CCA welcomes five new members to its Scientific Advisory Committee

The Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) is pleased to announce the appointment of five new members to its Scientific Advisory Committee: David Castle; Sophie D’Amours, O.C., FCAE; Malcolm King, FCAHS; Barbara Neis, C.M., FRSC; and Nicole A. Poirier, FCAE. The role of the Scientific Advisory Committee is to advise the CCA’s Board on the substance and procedure of expert assessments, particularly in terms of question selection and expert panel membership.

David Castle, is Vice-President Research and a Professor in the School of Public Administration, with an adjunct appointment in the Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria. Dr. Castle’s research focuses on social aspects of life science innovation including science policy, democratic engagement, regulation and governance, and intellectual property and knowledge management.

Sophie D’Amours, O.C., FCAE, was elected Rector of Université Laval on April 26, 2017. She is the first woman and the 26^th person to hold this position. A faculty member at Université Laval’s Department of Mechanical Engineering since 1995, Professor Sophie D’Amours has extensive experience in higher education, research, and university management in Quebec and abroad.

Malcolm King, FCAHS, a member of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation, is a health researcher at the University of Saskatchewan, joining the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology in October 2017. There, he serves as the Scientific Director of SCPOR, the Saskatchewan Centre for Patient-Oriented Research; he also continues to teach and research in Indigenous health, with a particular focus on wellness and engagement.

Barbara Neis, C.M., FRSC, is John Paton Lewis Distinguished University Professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Based in the Department of Sociology, she is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a former Trudeau Foundation Fellow, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the SafetyNet Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Research, and past President of the Canadian Association for Research on Work and Health.

Nicole A. Poirier, FCAE, is President and Founder of KoanTeknico Solutions Inc. Since creating KoanTeknico, Dr. Poirier has and continues to provide consulting services related to technology and business development to various organizations in the forest, maritime, environmental, and nanotechnology sectors. She has devoted her career to industrial research and the development and commercialization of new technologies and products.

The CCA would like to thank three valued members of the Scientific Advisory Committee whose terms have come to an end: Susan A. McDaniel, PhD, FRSC, Chair of the Committee, and Director, Prentice Institute; Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Global Population and Life Course; Prentice Research Chair in Global Population and Economy; Professor of Sociology, University of Lethbridge; Lorne Babiuk, O.C., FRSC, FCAHS, Vice President (Research), University of Alberta; and Daniel Krewski, Professor of Epidemiology and Community Medicine and Scientific Director of the McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, University of Ottawa.

“On behalf of the CCA, I would like to extend a sincere thank you to all the members of the Committee whose terms have come to an end,” said Eric M. Meslin, PhD, FCAHS, President and CEO of the Council of Canadian Academies. “We bid a particularly fond farewell to Susan A. McDaniel, PhD, FRSC, a member of the Committee since the inception of the CCA, whose long-standing support and guidance as Chair for the past four years, has been immensely valuable. We look forward to Eliot A. Phillipson, MD, O.C., FCAHS, assuming this vital leadership role and warmly welcome our five new members, who will bring a wealth of knowledge to the committee.”

The members of the Scientific Advisory Committee are eminent representatives of the broad science community, drawing from the academic, business, and non-governmental sectors. Membership reflects balance in terms of discipline, geography, gender, and official language community.

A full list of the CCA’s Scientific Advisory Committee members and their biographies can be found on the website