Endocrinology and Metabolism

The Montreal Children’s Hospital Endocrinology Division sees children and adolescents with diabetes, hypoglycemia, short stature and problems with the thyroid, pituitary, adrenal and other glands.

The Montreal Children’s Hospital Division of Endocrinology has been active for decades, providing care to children with a variety of endocrine and metabolic problems. About half of the patients we see are children with type 1 (juvenile) diabetes who require injections of insulin on a daily basis.

Other major categories of health problems we treat are disturbances of growth and pubertal development, thyroid problems and dysfunction of the adrenal or pituitary glands. In addition to providing care to our patients, we pursue our educational goals by training medical students and new pediatric endocrinologists for future careers in Canada and abroad, by providing continuous education to community physicians and by doing research in diabetes and related matters (diabetes technology, social determinants of diabetes management, transition of care, and genetics).

The Division of Endocrinology team includes seven physicians, three nurses, two dietitians, a social worker and administrative personnel. Our team is a mixture of experienced professionals with young enthusiastic members who have recently joined.

Department head

• Dr. Laurent Legault, Director

Administrative and Clinical Staff

• Rita Biancospino, Endocrinology adminstrative assistant
• Helene Dubois Diabetes secretary (leave of absence)
• Samanatha Torres-Sasso, Diabetes secretary (interim)
• Diane Langford, Endocrinology secretary

Staff members

• Dr. Robert Barnes
• Dr. Helen Bui, Program Director
• Dr. Preetha Krishnamoorthy
• Dr. Angeliki Makri
• Dr. John Mitchell
• Dr. Meranda Nakhla 
• Dr. Constantin Polychronakos
• Dr. Anne Marie Sbrocchi
• Dr. Julia Von Oettingen 

Clinical nursing staff

• Anne Benzekry, Clinical endocronology nurse
• Sandra Kambites, Clinical diabetes nurse and certified diabetes educator (CDE)
• Charleen Magee, Clinical diabetes nurse
• Sara Séguin Plourde, Clinical diabetes nurse
• Catherine Saint-Gelais, Clinical diabetes nurse

Allied health staff

• Dawn Davis, Social worker
• Lisa Piperno, Clinical nutritionist 
• Maude Lafontaine-Hébert, Clinical nutritionist

Our services are mainly provided on an outpatient basis. There is one diabetes clinic and two endocrinology clinics held at the Glen site. Additionally, we hold external clinics at: The Angus Medical Clinic, Brunswick Medical Centre, and The Children's Clinic (TCC). An important aspect of our work is diabetes education: teaching newly-diagnosed children, adolescents, and their families, about the day-to-day self-administered care that is required.

Endocrinology Clinic:

We see approximately 1500-2000 new cases and thousands of follow-up visits per year for problems related to overall growth, thyroid issues, adrenal and pituitary gland issues and related conditions.

Diabetes Clinic:

We follow about 700 children each year, with 60 to 70 new cases per year, most of them with insulin-dependent diabetes. This clinic includes specialized care for children who carry insulin pumps.

In-patient Consult Service:

This service helps in the care of children with endocrine issues who have been hospitalized for other reasons.

Camp Carowanis for diabetic children:

Our doctors on staff contribute to providing supervision of medical issues for children with diabetes who attend this camp every summer.

Phone numbers:

• Diabetes clinic: 514-412-4436 (Fax: 514-412-4264)
• Endocrinology clinic: 514-412-4400 ext. 22482 (Fax: 514-412-4216)
• Administration: 514-412-4315

Dr. Laurent Legault, Division Director: [email protected]