Elia Abi-Jaoude leads the Tics and Tourette Clinic at The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada, where he is also medical director of the outpatient services in the Department of Psychiatry. His clinical and academic focus is in developmental neuropsychiatry.  He also has a particular interest in critical evaluation of fundamental concepts in psychiatry, and influences in knowledge development and dissemination.

Elia’s work has covered a broad range of areas, from cannabis as a treatment for tics, to clinical service delivery for patients with Tourette syndrome. He is currently an investigator in the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Disorders Network (POND) project, which is a longitudinal study that includes deep phenotyping, behavioural measures, neurobiology, and clinical outcomes across neurodevelopmental disorders.

Elia is an avid swimmer, and he jogs once a year, specifically at the ESSTS conferences – while his knees complain, he gets to have a lot of fun with colleagues and friends.

He feels honoured to be the first non-European ESSTS Board member, and hopes there will be many more as the organisation continues to grow its reach across the world.