However, the study also highlighted some important drawbacks. ChatGPT struggled with more nuanced medical questions and sometimes gave conflicting or vague answers. Experts reviewing the responses noted that the language was often too technical, making it hard for the average reader to follow. While ChatGPT may help fill information gaps, the authors caution that it should never replace guidance from healthcare professionals. The team recommends future work on AI tools tailored to medical accuracy and accessible language, ensuring safe and effective support for families undergoing allergy treatment.

Read the Publication

Can ChatGPT provide parent education for oral immunotherapy? Abi-Rafeh J, Toscano-Rivero D, Mazer BD.
Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2025 Jul;135(1):87-90. doi: 10.1016/j.anai.2025.04.011. Epub 2025 Apr 24.

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Faiz Ahmad Khan.  Co-Principal Applicants: Natasha MacDonald, Glenda Sandy. Utirtisiniq Puvallutulirinirmut arqutigitsugu Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit: Nuisivalialuni Nunavimmiut arqirutisaginnik puvalluniup ammalu namasiangitunut anniasiuriujut Nunavimmi Decolonizing TB Healthcare Through Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit: developing Nunavimmiut-led solutions to the continuing crises of TB and inadequate healthcare in Nunavik. Ranked 2nd in the Indigenous Health Research Committee!

Andrea Benedetti. Recovering from the COVID-19 Pandemic, Informing Future Public Health Crises, and Building a Global Evidence Base for Mental Health Research: A Systematic Review of COVID-19-related Mental Health.

Jonathon Campbell. Co-Investigators: Faiz Ahmad Khan, Andrea Benedetti, Richard Menzies. Risk Assessment and Determinants of Tuberculosis Associated Respiratory Impairment and Disability (RADAR-TB): A Systematic Review and Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis.

Maziar Divangahi. Programming Innate Memory Responses to promote host defense against SARS-CoV-2 Pneumonia. (Priority Announcement: Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies Research.)

Bruce Mazer. B-Lymphocyte derived extracellular vesicles as key regulators of allergic airway inflammation.

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Read more about this award on the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology website.

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What was discovered is that the earlier two phases of the pandemic resulted in less than 0.3% (by May 2020) and only 9% (by November 2021) infection-acquired seroprevalence in Canadians, despite the huge impact on our society and healthcare system. Yet, despite a much higher rate of vaccination for the Omicron wave (December 2021 to March 2023), the rate of infection increased significantly, such that:

“After six months with the Omicron variant circulating in Canada, in mid-June 2022, infection-acquired seroprevalence had risen to 47%, with an average monthly increase of 6.4% per month. It ultimately reached over 75% by March 2023.”

Bruce Mazer

By March 2023, younger cohorts (ages 18-25) were showing higher evidence of a previous infection, which diminished as the age of the cohorts increased (people aged between 25-39 years, 40-59 and over 60). Since Spring 2023, the rate of infection in older adults has increased, although the overall rate of infection-acquired seroprevalence has diminished.

Dr. Bruce Mazer is study co-lead, Associate Scientific Director, Strategy at the CITF and Senior Scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.

Read the RI-MUHC Article

More than 75% of Canadians had immunity to SARS-CoV-2 due to infection by March 2023 August 14, 2023 RI-MUHC News.

Read the CITF publication in CMAJ

“The Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence in Canada – A Time-Series Study, 2020-2023”. CMAJ 2023 August 14;195:E1030-7. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.230949

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(Time on podcast: 21:47). Dr. Bruce Mazer has been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. While history repeats itself (influenza and other SARS pandemics), we still have a lot to learn from this pandemic. We have to reflect on our experiences from this COVID-19 pandemic, we have to remember to trust science and take medical information seriously to better communicate and trust the data. The evolution of the pandemic from a researcher’s perspective – Canada did much better than the public may actually believe. The COVID-19 Immunity taskforce showed that <10% of the Canadian population was infected with COVID-19 before December of 2021. This completely changed with the onset of Omricon, where by the summer of 2022, over 50% of the population was infected. Now, what is most interesting, fewer people succumbed to COVID-19 infection with the onset of Omricon. This is likely due to a combination of vaccines and better healthcare. The vaccine allows our bodies to make a ton of antibodies against the virus. With the onset of the Fall 2022 flu season, we have to remember that there are other viruses circulating at the same time – so we have to continue to protect ourselves, and consider taking the flu shot and COVID-19 boosters. If we learn from what is happening in Australia, they faced their worst flu season in years. We have to learn from this and continue to protect ourselves. If you are sick, stay home. If your child is sick, keep them home to prevent the spread of viruses in schools.

(Time on podcase: 31:45). Mitchell Rosenberg shares the impact of the Raymond James Charity softball tournament. This annual charity softball game sees the Montreal Chest Institute Lobes go up against the Raymond James Bulls. All proceeds go towards the Montreal Chest Institute and the Breathe Easier fundraising campaign. This charity, over the years, has raised funds for a number of causes. This year, they are raising money for a home monitoring project being led by the Montreal Chest Institute.

Listen to the Podcast

A new way to measure heart disease risk. The MUHC Foundation’s Health Matters. September 11, 2022.

Where to listen:
Web: http://bit.ly/3aQfvVQ
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/32HFxrc
Apple: https://apple.co/35NvItS

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The winners for best oral presentation were:

Julia Chronopoulos (PhD student with James Martin & Maziar Divangahi)

Jessica Yu (MSc student with Marta Kaminska)

The winners for best poster presentation were:

Poster Group 1: Jun Ping (Dora) Xiong (MSc student with Anne-Marie Lauzon)

Poster Group 2: Marwa El Sheikh (MSc student with Salman Qureshi)

Poster Group 3: Eisha Ahmed (PhD student with Bruce Mazer) & Motahareh Vameghestahbanati (PhD student with Benjamin Smith)

Poster Group 4: Rui Sun (PhD student with James Martin)

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(Time on podcast: 29:40). Bruce Mazer speaks to the new Omicron variant and why it is so important to be vaccinated against COVID. This new variant has many structural changes to the viral protein. Since this is a new variant, there are still many questions that remain unanswered. It appears that it does not yet cause more severe disease. We have to understand why viruses actually mutate. Their genes are naturally made to mutate so that they can infect their hosts in better and better ways. This COVID-19 virus is highly infectious but doesn’t kill that many people, which is why it can continue spreading in the population. Anyone who is considered at risk should take measures to protect themselves, including the elderly, those with co-morbidities and the unvaccinated. We also have to remember that long-COVID has a huge impact on many people’s lives.

The safety profile of COVID-19 vaccination in kids show that the vaccine works and children get a good immune response. In all the studies, there have been no major concerns. As of this date, over 4 million children received the vaccine in the US. No major adverse events have yet been reported. Misinformation can be very disruptive, but vaccination has to be seen as a benefit for children too. They want to return to normal life, resume playdates, socialize more and return to school. Vaccinating our children is one way to achieve this goal safely.

Listen to the podcast

A game changer for families. The MUHC Foundation’s Health Matters. December 5, 2021

Where to listen:

Web: http://bit.ly/3aQfvVQ
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/32HFxrc
Apple: https://apple.co/35NvItS

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(Time on Podcast: 31:50) The COVID Immunity Task Force started in April 2020. The initial idea was to measure antibody levels in 1 million Canadians in response to COVID-19 infection. However, the project subsequently grew as the pandemic evolved. With the information from this study, the task force is now able to assist in the understanding of peoples’ immune response to COVID-19 infection. They are also able to better understand how COVID-19 vaccines are working and what they are doing to the immune system. Questions still remain. We understand the the vaccines were designed with the initial strain of the virus. Do these vaccines work just as well with the emerging variants? So far, the vaccine works well against these emerging variants. The study will continue until 2023. Listen to the podcast to learn more.

Listen to the Podcast

Hope in the face of adversity. The MUHC Foundation’s Health Matters. June 6, 2021

Web: http://bit.ly/3aQfvVQ
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/32HFxrc
Apple: https://apple.co/35NvItS

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(Time on Podcast: 24:18) Dr. Mazer, Associate Scientific Director of the Taskforce, sums up the goal of their work as: to understand the prevalence of the virus in the community at large, and to learn about how the body responds to the virus. Completed studies in this area have revealed the following:

“We know that the prevalence of the antibodies in the population of healthy blood donors is between 0.7% and 1.0% of the population, as high as 2.9% in certain areas of Quebec and Ontario.”

Dr. Bruce Mazer

Although these numbers indicate a lack of herd immunity, he feels it is more important to understand how to treat individuals who are most at risk, to develop a vaccine, and to find answers to some of their yet-to-be-answered questions. Finding answers to questions such as why some people are more affected by this virus than others, why some people are more affected by previous viruses but not this one, and how long the antibodies created by vaccination will last in the body, would go a long way in decoding immunity to COVID-19.

Listen to the Podcast

Decoding COVID-19 Immunity. The MUHC Foundation’s Health Matters. November 8, 2020.

• MUHC Foundation Health Matters Decoding COVID-19 Immunity.
• Spotify: https://spoti.fi/32HFxrc
• Apple: https://apple.co/35NvItS

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