Dr Justin Penner Locum consultant in paediatric infectious diseases

Background

Dr Justin Penner qualified from the University of Manitoba in 2013 and subsequently completed a paediatrics residency in Winnipeg, Canada, with a focus on paediatric infectious diseases. He also obtained an MSc in international health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a diploma in tropical medicine. His sub-specialty training in paediatric infectious diseases in the UK was completed in 2021, having worked at both Imperial College London and Great Ormond Street Hospital. After returning to Canada in 2021, he worked at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, Canada, as a consultant in paediatric infectious diseases and clinical immunology before returning to St Mary's Hospital in 2025.

 

Expertise

Perinatal and congenital infections, complex infections in children, inborn errors of immunity, MIS-C

Research & publications

1. J Penner, A Rampersad, JE Burns, D Smyth, L Lyall. Brief Report: 20-year follow-up of an Infant with neurological Impairment Exposed to Variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease. Am J Infect Dis. 2025.

2. J. Penner, S Fanella. Management of Community-associated bacterial skin and soft tissue infections and prevention of recurrence. Canadian Paediatric Society Publications. 2025 [Accepted, in Print].

3. J. Penner, N. Alders, D. Shingadia. Great Ormond Street Hospital Manual of Paediatrics. Chapter 3: Paediatric infectious Diseases. 3rd Edition. 2025. Available from: https://www.routledge.com/Great-Ormond-Street-Handbook-of-Paediatrics-An-Illustrated-Guide/Marks-Blackburn-Strobel/p/book/9781032006871

4. Burns JE, Mhapankar G, Kilabuk E, Penner J. A clinical overview of zoonotic infections of the Canadian Arctic. CMAJ, 2024. [Editor’s choice article].

5. Penner J, Burns JE, Breuer J., Gilmour K et al. Case series: Congenital enterovirus infection-associated haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and subsequent neutropaenia. EJHaem. Epub 2024;1–5. [PMID:39157618]

6. RECOVERY Collaborative Group. Immunomodulatory therapy in children with paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS, MIS-C; RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2024 Mar;8(3):190-200. Epub 2024 Jan 22. [PMID: 38272046]

7. Johnson SM*, Penner J*, Issitt R, Kmentt L et al. One- and Two-Year Multidisciplinary Follow-Up of MIS-C at a Tertiary Hospital: A Retrospective Cohort Study. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2024 Jun 19. [PMID: 38900060] [Editor’s choice article].

8. Lucie Roussel, Anne Pham-Huy, Andrea C Yu, Sunita Venkateswaran, […] J. Penner, Donald C Vinh. Novel Homozygous Mutation Causing Complete TYK2 Deficiency, with Severe Respiratory Viral Infections, EBV-Driven Lymphoma, and Jamestown Canyon Viral Encephalitis. J Clin Immunol. 2023. [PMID: 37695435]

9. RECOVERY Collaborative Group. Empagliflozin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2023 Dec;11(12):905-914. Epub 2023 Oct 18. Erratum in: Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2024 Jan;12(1):e1. [PMID 37865101]

10. Penner J, Hassell J, Brown JR, Mankad K, Storey N, Atkinson L et al. Translating metagenomics into clinical practice for complex paediatric neurological presentations. J Infect. 2023 Aug 7:S0163-4453(23)00450-4. Epub ahead of print. [PMID: 37557958]

11. Sinéad M McGlacken-Byrne, Mae Johnson, J. Penner, Pascale du Pré, Harshini Katugampola. Characterising approaches to steroid therapy in paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2. J Paediatr Child Health. 2023. PMID: 37114744]

12. RECOVERY Collaborative Group. Higher dose corticosteroids in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 who are hypoxic but not requiring ventilatory support (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial. Lancet.2023. {PMID: 37060915]

13. Channon-Wells S, Vito O, McArdle AJ, Seaby EG, BATS consortium. Immunoglobulin, glucocorticoid, or combination therapy for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children: a propensity-weighted cohort study. Lancet Rheumatol. 2023 Apr;5(4):e184-e199. doi: 10.1016/S2665-9913(23)00029-2. Epub 2023 Feb 14. [PMID: 36855438]

14. RECOVERY Collaborative Group. Baricitinib in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial and updated meta-analysis . Lancet. 2022. [PMID: 35908569]

15. Sanchez Clemente N, Penner J, Breuer J, Ip W, Booth C. Case Report: A Severe Paediatric Presentation of COVID-19 in APDS2 Immunodeficiency. Front Immunol. 2022 May 30;13:881259. [PMID: 35707532]

16. Longbottom K, Whittaker E, Penner J. Clinical features and acute management in children. In: Fabre A, Hurst JR, Ramjug S, eds. COVID-19 (ERS Monograph). Sheffield, European Respiratory Society, 2021; pp. 144–161 [https://doi.org]