Bonus Episode 4: A Conversation with Dr. Elissa Abrams
Welcome once again to the Emerging Scholar Podcast, we're back with our final teaser episode in advance of Season 2! Our guest today is a colleague of mine here at the University of Manitoba's Department of Pediatrics and Child Health - Dr. Elissa Abrams.
Dr. Abrams is nationally and internationally recognized for her work in pediatric allergy, clinical practice guidelines, and public health. In this conversation, she goes beyond her well-known work in peanut allergy to discuss her involvement with COVID-19 policy, her role at the Public Health Agency of Canada, and her groundbreaking research on over-labeling and over-diagnosis in allergy care. By asking simple but impactful questions—such as whether families are being labeled at risk when they may not be—her work has helped drive rapid changes in clinical guidelines and population health.
This episode highlights not only Dr. Abrams’ journey as a clinician and academic, but also her passion for scientific communication—an often overlooked yet essential skill for emerging scholars. As both a mentor and role model, she offers a compelling vision of what a career in academic medicine can look like!
Be sure to join us on January 5th as Season Two drops - remember, stay curious, and keep building the skills that will shape your scientific journey!
Papers & Resources That We Touched On In This Episode:
- The LEAP Trial
- Differences in peanut allergy between children in Israel and the UK
- Allergic reactions to COVID vaccines
- Canadian recommendations for testing for food allergies
- Evidence of over-labelling of beta lactum allergic reactions
- The legendary Dr. Allan Becker
- Pre-emptive screening for peanut allergy
- Global burden of diseases allergic reactions
- Global burden of diseases respiratory illness
Guests
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Dr. Elissa Abrams
Dr. Elissa Abrams, MD, FRCPC, MPH, is a Professor at the Department of Pediatric Allergy and Clinical Immunology at the University of Manitoba and an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia. She is President of the Allergy Section of the Canadian Pediatric Society, Chair of the Food Allergy/Anaphylaxis Section of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and member of the Joint Task Force on Practice Parameters. She is a Senior Medical Advisor at Public Health Agency of Canada. She has a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins with a focus on health systems and policy. She has published over 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals and co-authored over 15 allergy practice guidelines through the CPS and CSACI. In addition, Dr. Abrams is a Senior Medical Advisor for the NACI Secretariat at PHAC.