics and environmental factors on the development of the brain and risk for mental health problems, in particular depression and eating disorders. Since 2023, Linda is a Full Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University. She is also a researcher at the Centre de recherche Azrieli du CHU Sainte-Justine and is Head of research and academic development of the Eating Disorders Continuum of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute. Linda began working with MIREC in 2013. At that time, she was working at Queen’s University in Kingston and was the site-investigator for the neurocognitive data collection that was done when the children in the MIREC cohort were 3 years old (MIREC CD-Plus). After Linda moved (back) to Montreal, she continued to work with the MIREC team. In 2022, Linda became a Co-Principal Investigator of the MIREC Study. Linda feels passionate about the MIREC Research Platform because the MIREC research team and the study is highly multidisciplinary. The study provides very rich longitudinal data on the role of early environmental factors on child and adolescent behavioral, cognitive and physical development.

Mandy Fisher is an epidemiologist who joined the MIREC Team in 2007 just prior to the initial recruitment. Mandy has played several roles with MIREC, initially as the project manager of the MIREC team and then epidemiologist. Mandy has been with the project since the beginning so she has worked on everything from project development and study implementation to statistical analysis and publishing. Her oldest son is around the age of the MIREC children, born in 2006, which has peaked her interest in learning about and experiencing child development right along with the MIREC families. 

Michael Borghese studies the human health effects of exposure to toxic environmental chemicals. His work focuses on perinatal exposure and maternal and child health. Michael began working with MIREC data in 2018 while studying the association between exposure to PFAS and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. In 2019, Michael became a co-investigator of the MIREC scientific team and now leads several components of the MIREC and MIREC-ENDO studies. He is also the principal investigator of several ongoing Biobank projects using MIREC data on the health effects of exposure to PFAS. Michael is passionate about conducting research to inform policies designed to protect two key vulnerable population; pregnant women and their children.

Robin Shutt joined the MIREC team in 2016 in order to support the MIREC-ENDO follow-up study.  Robin was a study coordinator for the Air Health Effects Research Section at Health Canada before joining the MIREC team, and contributed to research into the health effects of air pollution in older adults, children and people living near industrial sites. Robin is the Health Canada Coordinator for MIREC-ENDO, as well as supporting Health Canada’s contributions to the MIREC Biobank, and ongoing updates to the MIREC Biobank and Knowledge Transfer policies. Robin joined Health Canada soon after the MIREC study first started recruiting participants. Robin was lucky enough to learn about the importance of measuring environmental chemicals in pregnant people and infants from Tye Arbuckle, one of the original MIREC co-principal investigators. This sparked a strong interest in protecting this especially vulnerable group from the risks of exposure to environmental chemicals.

Maryse Bouchard has been a Professor of environmental health at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, in Laval, Québec, since 2023. Previously, she was at the School of Public Health of Université de Montréal (2011-2022). She trained in biology, environmental sciences, and epidemiology in Montreal, Boston, and Berkeley. She holds the Canada Research Chair on Environmental Contaminants and Populations’ Health, whose program focuses on the characterization of risks arising from exposure to environmental contaminants in food, water, air, and consumer products. As an environmental health scientist, she led several epidemiologic studies investigating the effects of pesticides, metals, and several other chemicals on public health, with a particular attention on vulnerable groups of the population.  Her work aims at advancing our understanding of adverse health effects arising from multiple toxic exposures, as well as designing prevention strategies for mitigating these risks. Maryse has built productive relationships with policy makers and governmental agencies to translate research findings into tighter environmental standards. She serves on advisory boards of scientific organizations as well as a reviewer for several research funding agencies at the national and international levels. Maryse has been working with the MIREC team as a researcher almost since the beginning! In 2022, she stepped up to become a Co-Principal Investigator of the MIREC Study. Maryse is deeply captivated by the intricate workings of the human brain, because of the complexity of this remarkable organ. She is also passionate about deciphering how environmental chemicals may jeopardize development. Hence, working with MIREC data allows her to investigate the potential hazards of chemicals, in order to inform regulations that protect kids’ brains.