Thank you for helping to make our 2023 Lupus Ontario Geoff Carr Fellowship fundraiser a success.  63 family, friends, neighbours, and colleagues of my wife and I donated $8,711  – more than $269,000 in 18 years!

Dr. Stephanie Wong, Hospital for Sick Children, was  the 2022/2023 Geoff Carr Fellow.  The following are her words:

The Geoff Carr Fellowship award through Lupus Ontario has given me the opportunity to work within the largest paediatric lupus clinic in North America. The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) is a world renown institution, staffed by international lupus experts including Drs. Earl Silverman, Deborah Levy, Linda Hiraki and Andrea Knight. These mentors have taught me invaluable lessons in clinical care, research and personal growth. My research project includes assessment of therapeutic drug monitoring of hydroxychloroquine (a medication that most, if not all lupus patients are on) in hopes of providing individualized dosing regimens by optimizing efficacy and prevention of long-term toxicity. This is a steppingstone towards personalized medicine in paediatric lupus patients. This fellowship has also allowed me to further my passion for transition of care from paediatric to adult health care systems. I attend dedicated young adult lupus clinics at both Mount Sinai and Toronto Western Hospitals alongside Dr. Amanda Steiman and Dr. Zahi Touma, who are both past awardees of this fellowship. Adolescents with lupus are vulnerable to disease flares and increased disease activity during and following transfer of care. Having the chance to provide continuity of care for these patients during this transition has helped to teach me strategies of engaging young adults in their health, identify gaps in care and provide adequate support for these patients during this critical time. This award has been vitally important in rounding out my Rheumatology training with a future career as a clinician teacher with a special focus in paediatric lupus.