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Join us for a three-part seminar series exploring how we detect, investigate, and respond to multi-jurisdictional foodborne illness outbreaks in Canada. Learn how collaboration across federal, provincial, territorial, and international partners protects Canadians from foodborne illness outbreaks.
Session 1 – January 28, 2026
Discover how the PulseNet Canada surveillance system and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) monitors laboratory and epidemiological data to identify potential outbreaks.
Ashley Kearney holds a B.Sc in Microbiology from the University of Manitoba and an M.Sc. in Medical Microbiology from the University of Manitoba. She has worked in the Division of Enteric Diseases, PHAC-NMLB since 2007. In 2013 she joined the PulseNet Canada Unit, where she played a key role in the implementation of Whole Genome Sequencing for the surveillance of enteric diseases. She is currently the Head of the PulseNet Canada Unit.
Russell Forrest is an Epidemiologist with the Outbreak Management Division (OMD) at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). He joined the division in November 2019 as an Assessment and Detection student through the Federal Student Work Experience Program while completing his Master of Science degree at the University of Guelph (Guelph, Ontario, Canada). He transitioned into his current role as an Epidemiologist in July 2020. During his time with OMD, Russell has served on both the Response Team and the Assessment and Detection Team, two of the three teams within the division. In addition to his role at PHAC, Russell is a PhD candidate in Epidemiology at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH) (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). His dissertation research examines the effects of air pollution and climate change on Canadians living with mood and anxiety disorders.
Session 2 – February 18, 2026
Learn how outbreak investigations are formally activated under the Foodborne Illness Outbreak Response Protocol (FIORP) and how PHAC works with partners across Canada to collect, analyze, and interpret data throughout the investigation.
Heather Bond is an Epidemiologist with the Outbreak Management Division in the Centre for Foodborne Environmental and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases at the Public Health Agency of Canada. As a member of the Outbreak Response team, she works to coordinate the response to and investigation of multi-jurisdictional outbreaks of enteric illness. She began her career with PHAC as a student, conducting case interviews for outbreaks involving pathogens such as E.coli, Salmonella and Hepatitis A. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Waterloo and an Environmental Public Health degree from Conestoga College.
Alison Howie is a Field Epidemiologist with the Canadian Field Epidemiology Program, placed with the Outbreak Management Division at the Public Health Agency of Canada. Currently, she supports the response to and investigation of multi-jurisdictional outbreaks of enteric illness. Before joining PHAC, Alison worked as a research associate with a pediatric rare disease research network, focusing on patient and public engagement, patient registries, and clinical trials. Alison holds a Bachelor of Science from Queen’s University and a Master of Science (Epidemiology and Biostatistics) from Western University.
Session 3 – March 11, 2026
Find out how Health Canada assesses evidence to determine the risk to the health of Canadians and how the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and PHAC implement control measures to protect public health. The session will conclude with how outbreaks are declared over and how lessons learned inform future prevention efforts.
Meghan Griffin Following the completion of my honours project in an HIV/virology lab at the Public Agency of Canada, I started my career at Health Canada as a Scientific Evaluator in 2009. I worked on microbiological health risk assessments and drafted policies and regulatory documents on food safety. I later joined the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in the Office of Food Safety and Recall (OFSR), as a Food Safety and Recall Specialist. For these past 8 years, I have been leading and coordinating food safety investigation during outbreak response, working with other federal, provincial and internal partners. Since spring 2024, I am in the position of Acting Manager of the Process Management and Liaison unit within the OFSR. The Process Management and Liaison Unit is responsible for developing operational policies, procedures and guidance relating to food safety investigation and recalls.
Angela Catford is a Section Head at the Bureau of Microbial Hazards, Evaluation Division, in the Food and Nutrition Directorate of Health Canada. In this role, Angela leads a team of Scientific Evaluators who are trained to complete Health Risk Assessments during outbreaks or food safety incidents. Angela began her career at the Public Health Agency of Canada working on quantitative risk assessments related to blood-borne and nosocomial infections. She moved to Health Canada in 2010 and began her focus on microbial risk assessment in food. Angela holds a Bachelor of Science and a Masters in Applied Science, both in Biological Engineering, from the University of Guelph.
Vincent Lavallée is an Epidemiologist with the Outbreak Management Division at the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Centre for Food-borne, Environmental and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. He has been with the agency since 2019 and joined OMD in 2022 after completing the Canadian Field Epidemiology Program, where he was placed with the infectious disease division at Montérégie Public Health in Quebec. He holds a Master of Public Health from McGill University and an MSc in Microbiology and Molecular Biology from the University of British Columbia.