Elise Heon, MD, FRCS(C)
The Hospital for Sick Children
Associate Surgeon-in-Chief (Research)
Department of Surgery
Ophthalmologist-in-Chief
Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences
Research Institute
Senior Associate Scientist
Genetics & Genome Biology
University of Toronto
Professor
Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science
Chair Positions
Mira Godard Chair in Vision Research
Phone: 416-813-8606
Fax: 416-813-8266
e-mail: elise.heon@sickkids.ca
Alternate Phone: 416-813-7403
Alternate Fax: 416-813-6261
Brief Biography
Dr. Héon is Ophthalmologist-in-Chief and the Mira Godard Chair in Vision Research. She is a Clinician-Scientist in the field of Ocular Genetics, Co-Director of the Eye Genetics Program and Senior Associate Scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute in the program of Genetics and genomics Biology. Her clinical work focuses on the management of hereditary eye diseases, which include hereditary cancer (retinoblastoma) and other non-cancerous blinding conditions such as retinal dystrophies. Her work in managing retinoblastoma has a national and international reputation, as she and Dr. Gallie treat patients from all Canadian provinces and various countries. Dr. Héon is also Site Director for the multicentre clinical trial assessing the optimal management of large retinoblastoma tumors. The management of non-cancerous hereditary eye diseases is now being copied by other centres. The high quality of patient management of the ocular genetics patients has led to a waiting list of nearly one year because of the broad referral basis.
Dr. Héon's research involves the genetic mapping and candidate gene analysis of genes involved in inherited eye disorders such as glaucoma, cataracts and retinal dystrophies most specifically. She has been successful in obtaining peer-reviewed funding, currently holding six peer reviewed grants. Since 1995, she has published 29 peer-reviewed publications and over 100 abstracts.
Despite her numerous administrative activities, Dr. Héon has a busy teaching schedule dedicated to undergraduate, graduate and post graduate students. Numerous prestigious awards were given to her to underline the high quality of her activities.
Dr. Héon has developed an international reputation in the field of ocular genetics and is now training international fellows to carry on the development of this new progressive field of Ophthalmology. Since 1995, she has primarily or secondarily supervised over 20 students.
Areas of Specialty:
- Retinoblastoma
- Occular Genetics
Research Interests
Inherited eye disorders: gene discovery, genotype-phenotype correlations, clinical trials
Research Activities
- Molecular characterization of corneal dystrophies
- Molecular characterization of Bardet Biedl Syndrome
- Molecular characterization of inherited cataract
- Development of a Registry of Inherited retinal diseases
- Clinical trial for Retinoblastoma
- Assessment of visual function parameters in retinal dystrophies
Future Research Interests
Clinical trials for inherited retinal diseases
External Funding
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Foundation Fighting Blindness - Canada
- Canadian Genetic Disease Network
- Mira Godard Research endowment fund
Achievements
- President of the International Society of Genetic Eye diseases 2005-present
- Ophtalmologist-in-Chief, Dept of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, SickKids, 2003 -present
- Member, Canadian Genetic Diseases Network (CGDN) Board of Directors, 2004- present
- Vice Chair Scienctific Advisory Board, Foundation Fighting Blindness - Canada
- Member, Board of Trustees , Foundation Fighting Blindness - Canada
- Co-director of the Eye Genetics Program 1998- present
- Teacher of the year, The Hospital for Sick Children, Ophthalmology, 2004
- Mira Godard Chair in Vision Research 2003-present
- The Hynek Rothbart Award. 2000
- The Clive Mortimer Executive Award 2000
- The Hospital for Sick Children Foundation "Humanitarian Award", 1993
Publications
Willoughby CE, Shafiq A, Ferrini W, Chan LL, Billingsley G, Priston M, Mok C, Chandna A, Kaye S, Heon E.CRYBB1 mutation associated with congenital cataract and microcornea. Mol Vis. 2005 Aug 8;11:587-93.
Jacobson SG, Aleman TS, Cideciyan AV, Sumaroka A, Schwartz SB, Windsor EA, Traboulsi EI, Heon E, Pittler SJ, Milam AH, Maguire AM, Palczewski K, Stone EM, Bennett J. Identifying photoreceptors in blind eyes caused by RPE65 mutations: Prerequisite for human gene therapy success. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Apr 26;102(17):6177-82. Epub 2005 Apr 18.
Heon E, Westall C, Carmi R, Elbedour K, Panton C, Mackeen L, Stone EM, Sheffield VC. Ocular phenotypes of three genetic variants of Bardet-Biedl syndrome. Am J Med Genet A. 2005 Jan 30;132(3):283-7.
Monemi S, Spaeth G, DaSilva A, Popinchalk S, Ilitchev E, Liebmann J, Ritch R, Heon E, Crick RP, Child A, Sarfarazi M. Identification of a novel adult-onset primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) gene on 5q22.1. Hum Mol Genet. 2005 Mar 15;14(6):725-33. Epub 2005 Jan 27
Willoughby CE, Chan LL, Herd S, Billingsley G, Noordeh N, Levin AV, Buys Y, Trope G, Sarfarazi M, Heon E. Defining the pathogenicity of optineurin in juvenile open-angle glaucoma. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2004 Sep;45(9):3122-30.
Lodha N, Westall CA, Brent M, Abdolell M, Heon E. A modified protocol for the assessment of visual function in patients with retinitis pigmentosa. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2003;533:49-57.
Vincent AL, Rootman D, Munier FL, Heon E. A molecular perspective on corneal dystrophies. Dev Ophthalmol. 2003;37:50-66. Review
Mulvihill A, Budning A, Jay V, Vandenhoven C, Heon E, Gallie BL, Chan HS. Ocular motility changes after subtenon carboplatin chemotherapy for retinoblastoma. Arch Ophthalmol. 2003 Aug;121(8):1120-4.
Heon E, Greenberg A, Kopp KK, Rootman D, Vincent AL, Billingsley G, Priston M, Dorval KM, Chow RL, McInnes RR, Heathcote G, Westall C, Sutphin JE, Semina E, Bremner R, Stone EM. VSX1: a gene for posterior polymorphous dystrophy and keratoconus.
Hum Mol Genet. 2002 May 1;11(9):1029-36.
Heon E. Predictive DNA testing in ophthalmology: view 1. Br J Ophthalmol. 2003 May;87(5):633-5.