Bahaa Abu-Raya, MD, PhD

Affiliations

• Active Staff, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, IWK Health Centre
• Clinician-Scientist, Principal Investigator, Canadian Center for Vaccinology 

Education

• M.D. - Faculty of Medicine, Hadassah Medical School, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem
• PhD - University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
• Clinical Fellow - Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Selected Awards

• “Outstanding Achievement by a Clinical sub-specialty Resident or Fellow Award”, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada.
• “University of British Columbia Pediatric Research Award, Subspecialty Residency/Fellow Research Award”. Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
• Young Investigator Award in Basic Science, European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases
• Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship Award, Government of Canada
• Michael Smith Health Research British Columbia Award, British Columbia

Research Interests and Personal Contribution  

Dr. Abu-Raya is a Pediatric Infectious Diseases Clinician-Scientist at the Canadian Center for Vaccinology. His research during the past decade has mainly been in the field of maternal pertussis immunization. Specifically, identifying the ideal timing of vaccination in pregnancy; the need to vaccinate during each pregnancy; the induction of anti-Bordetella pertussis antibodies in breast milk; the effect of maternal vaccination on avidity of anti-Bordetella pertussis antibodies using a novel laboratory approach; and the effects of pertussis immunization in pregnancy on infants’ vaccines immune responses. Many of the studies he has led have contributed to practice-changing immunization policies in Canada and other several countries. He has also been a leader of several consensus papers and authored textbook chapters and commentaries in the field of maternal immunization. 

Dr. Abu-Raya’s research program at the Canadian Center for Vaccinology uses laboratory-based cutting-edge assays that measure the functions of antibodies that are induced after vaccination and infection to answer clinically-relevant and translational questions in the field of vaccination in pregnancy to protect mother-infant dyads. His work focuses on developing and evaluating ways to improve vaccines and make them better able to fight infectious diseases. Dr. Abu-Raya is an international expert leader in his field and collaborates on several studies nationally with scientists and healthcare providers at Dalhousie University, the IWK, Nova Scotia Health, other Canadian institutions and internationally.

Selected Publications

• Abu-Raya, B, Reicherz, F, Michalski, C, Paramo, MV, Majdoubi, A, Golding, L, Granoski, M, Stojic, A, Marchant, DJ, Lavoie, PM. Loss of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Antibody Functions During the Peak of the COVID-19 Pandemic Mitigation Measures. J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2023 Oct 28;12(10):piad099.
• Abu-Raya, B, Esser, MJ,  Nakabembe, E, Reiné, J, Amaral, K, Diks, AM, Imede, E,  Way, SS, Harandi, AM, Gorringe, A,  Le Doare, K, Halperin, SA, Berkowska, MA,  Sadarangani, M. Antibody and B-cell immune responses against Bordetella pertussis following infection and immunization. Journal of Molecular Biology. 2023 Dec 15;435(24):168344.
• Abu-Raya, B, Viñeta-Paramo, M, Reicherz, F, Lavoie PM. Why has the epidemiology of RSV changed during the COVID-19 pandemic?. eClinicalMedicine. 2023 Jul 6;61:102089.
  
• Abu-Raya, B, Forsyth, K, Halperin SA, Maertens, K, Jones, CE, Heininger, U, Hozbor, D, Wirsing von König, CH, Chitkara, AJ, Muloiwa, R, Tan TQ. Vaccination in Pregnancy against Pertussis: A Consensus Statement on Behalf of the Global Pertussis Initiative. Vaccines. 2022 Nov 23;10(12):1990.   
• Abu-Raya, B, Reicherz , F, Lavoie, PM. Correlates of protection against Respiratory Syncytial Virus infection in infancy. Clin Rev Allergy Immunol. 2022 Dec;63(3):371-380.
• Reicherz , F, Golding, M, Lavoie, PM, Abu-Raya, B. Decay of anti-Bordetella pertussis antibodies in women of childbearing age following COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical measures. Vaccine. 2022 Jun 15;40(27):3746-3751.
• Abu-Raya, B, Madhi, SA, Omer, SB, Amirthalingam, G, Giles, ML, Flanagan, KL, Zimmermann, P, O’Ryan, M, Safadi, MA, Papaevangelou, V, Maertens, K, Wanlapakorn, N, Diaz-Brito, V, Esposito, S. Global perspectives on immunization against SARS-CoV-2 in pregnancy and priorities for future research: an international consensus paper. Front Immunol. 2021 Dec 23;12:808064.
• Abu-Raya, B, Jost, M, Bettinger, JA, Bortolussi, R, Grabowski, J, Lacaze-Masmonteil, T,  Robinson, JL, Posfay-Barbe, KM, Galanis, E, Schutt, E, Mäusezahl, M; Kollmann, TR. Invasive listeriosis in infants: Prospective surveillance studies in Canada and Switzerland. Pediatrics and Child Health. 2021 Jun 19;26(7):e277-e282
• Abu-Raya B, Michalski C, Sadarangani M, Lavoie, P. Maternal Immunological Adaptation During Pregnancy. Front Immunol. 2020 Oct 7;11:575197. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.575197. eCollection 2020.PMID: 33133091
• Abu-Raya B, Coyle D, Bettinger J, Vaudry W, Halperin SA, Sadarangani M. Pertussis immunization in pregnancy in Canada: a cost-utility analysis. CMAJ Open. 2020 Oct 19;8(4):E651-E658. doi: 10.9778/cmajo.20200060. PMID: 33077536.
  
• Abu-Raya B, Maertens K, Edwards KM, Omer SB, Englund JA, Flanagan KL, Snape MD, Amirthalingam G, Leuridan E, Damme PV, Papaevangelou V, Launay O, Dagan R,Campins M, Cavaliere AF, Frusca T, Guidi S, O'Ryan M, Heininger U, Tan T, Alsuwaidi AR, Safadi MA, Vilca LM, Wanlapakorn N, Madhi SA, Giles ML, Prymula R, Ladhani S, Martinón-Torres F, Tan L, Michelin L, Scambia G, Principi N, Esposito S. Global Perspectives on Immunization During Pregnancy and Priorities for Future Research and Development: An International Consensus Statement. Front Immunol. 2020 Jun 24;11:1282. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.01282.
• Abu-Raya B, Giles ML, Kollmann TR, Sadarangani M. Profiling avidity of antibodies elicited by vaccination using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-based elution - Insights into a novel experimental and analytical approach. Vaccine. 2020 Jul 22;38(34):5389-5392. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.06.060.
• Abu-Raya B, Extending Timing of Immunization Against Pertussis During Pregnancy and Protection of Premature Infants from Whooping Cough Disease. Clin Infect Dis. 2020 Jun 22:ciaa831. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa831.    
  
• Abu-Raya B, Edwards K. Interferecne with Pertussis Vaccination in Infants After Maternal Pertussis Vaccination. Pediatrics. 2020 Sep;146(3):e20193579. doi: 10.1542/peds.2019-3579.
• Abu-Raya B, Edwards K. Optimizing the timing of vaccine admisntration in pregnancy. JAMA. 2019 Mar 12;321(10):935-936. doi: 10.1001/jama.2019.0703.
• Abu-Raya B, Bettinger JA, Vanderkooi OG, Vaudry W, Halperin SA, Sadarangani M. The burden of children hospitalized with pertussis in Canada in the acellular pertussis vaccine era, 1999-2015. J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2018 Dec 8. doi: 10.1093/jpids/piy128.
  
• View additional publications on PubMed