Our Team
Under the experienced leadership of Dr. David Young, AART’s Executive Vice President, our team includes a large number of physicians, nurses and scientists profiled below. Our team is among the best trained and most experienced ART teams in Canada. All of our physicians are subspecialty, fellowship trained, board certified physicians. Two of the physicians are sub-specialists in Reproductive Endocrinology and the third physician is a sub-specialist in Maternal Fetal Medicine. AART’s physicians belong to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Dalhousie University. Reporting to the Department Head, Dr. B. Anthony Armson, they all enjoy teaching appointments and research roles at Dalhousie University’s School of Medicine. Our Outreach Associates fulfill similar roles in their communities.
Patricia Ferguson, RN, will help coordinate your care. She brings many years experience in providing warmth and quality care to the women of Atlantic Canada.
Dr. David Mortimer, PhD, brings a wealth of international experience to his role as Director of AART’s Laboratory.
We have included a brief biography for each of our team members so that you can judge their credentials for yourself.
AART Medical Staff
Dr. David Young, MD, M Sc, FRCSC – Executive Vice President
Dr. Linda Hamilton, MD, FRCSC – Medical Director
Dr. Renda Bouzayen, MD, FRCSC
Dr. John Grantmyre, MD, FRCSC
Dr. Patricia Pearce, MD, FRCPC
Lori Parker, MA
AART Laboratory
Dr. David Mortimer, PhD, Scientific Director
Josee MacDonald, BSc, MLT, Embryologist, Laboratory Manager
Danielle Paquet, BSc, MLT, Embryologist
Sonya E. Pitcher, BSc, MLT, Embryologist
Courtney Robbins, M.Sc., Andrologist
AART Nursing Team
Patricia Ferguson, RN – Nurse Leader
Sherri Morrison, RN
Brenda Zareski, RN
Karen MacLean, LPN
Tricia MacKenzie-Gagnon, RN
AART Adminstrative Team
Janet Fraser, BBA, MBA – Chief Operating Officer
Stephanie Ward – Receptionist
Cindy Parrill – Accounting Coordinator
Agata Grundt – Clinic Aide
Kendra Martell – Secretary
Some of AART’s Outreach Associates
Dr. Beverley Brodie
Stratford, PEI
Dr. Ken Gillespie
Moncton, NB
Dr. Sarah Healey
St. John’s, NL
Dr. Terry O’Grady
St. John’s, NL
PHYSICIAN TEAM
Dr. David Young, MD, M Sc, FRCSC
Dr. Young graduated with his medical degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1973. After three years of general practice at the Cottage Hospital, Placentia, Newfoundland, he returned to Dalhousie to complete residency training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. In 1980, Dr. Young attended Parkland Memorial Hospital and the Univerisity of Texas Health Science Centre, Dallas, to complete a Fellowhsip in Maternal Fetal Medicine. In 1987, he received a MSc in Clinical Epidemiology from McMaster University, Hamilton Ontario. In 1989, Dr. Young became the Chief of Obstetrics and Professor and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He returned to Halifax in September 1997, to accept the role as Professor and Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Dalhousie University and the IWK Health Centre. After two terms, he stepped down from this position and assumed the position of Executive Vice President at Atlantic Assisted Reproductive Therapies.
In 2008, Dr. Young received an SOGC Millenium Fellowship and the Walter C. MacKenzie Fellowship in Surgery from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada to study assisted reproductive therapies and in vitro fertilization at the Ottawa Fertility Centre and Calgary’s Regional Fertility Program.
Dr. Young’s current practice includes assisted reproductive therapies, IVF, clinical obstetrics, fetal assessment via ultrasound, and invasive fetal diagnosis and therapy. His current research interests include multi-fetal pregnancy, labor induction using misoprostol and fetal assessment.
Dr. Young served as President of the Society of Obstetrician and Gynaecologists of Canada in 2003-2004. He has also been the President of the Atlantic Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Association of Professors of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Canada (APOG).
Linda Hamilton, MD, FRCSC
Dr. Linda Hamilton graduated with her medical degree from the University of Calgary in 1996. Prior to that, she had completed undergraduate and postgraduate education to the Master’s level at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and had undertaken postgraduate PhD. studies in Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University in New Jersey. She completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Dalhousie University in 2001 and her fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, also at Dalhousie, in 2003.
Currently, she is the Medical Director at AART and serves as the Chair of the Research Ethics Board of the IWK Health Centre and Atlantic Regional Representative to the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS).
Dr. Hamilton’s current practice includes assisted reproductive therapies, IVF and clinical obstetrics. Her research interests include controlled ovarian stimulation, in vitro fertilization outcomes and the electronic medical record.
Renda Bouzayen, MD, FRCSC
Dr. Renda Bouzayen was born in New York, USA and has lived in several cities in Europe and West Africa. Due to her experience abroad, she speaks several different languages, including French, German and Arabic and has a special interest in cultural diversity.
Dr. Bouzayen graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Tunis University, Tunisia in 1989. She completed her residency in Gynaecology and Obstetrics at the University of Montreal from 1992 to 1996. After finishing her residency program she completed a two year fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility working in the Reproductive Medicine Unit at St. Luc’s Hospital, the University of Montreal, the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal and McGill University.
Dr. Bouzayen joined the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dalhousie University, on August 1, 2000. As the Head of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology, she is very involved in all aspects of this program. She is one of the team members providing services in assisted reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization. Being fluent in several languages she is often able to bridge any communication barriers that arise, leading to better patient care.
Dr. Bouzayen’s current research interests are in the fields of induction of ovulation, in vitro maturation and pharmaco-economics.
John Grantmyre, MD, FRCSC
Dr. Grantmyre is a native Haligonian who completed his Urology training at Dalhousie University in 1989. The following year he undertook a fellowship in male infertility and andrology at Baylar College of Medicine under the training of Dr. Larry Lipshultz. Since that time, he has been the Director of the Male Infertility Clinic which is now located at the AART Centre. He has been instrumental in bringing new techniques on the forefront of male infertility such as electro and vibratory ejaculation and other sperm retrieval techniques such as microscopic vasal, epididymal, and testicluar sperm aspiration.
Presently, Dr. Grantmyre is Associate Professor of Urology at the Department of Urology, Dalhousie University. He is the Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Andropause Society. He is a member of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society, as well as the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. He has been a moderator and invited round-table luncheon speaker at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s annual meeting in Toronto. His recent research presentations have included a comparison between one layer and two layer vasectomy reversals, a study on the use of Alpha-blockers in chronic prostatitis presented at the the Canadian Urology meeting, and a study on adjustments to sexual dysfunction after radical prostatectomy which was presented at the American Urology Association annual meeting.
Patricia Pearce, MD, FRCPC
Dr. Pearce worked as a family physician in rural Nova Scotia for four years before entering psychiatric training at Dalhousie University. In the early 1990’s she helped to develop the Perinatal Psychiatric Service at the Grace Materntiy Hospital and was the first Clinical Director of this service. She has become increasingly involved with infertility and adoption issues and is currently working part-time at the Reproductive Endocrine Cente at the IWK Health Centre.
Dr. Pearce holds the position of Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University and is actively involved in teaching medical students, as well as psychiatry and obstetrical residents. She has presented both nationally and locally on emotional problems related to childbearing. Her other professional interest is in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia where she has been a council member since 1996, and has recently served as president.
LAB TEAM
David Mortimer, PhD, Scientific Director
David Mortimer PhD is the President and co-owner of Oozoa Biomedical and has many years of experience in the design and establishment of successful assisted conception laboratories around the world. Born and raised in Huddersfield (Yorkshire, UK), his tertiary education in the UK (BSc in Zoology, Bristol University, 1974 and a PhD from Edinburgh University, 1977) he undertook postdoctoral training in Edinburgh (1977-1980), Paris (1980-1981) and Birmingham (1981-1983) before being appointed Assistant Professor in the Departments of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Medical Physiology at the University of Calgary in 1983, supported by the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. Between 1983 and 1991 his laboratory investigated human sperm pathophysiology and, as Scientific Director of the Infertility Programme, he was responsible for developing diagnostic andrology services, one of the largest sperm banks in Canada and, from 1988, the IVF Programme. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1988, and cross-appointed to the Department of Pathology in 1990. He taught each year in the Reproductive System Course, was Course Chairman for 2 years and Evaluation Coordinator for 1 year. In 1988-1991 he advised the World Health Organization in preparing the 3rd (1992) edition of their Laboratory Manual, and edited the first two editions of the CFAS Donor Insemination Guidelines (1988 and 1991).
In 1991 he moved to Sydney (Australia) as the Scientific Director of Sydney IVF, a position he held until his resignation in September 1999 to become a full-time consultant. At Sydney IVF he was responsible for the development of assisted reproduction laboratory services not only in Sydney but at their other sites in
Australia and around SE Asia. During this time he developed new sequential IVF culture media and incubators that provided Sydney IVF with the highest success rates in Australia, and which have since been commercialized by Sydney IVF as the Cook Culture System (Cook IVF, Brisbane, Australia). In Sydney, he held honorary appointments as Clinical Senior Lecturer in the Dept of Obstetrics & Gynaecology of Sydney University and Visiting Principal Scientific Officer in the Dept of Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. In 1997-1999 he worked on the World Health Organization’s updated Manual for the Standardized Investigation, Diagnosis and Management of the Infertile Male.
From a business perspective he has been Managing Director of Mortimer Scientific Consulting Pty Ltd (1991-2000), a partner in Andrology International BV (1992-1996), and Scientific Director and Board Secretary of Launceston, SIVF Pty Ltd (1996-1999). He has also served on several Scientific Advisory Boards for biotechnology companies. In March 2000 he and his wife, Dr Sharon T Mortimer, moved back to Canada and established a Vancouver-based international consulting company, Oozoa Biomedical Inc., of which he is President.
Dr Mortimer is well-known in the field of reproductive biology, having authored or co-authored over 130 scientific publications, including the books Practical Laboratory Andrology (Oxford University Press, 1994) and Quality and Risk Management in the IVF Laboratory (Cambridge University Press, 2005), as well as more than 220conference presentations. He has given many invited lectures and taught in workshops and courses worldwide and was founder of the ESHRE Basic Semen Analysis courses. He is a member of 12 national or international professional societies and has served on 4 Editorial Boards, including Human Reproduction (1989-1997). He was Scientific Programme Chairman for the 11th World Congress on In Vitro Fertilization and Human Reproductive Genetics held in Sydney (Australia) in May 1999, and co-edited the plenary proceedings volume Towards Reproductive Certainty: Fertility and Genetics Beyond 1999 (Parthenon Press). After serving as Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS) from January 2004 until September 2006 and President of CFAS in 2009-2010.
During the last 22 years he has undertaken a wide range of consultancy and advisory work in various areas of reproductive biology and medicine in human, domesticated and laboratory species covering products, equipment and services from both the diagnostic and therapeutic perspectives. Major projects have included setting up andrology laboratories, sperm banks and IVF units, with a strong focus on operational management, staff training and quality control/quality assurance programmes. Most recently this has included advising on the development and implementation of Total Quality Management programmes for ART centres. Since June 2004 he has been the off-site Scientific Director for Atlantic Assisted Reproductive Therapies and Scientific Advisor of the Fiore Institute (St. Gallen, Switzerland) since October 2008.
Josee M.R. MacDonald, BSc, MLT, Embryologist, Laboratory Manager
Josee MacDonald has been a member of our embryology team since 1998. She is a registered Medical Lab Technologist graduating from Nova Scotia Institute of Technology, and holds a BSc from Dalhousie University. Prior to joining AART, Josee spent 14 years working in a clinical research environment, as part of the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Program located at the IWK Health Centre.
Since joining AART, Josee has built on her experience being trained in Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection at the Jones Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Norfolk Virginia. She is now part of a specialized team of embryologists that provide clinical technical services in human assisted reproductive technology and perform technical procedures related to the diagnosis and treatment of human infertility.
Danielle Paquet, BSc, MLT, Embryologist
Danielle joined AART’s embryology team in 2005. She holds a BSc with Honours from Dalhousie University. Prior to joining AART, Danielle spent 12 years at Dalhousie University and the IWK Health Centre in a molecular biology research environment and over two years in the Department of Cytogenetics at the IWK Health Centre. Danielle was born in Quebec City and is bilingual. She is available to help our French speaking patients. Danielle’s extensive laboratory background is an asset to the embryology team.
Sonya E. Pitcher, BSc, MLT, Embryologist
Sonya Pitcher joined our program in 1985 shortly after its inception as one of the original embryologists. She received her BSc in 1984 from Dalhousie University and obtained training in Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection in 1998 at the GOAL program , Ottawa Civic Hospital and The Jones Institute of Reproductive Medicine in Norfolk, Virginia. Upon completion of this training she served as part of the team that implemented ICSI as part of the Department’s program.
Sonya’s years of human embryology and andrology experience in assisted reproduction has been an asset to the continuing growth of our program.
NURSING TEAM
Patricia Ferguson, BSc, RN, Nursing Leader
Patricia is a graduate of Dalhousie University earning a BSc in psychology as well as a registered nurse. She received her Diploma in Nursing from Sydney City Hospital. Patricia has extensive nursing experience having worked in the neonatal intensive care unit, pediatric cardiology and the labor and delivery unit of the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Patricia joined the AART team in 2006 and is now AART’s Nurse Leader. Her broad range of experience and warm personality are appreciated by patients and staff alike.
Sherri Morrison, RN
Sherri is a registered nurse who graduated from the Victoria General Hospital in 1986. She joined our team in February 2005 and has worked in Women’s Health for over 17 years including the Birth Unit and the Gynaecology OR at the IWK. She currently works part-time with us as well as the Avalon Centre for Sexual Assault and in the OR at Stadacona.
Sherri is known as our “Sunshine Girl” here at AART and wants her patients to know how much she enjoys her role here at AART.
Karen MacLean, LPN
Karen is a licensed practical nurse who has over thirty years experience in the medical field. Most of Karen’s career was with the Canadian Armed Forces where she was trained as a Medical Assistant, and later as an Operating Room Technician.
Karen became part of AART’s team in 2007. Her keen interest in learning new things has made her a quick study of this very interesting field.
Brenda Zareski, RN
Brenda graduated from the Halifax Infirmary School of Nursing in 1983. She has worked in all aspects of nursing since graduation, ranging from Staff Nurse to Clinical Leader, including experience in the Operating Room and Women’s Health. In 2001, Brenda became the Coordinator of the Avalon Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program and was responsible for its initial set up and on going service. AART was fortunate to recruit Brenda to become part of its team in 2006.
Brenda is currently enrolled in the BSc in Nursing Program at St. Francis Xavier Univerisity. Her outgoing personality and compassionate nature, makes her a welcome addition to the AART team.
Tricia MacKenzie-Gagnon, RN
Tricia joined AART in September 2009. She has previously worked in the field of pediatrics and the Emergency Department of the IWK Health Centre. Tricia is a graduate of Saint Francis Xavier University holding a Bachelor of Science in Nursing with an advanced major in Neonatology. Tricia’s enthusiasm for her role, and Emergency Room experience complements AART’s nursing team.
ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM
Janet Fraser, BBA, MBA
Janet has been an integral member of the AART team since the Clinics inception. As the Chief Operating Officer for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dalhousie University (the founders of AART) she served as the Project Manager for the development of the Clinic. Working with the architects, contractors, consultants, and physicians her interest in AART grew on a daily basis. Once AART opened its doors in January 2005, she assumed the role as Chief Financial Officer for AART as part of her portfolio in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. With AART’s growth over the past number of years, it became evident that AART required a full time Chief Operating Officer to meet the Clinic’s demands. Janet resigned her position with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology to assume the position of Chief Operating Officer at AART effective January 1, 2010.
Janet’s extensive knowledge of AART’s development, her financial expertise and her commitment to AART makes her a valuable member of the AART team.
Janet has served as the President of the Association of Managers in Gynecology and Obstetrics (AMGO) and is currently the Treasurer of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS).
Stephanie Ward
Stephanie has been AART’s receptionist since the Clinic opened in 2005. Having worked as a receptionist at the Reproductive Endocrine Centre at the IWK before joining AART, her past experience has been a great asset. Stephanie’s pleasant personality and helpful nature is greatly appreciated by all of AART’s patients and staff.