Government of Canada announces appointments to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Governing Council

September 21, 2022          Ottawa, Ontario         Health Canada 

The Government of Canada is committed to appointing highly qualified candidates to best serve the interests of Canadians.

Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, announced three appointments and one reappointment to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Governing Council.

Dr. Marie-Josée Hébert is appointed as the Chairperson of CIHR Governing Council. She is a nephrologist-transplant physician, a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at Université de Montréal and a researcher who holds the Shire Chair in Renal Transplantation and Regeneration. She is co-director of the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program. As a researcher, she has founded and led major interdisciplinary and cross-sector research groups.

Dr. Robert Stuart Bell is appointed as a member of CIHR Governing Council. He is currently a clinical adjunct at the University of Toronto, and served as Ontario’s Deputy Minister of Health and Long-Term Care from 2014 to 2018. An internationally recognized orthopedic surgeon, health care executive, clinician-scientist and educator, Dr. Bell brings more than 30 years of health care experience to his appointment.

Dr. Paul J. Allison is appointed as a member of CIHR Governing Council. He is professor in the Faculty of Dentistry at McGill University. His research interests include psychosocial and social determinants of oral health and oral health care, including issues of access to dental care.

Dr. Brianne A. Kent is re-appointed as a member of CIHR Governing Council. She is an Assistant Professor at Simon Fraser University and trained as a neuroscientist. Her research focus is Alzheimer’s disease and specifically how disrupted circadian rhythms and sleep contribute to the memory loss associated with the disease.

The CIHR is an independent agency established in 2000 and is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Health. CIHR creates new scientific knowledge and enables its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health care system.