Dr. Élise Héon is the Henry Brent Chair in Innovative Pediatric Ophthalmology Research at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, where she also serves as the Director of the Ocular Genetics Program and Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Toronto. She also serves on the Scientific, Medical and Ethical Advisory Board (SMEAB) of the European Networks for Rare Diseases (ERNs).
She is a renowned clinician in the field of pediatric inherited retinal degenerations with a particular interest in genetic characterization of disease as well as in patient reported outcome measures.
Dr. Héon received her medical degree at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke (Québec), where she subsequently completed her Ophthalmology residency and served as chief resident. Dr. Héon continued her training as a Clinical & Research Fellow in Pediatric Ophthalmology and Ocular Genetics at The Hospital for Sick Children, a Fellowship in Molecular Ophthalmology at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and a specialized Fellowship at Hôpital ophtalmique Jules-Gonin, Switzerland.
Dr. Héon was the Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at SickKids from December 2002 to July 2014. She has been on staff at Sickkids since 1996, focusing on Inherited retinal diseases.
