Eric Benchimol

Senior Scientist, Child Health Evaluative Sciences

U of T Positions

Professor
Department of Paediatrics

Professor (Status Appointment), Clinical Epidemiology & Health Care Research
Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation

Eric Benchimol is a paediatric gastroenterologist and epidemiologist at the SickKids Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre and Professor of Paediatrics. Dr. Benchimol is a clinician-scientist, with a clinical focus of treating children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD - Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis). His research using large datasets to understand why Canada’s has amongst the highest rates of IBD in the world, environmental risk factors that are associated with IBD, and improving ways in which the health system treat children with IBD.

Dr. Benchimol joined the SickKids IBD Centre and Department of Paediatrics in 2020 after working at CHEO and the University of Ottawa for 10 years.

Research

Dr. Benchimol chairs the Canadian Gastro-Intestinal Epidemiology Consortium (CanGIEC), which conducts epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, outcomes, and health services research using the health administrative data from multiple provinces. By using novel distributed network methodology, CanGIEC is able to assess the national picture of IBD in Canada despite the provincial nature of our health system.

Dr. Benchimol also has an interest in improving the methods used to conduct research using routinely-collected health data. In that capacity, he co-chairs of the RECORD Steering Committee, an international group which has created reporting guidelines for observational studies that use routine-collected health data for research.

Education

• 2006–2010: Doctorate, Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research – Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
• 2006–2010: Graduate Research Student – ICES, Toronto, ON
• 2006–2009: Research Fellowship (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) – Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition, The Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
• 2005–2006: Clinical Fellowship – Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition, The Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
• 2002–2005: Pediatric Residency – Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON
• 1998–2002: Medical Doctor - Western University, London, ON
• 1994–1998: Honours Bachelor of Science in Biology - York University, Toronto, ON (Major: Biology, specializing in genetics).

Experience

• 2020–Present: Professor, Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto
• 2020–Present: Pediatric Gastroenterologist, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, SickKids, Toronto, ON
• 2020–Present: Senior Scientist, Child Health Evaluative Sciences, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, ON
• 2020–Present: Senior Core Scientist, Life Stages Program, ICES, Toronto, ON
• 2010–2020: Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Ottawa
• 2010–2020: Professor (Cross-Appointment), School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa
• 2010–2020: Pediatric Gastroenterologist, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), Ottawa, ON
• 2016–2020: Director, Health Information Technology Program, CHEO Research Institute, Ottawa, ON
• 2010–2020: Senior Scientist, Health Information Technology Program, CHEO Research Institute
• 2015–2020: Core Scientist, ICES, Ottawa, ON

Achievements

• 2024: Research Excellence Award, Canadian Association of Gastroenterology
• 2020–2022: Chair, Scientific and Medical Advisory Council, and member of the Board of Directors, Crohn’s and Colitis Canada
• 2019: Fellow of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN-F)
• 2017–2020: Councilor (Elected Canadian Councilor, NAPSGHAN)
• 2017: Young Investigator Award, Canadian Association of Gastroenterology
• 2015: Rising Star Award, Crohn’s and Colitis Canada
• 2011: Thomas & Edna Naylor Memorial Award, Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto
• 2008: Exceptional Trainee Award, SickKids Research Institute

See a full list of Dr. Eric Benchimol's publications on PubMed, Google Scholar and ResearchGate.