Our Board 2020

Justin Hawkins
Executive Secretary/Registrar 

Justin graduated in 1995 from Western Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, Corner Brook, NL and began his nursing career in the emergency department in Port Charlotte, Fl.  He then returned to Newfoundland to work at the Janeway Hospital in St. John’s, and as an outpost nurse practitioner in coastal Labrador.  Justin graduated from The Michener Institute in 2004 and then joined the perfusion team at QE II / IWK Hospitals. Working in this department allowed him to work in both pediatric and adult perfusion. He has been a reviewer for the Perfusion journal and the Journal of Extracorporeal Technology since 2008.  Justin believes in lifelong learning and the importance of staying current on developments in perfusion practice.

In 2019 Justin returned to Memorial University and graduated that year with a Bachelor of Technology degree (Btech), majoring in healthcare technology. This upcoming year he will be continuing studies at Memorial University in the Master of Technology Management program.    

Justin joined the Board of Directors in January 2022.

Paul Gosse
Treasurer

Paul graduated from General Hospital School of Nursing in 1995.  He completed his Bachelor of Nursing in 1999.  Paul worked in Critical Care, Emergency, and Cardiac Cath. Lab. as a Registered Nurse. He graduated from The Michener Institute in 2004 and joined the team at Eastern Health in St. John's Newfoundland. He’s been the Clinical Chief at Eastern Health since 2016. Paul is active on various committees in areas of ECMO, Perfusion Education and Quality Control and Improvement.

Paul joined the CSCP Board of Directors in November 2020.

Andréanne Thiffault
Director at Large, Eastern Region

(Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador)

Andréanne completed a bachelor’s degree in sciences with a major in Kinesiology in 2010, then became a registered respiratory therapist in 2013. She worked at the Quebec’s Heart and Lung Institute in intensive care units, pulmonary function tests and anesthesia. This is where she discovered the profession of Perfusionist.

She graduated in extracorporeal perfusion from Université de Montréal in 2020 and is still working for the Heart and Lung Institute in perfusion and respiratory therapy. She is certified from the American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion (April 2021) and the Canadian Society of Clinical Perfusion (July 2021).  Andréanne is studying in health and social care management.

Andréanne is glad to serve on the CSCP board and give her time to the prosperity of the profession.

Andréanne joined the CSCP Board of Directors in January 2022.

Andrew McMillan
Director, Western Region 

(Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia)

Andrew’s education has taken him from one coast to another.  After completing a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Acadia University, Nova Scotia, in 2012, he returned home to the west to obtain a Master’s Degree in Physiology and Kinesiology at Simon Fraser, British Columbia, where his research and thesis projects focused on obesity and exercise physiology.  

Having spent most of his time in the lab, Andrew hoped to apply his foundation in physiology to a more clinical career path.  He was accepted and later graduated from the BCIT Cardiovascular Perfusion Program in 2017.  Upon graduation, Andrew began working at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia and has been there ever since. 

Andrew has greatly enjoyed his career in Perfusion thus far and is pleased to be given the opportunity to serve on the CSCP Board.   

Andrew joined the CSCP Board of Directors in November 2020.

Naresh Tinani
Director at Large

Naresh is the Clinical Lead Perfusionist at the Regina General Hospital within the Saskatchewan Health Authority.  He has a background in Respiratory Therapy, with a BHSc from Thompson Rivers University, followed by graduating from the Michener Perfusion program in 2012.  Naresh also completed a graduate degree in Health Administration and Policy from the JSGS School of Public Policy at the University of Regina in 2020.  
He previously served as Executive Secretary & Registrar on the CSCP Board of Directors from 2015-2019 and rejoined the board in October 2022.

Christie Smith
Central Region Director

Christie graduated with her Honors degree in Human Kinetics with a specialization in Human Anatomy at the University of Guelph. She then studied Cardiovascular Perfusion at the Michener Institute of Education, where she graduated in 2018.

Christie continued to pursue her passion for cardiac research when she began her career at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; there, she received the Toronto Academic Health Professional Innovation Fellowship, which led to her research in patient temperature management on CPB. In 2019, Christie moved to Trillium Health Partners in Mississauga, where she has become one of the few Perfusionists in Canada familiar with operating the Minimally Invasive Heart-Lung machine. At Trillium, Christie is actively engaged in updating and writing new policies that reflect evidence-based practices and standards; she has a particular interest in ECLS. In response to the ongoing pandemic and staffing shortages in 2021, Christie volunteered to re-deploy to Toronto General Hospital as an ECLS specialist to care for some of the most ill COVID-19 patients in the province. Upon completing her re-deployment, Christie accepted a part-time permanent position at TGH in order to continue working with ECLS patients.

Christie has served on the Ontario Society of Clinical Perfusion since she was a student; she was the Student Representative while in school and has sat on the Board of Directors as the Secretary since 2018. She firmly believes that professional societies such as the CSCP and OSCP are crucial for inter-professional communication, collaboration and the growth of the profession.