Dr. Kim Blake - (on the left having some fun with a friend)
Dr. Blake graduated in the United Kingdom from St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School and underwent post-graduate training in a number of prestigious London teaching hospitals. In 1992, Dr. Blake headed for Newfoundland and spent the next three years completing her licensing exams and Royal College Exam in Pediatrics. More recently, in September of 1997, Dr. Blake moved to Nova Scotia where she joined the Department of Pediatrics and Dalhousie University as an Assistant professor. In 1998 she became the Chair of the Undergraduate Pediatric Education Committee and in 2001 was promoted to Associate Professor. Dr. Blake also now holds the position of Associate Dean of undergraduate medical education at Dalhousie University.
Dr. Blake has been researching in CHARGE A/S for the last 18 years. Dr. Blake's review article on CHARGE Association: An update and Review for the Primary Pediatrician (Clin Pediatr 1998; 37:159-74) is a very thorough summary of this disorder at the time of publication and gave a revised criteria f or CHARGE A/S involving major and minor features. Since then, her research has expanded due to the close contact with CHARGE family support groups throughout the world, who have supported this work with both letters of endorsement and seed funding.
Dr. Blake's major area of clinical research is in CHARGE syndrome. She is the principle investigator of a National Surveillance Study, "Incidence and Prevalence of CHARGE Association/Syndrome (A/S)" organized through the Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program (CPSP). Dr. Blake consults and regularly follows children/adults with CHARGE throughout Canada and so maintains a strong clinical perspective. As a clinician with many unanswered questions regarding CHARGE syndrome, Dr. Blake has with the assistance of this population begun researching further and analysing data, in collaboration with experts in parallel fields.
Dr. Blake is internationally known for her work in CHARGE Syndrome and has been invited to speak at the CHARGE Syndrome Foundation, Inc Annual Meeting, the Canadian Paediatric Society's 80th Annual Meeting, and the Nordic Staff Training Centre for Deafblind Services at Dronninglund Castle in Denmark. In addition, she has co-authored a number of posters and oral presentations. Dr. Blake has been a key speaker for CHARGE Syndrome Canada's two National workshops on CHARGE syndrome in Toronto, sponsored by the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation.