Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board
Dr. Atif Zafar, Chair
Dr. Atif Zafar obtained his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from Dow Medical College and completed his residency at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics. He also completed a Vascular Neurology Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic. Upon completing his fellowship, Dr. Zafar became an Assistant Professor of Stroke and Vascular Neurology at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, then moved to the position of Chief of the Stroke Program at University of New Mexico School of Medicine.
Presently, Dr. Zafar is an Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Neurology at the University of Toronto. Additionally, he is Co-Director of the Fellowship Program-Stroke at St. Michael’s Hospital and Medical Director of St. Michael’s Hospital Comprehensive Stroke Program.
Dr. Zafar is the Chair of the Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board at Cavernous
Malformation Canada. His clinical focus is on complex stroke cases and
cerebrovascular diseases. Dr. Zafar’s academic pursuits involve a personalized stroke algorithm, equitable care access and patient-centered care development.
Dr. W. Brent Derry, Vice Chair
Dr. Derry earned his B.Sc. (Honours) in Biochemistry at Carleton University in Ottawa, his M.Sc. in Biochemistry at McMaster University and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). He completed his postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Joel Rothman at UCSB, where he discovered and characterized the long sought after C. elegans p53 tumour suppressor gene cep-1. Dr. Derry joined the SickKids Research Institute in 2003 and uses C. elegans and human cells to model human diseases such as cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM). Dr. Derry holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Animal Models of Human Disease. He is a Senior Scientist in the Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program at SickKids and a Full Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto. His research is supported by funding from CIHR, NSERC, CFI and SickKids.
Dr. Derry previously served as the Vice-Chair of Fundamental Research in the Garron Family Cancer Centre and is currently the Research Integrity Advisor at SickKids. He is Vice Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for Alliance to Cure Cavernous Malformation and will assume the position of chair in 2025. He is Vice Chair of the Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board for Cavernous Malformation Canada. Dr. Derry is also an editor with the FEBS Journal and an Affiliate for the pre-print server bioRxiv.
Outside of science, Dr. Derry enjoys walking his dog, playing hockey as well as writing and performing original music.