Isabel Fortier

Dr. Isabel Fortier is a Researcher at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre where she leads the Maelstrom Research and DataSHaPER programs. In addition, she serves as the coordinator of data harmonization for different organizations, including the BioSHaRE (Biobank Standardisation and Harmonisation for Research Excellence in the European Union) project. Until 2010, Dr. Fortier also led the construction of the P3G (Public Population Project in Genomics) Observatory, a central internet repository of scientific resources and tools. At the national level, Dr. Fortier has been involved in the development, data quality control or harmonization of a number of cohorts including the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, CARTaGENE, and Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project.

Dr. Fortier obtained a PhD in Epidemiology from Laval University in 1994. She is now principally involved in the development of methods and tools to provide the research community from diverse disciplines with resources to support data collection, harmonization, and integration across studies.

Key scientific papers include: Data harmonization and federated analysis of population-based studies: the BioSHaRE project (Emerging Themes in Epidemiology); Harmonizing data for collaborative research on aging: why should we foster such an agenda? (Canadian Journal on Aging); Invited commentary: consolidating data harmonization—how to obtain quality and applicability? (American Journal of Epidemiology); Is rigorous retrospective harmonization possible? Application of the DataSHaPER approach across 53 large studies (International Journal of Epidemiology).

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