Allison McGeer

Dr McGeer trained in internal medicine and infectious diseases at the University of Toronto, then completed a fellowship in hospital epidemiology at Yale New Haven Hospital in 1989/90.

She is a Clinician Scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Sinai Health. 

She has been a member of Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization, is currently a member of the infection control subcommittee of the Ontario Provincial Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee.

Her primary areas of research interest are:

• the prevention of healthcare associated infection
• the epidemiology of influenza
• adult immunization.

Research Synopsis

Our epidemiology offices are found in the Mount Sinai Hospital.

Our research group currently comprises:

• 3 graduate students
• a post-doctoral fellow
• a research scientist
• a research manager
• 2 data analysts
• 2 clinical trials nurses
• a staff of approximately 25 research assistants and associates.                                    

On-going research projects include:

• Epidemiology of influenza infection in healthcare workers (CIHR funded)
• Surveillance for the emergence of carbapenemase resistance in Enterobacteriaceae in southern Ontario (CIHR funded)
• Effectiveness of vaccination programs in reducing serious disease due to Streptococcus pneumoniae
• Risk factors for antimicrobial resistance in pneumococcal infections
• Epidemiology of influenza infection associated with hospitalization
• Surveillance for invasive streptococcal disease in metropolitan Toronto and Peel Region.

Selected Publications

Coleman BL, Louie M, Salvadori MI, McEwen SA, Neumann N, Sibley K, Irwin RJ, Jamieson FB, Daignault D, Majury A, Braithwaite S, Crago B, McGeer AJ. Contamination of Canadian private drinking water sources with antimicrobial resistant Escherichia coli. Water Res. 2013 Jun 1;47(9):3026-36.

Simor AE, Williams V, McGeer A, Raboud J, Larios O, Weiss K, Hirji Z, Laing F, Moore C, Gravel D. Prevalence of Colonization and Infection with Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus and of Clostridium difficile Infection in Canadian Hospitals. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2013 Jul;34(7):687-93

Assiri A, McGeer A, Perl TM, Price CS, Al Rabeeah AA, Cummings DA, Alabdullatif ZN, Assad M, Almulhim A, Makhdoom H, Madani H, Alhakeem R, Al-Tawfiq JA, Cotten M, Watson SJ, Kellam P, Zumla AI, Memish ZA; the KSA MERS-CoV Investigation Team. Hospital Outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus. N Engl J Med. 2013 Aug 1;369(5):407-16.

Rudnick W, Liu Z, Shigayeva A, Low DE, Green K, Plevneshi A, Devlin R, Downey J, Katz K, Kitai I, Krajden S, Ostrowska K, Richardson D, Richardson S, Sarabia A, Silverman M, Simor AE, Tyrrell G, McGeer A; Toronto Invasive Bacterial Diseases Network. Pneumococcal vaccination programs and the burden of invasive pneumococcal disease in Ontario, Canada, 1995-2011. Vaccine.  

Leis JA, Gold WL, Daneman N, Shojania K, McGeer A. Downstream impact of urine cultures ordered without indication at two acute care teaching hospitals. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2013 Oct;34(10):1113-4 

Honours and Awards

Norman Rosenblum Award for Excellence in Mentorship in the MD/PhD Program, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto (2021)