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University of Toronto
Dr. Christopher Tomlinson, commonly known as Dr. Chris Tomlinson, is a Canadian-based neonatologist, researcher, and medical educator specializing in the care and nutrition of premature and critically ill newborns. He is currently Division Head of Neonatology at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Canada, and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. He is also cross-appointed to the University of Toronto’s Department of Nutritional Sciences.
Dr. Tomlinson completed his BSc (Honours) in Immunology at the University of Glasgow from 1987–1991 and subsequently obtained his MB ChB (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) from the University of Glasgow in 1994.
He completed a Clinical Fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine through the University of Toronto from 1998–2000. He then undertook specialist training in Paediatric Medicine through the West of Scotland Deanery and Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow from 2000–2004.
From 2005–2010, he completed a PhD in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto, developing a strong academic focus on neonatal nutrition, amino-acid metabolism and growth.
Dr. Tomlinson joined the Division of Neonatology at SickKids in 2007. His clinical work focuses on the care of premature, critically ill and medically complex newborns, including infants requiring intensive nutritional support and surgical management.
His clinical and academic interests include the nutritional management of infants in the NICU, particularly babies who are critically ill or require surgery. He works closely with multidisciplinary teams to optimize nutritional status, growth and development in vulnerable newborns.
His research focuses particularly on:
He has participated in major research collaborations examining amino-acid requirements in premature infants, optimization of human milk for preterm babies, and mechanisms and potential treatments for NEC. SickKids lists him as a co-investigator on major CIHR-funded research programs, including the NECTAR (Necrotizing Enterocolitis Toronto Advanced Research) program.
Dr. Tomlinson has contributed to numerous peer-reviewed publications addressing neonatal nutrition and growth. His research includes work examining nutritional and non-nutritional factors affecting the growth of very-low-birth-weight infants and the effects of human-milk nutrient fortifiers on the developing gastrointestinal microbiota.
He has also contributed to Canadian Paediatric Society guidance and educational literature on breastfeeding and human milk use in neonatal intensive care, helping translate evidence on neonatal nutrition into clinical practice.
As Division Head of Neonatology at SickKids, Dr. Tomlinson has a leadership role within one of Canada's major pediatric academic hospitals. SickKids identifies him as a key leader within its Neonatology Division and as Chair of its Neonatal Clinical Research Committee.
He is also the inaugural Raymond Chang Chair in Nutritional Medical Education at the Joannah & Brian Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition. In this role, he is involved in expanding innovative approaches to nutrition education and supervising fellows.
One documented academic distinction is the 2011 PhD Dissertation Award from the Canadian Nutrition Society, recognizing his doctoral work in Nutritional Sciences.
He has also contributed to international neonatal education. For example, in 2019 he led an advisory trip to Ukraine through the SickKids Ukraine Paediatric Fellowship Program, where he delivered lectures on the management of premature infants and provided neonatal intensive-care consultations and teaching.
King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital – Health Services Directorate, Ministry of Defense
King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital – Health Services Directorate, Ministry of Defense