Provincial Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee on Infection Prevention and Control (PIDAC-IPC)

PIDAC-IPC is a multidisciplinary committee of health care professionals with expertise and experience in Infection Prevention and Control.

The committee advises PHO on the prevention and control of health care-associated infections, considering the entire health care system, with a focus on clients, patients and residents, as well as health care providers. 

PIDAC-IPC produces best practice documents that are evidence-based, to the largest extent possible, to assist health care organizations in improving quality of care, as well as client, patient and resident safety.

To see resources published by the Committee, please scroll to the bottom of the page.

Members

Dr. Dominik Mertz, Chair
Dr. Mertz completed his medical training in internal medicine and infectious diseases in Switzerland prior to moving to Canada to complete a Master of Health Research Methodology at McMaster University. He is currently the Division Director of Infectious Diseases and an associate professor in the Department of Medicine, and is affiliated with the Departments for Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI), and the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Diseases Research. He serves as the Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Hamilton Health Sciences and as the chair of the regional Hub and Spoke for congregate settings as well as for the regional infection prevention and control committee. He is an associate editor for JAMMI, and is the first named editor of the book “Evidence-based Infectious Diseases”, and has written numerous book chapters. He teaches at McMaster University, and is a member and working group chair with the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (CNISP).

Dr. William A. Ciccotelli, Vice-Chair
Dr. William Ciccotelli is a Medical Microbiologist and Infectious Diseases Consultant at the Waterloo Regional Health Network. In addition, he currently serves as the Medical Director for Infection Prevention and Control. He is a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada and Assistant Professor (part time) for the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster University.

Anne Augustine, Co-Lead
Anne Augustin has worked in the field of Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) for many years with IPAC leadership roles in a variety of health care settings including long term care, tertiary care, and a small rural community hospital. Her current position is Manager (A) for Health System / Public Health Support and Guidance in the Response and Recovery Structure of Health Protection at Public Health Ontario.

Anne is a registered medical laboratory technologist. She obtained and has held her Certification in Infection Control (CIC®) since 1991. Anne has been very involved with IPAC Canada at both the local and national level and has both led and participated in the development of multiple IPAC Canada position statements and practice recommendations. Anne is a frequent lecturer for IPAC courses through Centennial College.

Michelle Science, Co-Lead
Michelle Science is an Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) Physician in Health Protection at Public Health Ontario and a pediatric infectious disease physician at the Hospital for Sick Children, where she has been the medical advisor for IPAC since 2017. She joined the Provincial Infectious Advisory Committee on Infection Prevention and Control (PIDAC-IPC) in 2021 as the Scientific Lead.

Science completed her medical degree at McMaster University and training in pediatrics and infectious diseases at the University of Toronto. She completed an MSc in health research methodology at McMaster University. Her research is focused in the areas of infection prevention and control and antimicrobial stewardship.

Maria Louise Azzara
Louise Azzara has been working in Public Health for 28 years. She began her career as a public health inspector in 1994 with the Province of Saskatchewan. She worked for the Muskoka Parry Sound Health Unit in 2000 and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit in 2004, specializing in infection prevention and control (IPAC), outbreak management, sporadic disease investigations and supported IPAC Programs in Health Care, Community Care and public settings. Louise obtained a Masters in Infectious Diseases in 2009. She joined York Region Public Health in 2019 as an IPAC Specialist supporting IPAC in Community Health Care. She is currently working for York Region Public Health as an IPAC Specialist on the IPAC Team of the Health Protection Branch. She has been certified in Infection Control and Epidemiology (CIC) since 2013.

Dr. Zain Chagla
Dr. Zain Chagla is an Infectious Diseases Physician at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton and Associate Professor at McMaster University.  He is Head of Infectious Diseases Service, Medical Director Infection Control, and Senior Medical Director Medical and Academic Affairs at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.  He also serves as Board Director at the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (AMMI) Canada.

Megan Clarke
Megan is a registered nurse, holding both a bachelors and masters degree in nursing. Megan has spent her career working at SickKids in Toronto, spending her first 8 years working as a RN in the NICU, then in 2010 joining the Infection Prevention and Control department. In 2019 Megan became the co-chair of the IPAC Canada Pediatric and Neonatal Interest Group, and in 2020 became a member of the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology Test Committee.

Jennifer Joyal
Jennifer Joyal currently serves as the Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) and Occupational Health Lead across multiple care environments in Northern Ontario. Her portfolio includes oversight of a rural acute care facility, long-term care, a 24/7 emergency department, community care, and an outpost nursing station. She also manages the Medical Device Reprocessing Department and leads several interdisciplinary committees.

A registered nurse with over 30 years of experience in a rural hospital setting, Jennifer has been specializing in IPAC and occupational health since 1997. She is cross-certified in Occupational Health through the Canadian Nurses Association and has her Certification in Infection Control (CIC). Her extensive expertise continues to drive improvements in infection prevention, occupational health, and quality of care for both staff and patients.

Dr. Reena Lovinsky
Dr. Reena Lovinsky is the Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control at the Scarborough Health Network (SHN), General, and Birchmount Hospitals. She is the current corporate lead for the Division of Infectious Diseases at SHN.  Dr. Lovinsky is also the Medical Director of Antimicrobial Stewardship at SHN, General, and Birchmount Hospitals.  She completed medical school, residency training, and her fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the University of Toronto. 

In 2021, she helped establish the SHN VaxFacts+ Clinic to support people with questions about the COVID-19 vaccine.  The clinic has since expanded to provide education about all available vaccinations by providing patients with the opportunity to speak to a physician, one-on-one, in a confidential, judgement-free, telephone appointment. The clinic services all of Ontario, including communities that traditionally face barriers in healthcare, including refugees, newcomers, and racialized communities.

Liz McCreight
Liz McCreight graduated from the University Of Ontario Institute Of Technology where she obtained her HBA in adult education and digital technology. She has been certified in Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) since 2012 and completed a Master of Science in quality improvement and patient safety from the University of Toronto in 2020.

Liz is currently the Director, IPAC & Risk at Sinai Health in Toronto. Her portfolio includes IPAC, risk and human factors including providing IPAC support to long-term care and retirement homes as part of Sinai Health’s role as a Toronto Region IPAC Hub. She began her career in front-line IPAC at Mount Sinai Hospital in 2009 as the Manager for IPAC. She joined Public Health Ontario in 2013 to apply a provincial lens in developing practical tools and resources to support IPAC in health care settings and returned to Sinai Health in the director role in 2015.

Francine Paquette
Francine is the Director of Infection Prevention and Control at peopleCare Communities. Prior to joining peopleCare, she was the team lead of IPAC West Regional Team of Public Health Ontario. She joined PHO in 2013 as an infection control consultant before becoming a regional IPAC specialist in 2016. Francine began her career 1992 as a public health inspector with the former Oxford County Public Health, specializing in IPAC since 1998. She has maintained her CIC certification since 2007.

Francine recently concluded her term as Past-President of IPAC SWO, a chapter of IPAC Canada after serving on the executive for 6 years.

Dr. Herveen Sachdeva
Herveen Sachdeva is a public health and preventive medicine physician. She has worked for Toronto Public Health as an associate medical officer of health since completing her fellowship training at the University of Toronto in 2006.

Over these years, she has focused in communicable disease control in the areas of outbreak control and prevention, and infection prevention and control in community settings. She is an adjunct lecturer with the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

Donna Stanley
Donna Stanley is the Director of Health Protection and Chief Nursing Officer at the Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU). She has over two decades of leadership in public health nursing and infectious disease control. She has previous experience as an acute care Infection Control Practitioner and maintains a Certification in Infection Control (CIC).

Donna has been involved in provincial and national planning to strengthen infectious disease programming and has led a wide range of public health programs, including emergency preparedness and response, vaccine-preventable diseases, and infectious disease prevention and control.

Dr. Nisha Thampi
Dr. Nisha Thampi is a Pediatric Infectious Disease Physician at The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) in Ottawa and Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa. She has been the Medical Director of the CHEO Infection Prevention and Control Program since 2013. She completed her medical degree and residency training in pediatrics and infectious diseases at the University of Toronto and a Masters of Science in Public Health (Health Economics) at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

She currently serves as co-chair of the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program, member of the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Advisory Committee for Infection Prevention and Control, and member of the guidelines committee of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. Her interests are in respiratory infection surveillance and infection prevention and control.

Dr. Alon Vaisman
Dr. Alon Vaisman is an Infectious Diseases and Infection Control Physician at University Health Network in Toronto. He is a clinician in quality and innovation and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He obtained a Masters in Advanced Clinical Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. His research interests including surgical site infections, hospital acquired sepsis, and antibiotic resistant organisms.

Erika Vitale
Erika Vitale is currently Director of Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) and Pandemic Planning for Windsor Regional Hospital. She holds an undergraduate degree in biological sciences from the University of Windsor, and is a medical laboratory technologist with experience in microbiology and pathology. She completed her Master of Public Health in 2014 through the University of Waterloo.

In her 14 years of work in infection control she has implemented IPAC programs at 3 facilities, including the realignment of acute care IPAC services in Windsor, Ontario. She has lead various teams in the control of outbreaks of infectious disease and antibiotic resistant organisms, and has guided staff in the implementation of best practices, which has led to decreased infection rates. She recently served as chair of the IPAC working group involved in Cerner Implementation for the Erie St. Clair region.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Erika has chaired the Regional IPAC table whose responsibility is to advise the Regional Operations and IMS tables of recommendations related to IPAC and COVID-19 management as well as standardize practices across facilities. She supported several local nursing homes and rest homes through “IPAC Swat Team” on-site visits, and outbreak investigations during the first and second waves of COVID-19, and is currently the lead for the Erie St. Clair IPAC Hub that continues to support congregate living settings in refining their IPAC programs.