Dr. Johane Robitaille, a Pediatric Ophthalmologist at the IWK Health Centre and Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Dalhousie University since 1997, earned her medical degree from McGill University in 1989. Following her Ophthalmology residency at l’Université Laval, she completed fellowships in Pediatric Ophthalmology and Neuro-ophthalmology in Iowa, and Ocular Genetics at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore. With cross-appointments in Pediatrics and Pathology at Dalhousie, she focuses on hereditary eye disorders in children, particularly familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR), and other developmental retinal vascular diseases including retinopathy of prematurity. Dr. Robitaille has built a significant FEVR patient database, leading to the discovery of novel FEVR genes and their molecular connections to related conditions. As the founder and Director of the Centre for Genomics Enhanced Medicine (CGEM), she champions genomics research in the Maritimes. An outdoor enthusiast, she enjoys hiking, sailing, skiing and karate in her leisure time.

Financial disclosure: Dr. Robitaille has/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization:

1. Novartis

2. CIHR, Genome Canada

3. Treatment for familial exudative vitreoretinopathy and other forms of blindness (Patent)