Professor Alejandro Adem has been President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) since October 2019.

As a highly accomplished researcher in the field of mathematics and a faculty member at the University of British Columbia, Professor Adem has significant leadership experience in the Canadian research and innovation ecosystem. Before joining NSERC, he was CEO and Scientific Director of Mitacs (2015–2019) where he oversaw a significant expansion of its domestic and international internship programs, as well as launching the Mitacs Canadian Science Policy Fellowships, an Indigenous engagement initiative and an innovative entrepreneurship program. Prior to that, he served as Director of the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (2008-2015), a research and training consortium supporting the mathematical sciences across Western Canada. From 1989 to 2004 he was a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA).

Professor Adem earned a B.Sc. at the National University of Mexico and a PhD in mathematics at Princeton University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society, a Fellow of the Canadian Mathematical Society and a Corresponding Member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences. He has authored more than 70 articles as well as two books; delivered close to 400 invited research lectures around the world; and held postdoctoral or visiting positions at Stanford University, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the ETH-Zurich, the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn, the University of Paris and Princeton University. Other distinctions include a senior Canada Research Chair at the University of British Columbia, the Jeffery-Williams Research Prize (awarded by the Canadian Mathematical Society), the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award (USA) and an Alfred P. Sloan Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship.

Alejandro Adem is a Canadian citizen who was born and raised in Mexico City and is a proud member of the Latin American community in Canada. He is married and has two grown children.

Dr. Paul Hébert, Ph.D.

President, Canadian Institutes of Health Research | Président, Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada

Dr. Paul Hébert, a proud Acadian, is a clinician scientist and health leader, as well as a practicing palliative care and former critical care physician. He is a professor at the University of Ottawa and was previously a professor at Université de Montréal.

As a researcher, he is best known for major resuscitation and transfusion trials. Dr. Hébert has conducted research in both critically ill adults and children, palliative care, aging in place and long-term care. To do so, he has secured over $65 million in research funding. His research projects have resulted in more than 480 articles in peer- reviewed journals (16 articles in NEJM, 13 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 3 in the Lancet, 7 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, and 9 in the British Medical Journal). These projects and publications would not have been possible without the support of the Canadian Critical Trials Group, the help and support of literally thousands of patients and families, nurses, physicians and researchers from around the globe. He is most proud of the young faculty from several universities that he has had the pleasure of mentoring, from whom he has learned a great deal.

During his career, he has had the opportunity to be the Canadian Medical Association Journal's Editor-in-Chief, publishing over 80 editorials in Canada's leading medical journal. He chaired the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group, the world's top critical care research network. As Physician-in-Chief and Director of Clinical Research at the Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal he mounted major programs while leading more than 400 physicians. In addition, Dr. Hébert served as Chief Medical and Science Officer at the Canadian Red Cross and Scientific Director of Ontario's Public Health Emergency Taskforce. These many leadership experiences have provided him with unique and diverse perspectives on the health care and health research ecosystems.

Dr. Hébert has had a long relationship with the former Medical Research Council and now with CIHR, and he attributes much of his success to funding from MRC/CIHR. Dr. Hébert led a clinical trial transformation initiative for MRC, was a member of an inaugural Institute Advisory Board, served on many peer review panels and developed the vision for the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research as its original Executive Director. Dr. Hébert is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and was also the recipient of a number of career awards, including the Landsteiner-Alter Award for his groundbreaking work in transfusion medicine.

Dr. Ted Hewitt, Ph.D.

President, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada | Président, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada