Colleagues - Halifax Obesity Network

Kara Evers, NP

bio coming soon.

Jenna Crown, PDt

Jenna is a Registered Dietitian working with the Weight Loss Surgery and Endocrinology Team at the QEӀӀ Health Sciences Centre. Jenna has always had a passion for nutrition and all things food related which is why she chose to pursue a career in dietetics. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Applied Human Nutrition with Integrated Internship Program from Mount Saint Vincent University. Since then, she has worked for several years in a number of different settings including Public Health and Primary Health Care where she helped people work towards their personal health and nutrition goals through group based nutrition education programs, cooking classes, grocery store tours and individualized nutrition counseling. In her spare time, Jenna can be found testing out new recipes, tending to her vegetable garden or staying active and enjoying the outdoors throughout all seasons.

Tom Ransom, MD FRCSC

Dr Tom Ransom is a staff endocrinologist at the QEII Health Sciences Centre and is an assistant professor of medicine at Dalhousie University. Prior to the study of medicine he obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Toronto in nutrition with the focus of his Master’s research and thesis on the effects of diet on cholesterol and diabetes control. He stayed in Toronto to study medicine and internal medicine before moving to Halifax were he obtained his fellowship in endocrinology. He enjoys his teaching responsibilities and is active in both basic and clinical research with an emphasis on the metabolic syndrome which includes diabetes, obesity and dyslipidemias.

James Ellsmere, MD MSc FRCSC

Dr James Ellsmere is the Surgical Director of the Weight Loss Program. He has been a staff surgeon at the QEII Health Science Centre is an assistant professor of surgery at Dalhousie University. He completed his medical and surgical training at Dalhousie Medical School and clinical fellowships in minimally invasive gastrointestinal surgery and therapeutic endoscopy at Harvard Medical School. In addition to sleeve resections, he performs minimally invasive stomach and intestinal resections, treatments for biliary, gallbladder, pancreatic disease as well as reflux and swallowing problems. His research interests include weight loss surgery clinical outcomes and novel endoscopic therapies for gastrointestinal disease.

Tiffany Shepherd, Health Psychologist

Dr. Shepherd is a Health Psychologist who provides services to the Weight Loss Surgery program, as well as other services including diabetes and gastroenterology departments. She completed her PhD in clinical psychology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC in 2018 and completed her clinical residency training here in Halifax at the QEII in 2015. Dr. Shepherd has interests in the areas of health behaviour change and chronic disease and obesity management, and is currently developing group-based psychological interventions to support obesity management.

Richard Spence, Surgeon

bio coming soon.