CIHR - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Associate Vice - President
• Member of the Executive Management Team
• Associate Vice - President, Research Programs - Operations

Adrian Mota is the Associate Vice-President, Research Programs - Operations, at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). In this role, he is responsible for ensuring that CIHR supports and advances the highest international standards of excellence in health research. A strong proponent of continuous improvement, Adrian encourages his teams to take evidence-based approaches to the development, enhancement, and implementation of CIHR's funding opportunities and peer review process.

Job Titles:

• EVP
• Executive Vice - President
• Member of the Executive Management Team
• Acting President ( July - September 2023 )
• Executive Vice - President / Acting President ( July - September 2023 )
• Executive Vice - President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Catherine MacLeod is the Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). In this role, Ms. MacLeod provides strategic vision and leadership in areas such as the implementation of strategic policy, including the CIHR Strategic Plan; ministerial and parliamentary support; governance and corporate services. Working across all portfolios, she guides the horizontal alignment of CIHR's programs and initiatives. Catherine engages key stakeholders across government, research, health, and philanthropic sectors to inform CIHR's delivery of its mandate with a focus on equity, diversity and inclusion. Before joining the CIHR, Catherine led the Parliamentary Information and Research Service at the Library of Parliament, delivering research to the House of Commons and Senate. Previously, Catherine held the position of Associate Assistant Deputy Minister for the Health Products and Food Branch at Health Canada. She has held policy and program delivery senior executive positions at Justice Canada, the Canada Revenue Agency and Health Canada. Catherine holds a Master of Philosophy in Politics from Exeter University in the United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Arts - Honours in History and Political Studies from Queen's University. She completed the Certificate Program in Public Sector Leadership and Governance at UOttawa. Catherine originates from Drummondville and Montréal, Québec and is fully bilingual. Dr. Michael J. Strong was appointed President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research effective October 1, 2018. Prior to joining CIHR, Dr. Strong was Dean of the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry and a Distinguished University Professor at Western University. From 2000 to 2010, he served as Chief of Neurology and Co-Chair of the Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences at the London Health Sciences Centre and Western University. He also served as Co-Chair of the Canadian ALS Research Consortium and is a former member of the Board of Directors of the ALS Society of Canada. Dr. Strong's clinical research has focused on understanding the cellular biology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He is particularly interested in the occurrence of non-motor manifestations of the disease including the cognitive, behavioural, and emotional syndromes associated with ALS. This work has led to the development of international consensus criteria for the diagnosis of the syndromes of frontotemporal dysfunction in ALS. In the research laboratory, his work has included developing an understanding of the pathological cellular inclusions in degenerating neurons in ALS, including the roles of altered RNA and tau protein metabolism. Dr. Strong has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and 29 chapters, edited four textbooks and given over 175 lectures on ALS throughout Canada and around the world. He is the recipient of both the Sheila Essey Award and the Forbes Norris Award, the only Canadian to have received both awards for ALS research. He was also awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 for his contributions to ALS research and care, and is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Dr. Strong earned his degree in medicine at Queens University in Kingston, undertook neurology training at Western University, and completed postgraduate studies at the Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies (Director - D. Carleton Gadjusek, Nobel Laureate) at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.

Danièle St-Jean is the National Contact Point (NCP) for Health, demographic and well-being for Horizon 2020 (H2020), the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. Services include:

Job Titles:

• Media Specialist

Job Titles:

• Member of the Executive Management Team
• Executive Management Vice - President, Research - Programs
• Vice - President, Research
• Vice - President, Research - Programs

Christian Baron is Vice-President, Research - Programs since February 2022. Before joining CIHR, Dr. Baron was a Full Professor in the Université de Montréal Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine. He obtained a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Munich in Germany in 1993 and subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California at Berkeley, USA. In 1997, he joined the University of Munich in the Department of Microbiology as University Assistant, and in 2002, he was recruited by McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, in the Department of Biology as an Associate Professor. In 2008, he joined the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at the Université de Montréal as Chair and he was Vice-Dean of Research and Development at the Faculty of Medicine from 2015 to 2020. His previous research focused on the molecular mechanisms of bacterial virulence and their contribution to bacterial infectious diseases. His group also worked on the mechanism of gene transfer to plants and between pathogenic bacteria - a process that contributes to the spread of antimicrobial resistance genes. He also conducted research on the interaction of the SARS-CoV-2 virus with human cells and on bacterial sulphur metabolism in mining environments. His research was funded from a diversity of sources in the past, e.g. CIHR, CFI, NSERC, Genome Canada/Genome Quebec and the Cancer Research Society. He frequently served as a member of peer review committees for CIHR, NSERC and the NFRF.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Executive Management Team
• President
• President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Dr. Michael J. Strong was appointed President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research effective October 1, 2018. Prior to joining CIHR, Dr. Strong was Dean of the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry and a Distinguished University Professor at Western University. From 2000 to 2010, he served as Chief of Neurology and Co-Chair of the Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences at the London Health Sciences Centre and Western University. He also served as Co-Chair of the Canadian ALS Research Consortium and is a former member of the Board of Directors of the ALS Society of Canada. Dr. Strong's clinical research has focused on understanding the cellular biology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He is particularly interested in the occurrence of non-motor manifestations of the disease including the cognitive, behavioural, and emotional syndromes associated with ALS. This work has led to the development of international consensus criteria for the diagnosis of the syndromes of frontotemporal dysfunction in ALS. In the research laboratory, his work has included developing an understanding of the pathological cellular inclusions in degenerating neurons in ALS, including the roles of altered RNA and tau protein metabolism. Dr. Strong has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and 29 chapters, edited four textbooks and given over 175 lectures on ALS throughout Canada and around the world. He is the recipient of both the Sheila Essey Award and the Forbes Norris Award, the only Canadian to have received both awards for ALS research. He was also awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 for his contributions to ALS research and care, and is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Dr. Strong earned his degree in medicine at Queens University in Kingston, undertook neurology training at Western University, and completed postgraduate studies at the Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies (Director - D. Carleton Gadjusek, Nobel Laureate) at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Executive Management Team
• Chief, Enterprise Corporate Priorities
• Reporting to the President

Job Titles:

• Member of the Executive Management Team
• Associate Vice - President, Government and External Relations
• Associate Vice - President, Government and External Relations / Acting Executive Vice - President ( July - September 2023 )
• Executive Management / Associate Vice - President, Government and External Relations

Jeff Moore joined CIHR as Associate Vice-President, Government and External Relations (GER) in April 2022. Consisting of Communications, Strategic Policy, Planning, Evaluation and Results, and Strategic Partnerships and International Relations, the GER portfolio engages stakeholders, builds partnerships and supports CIHR's Institutes to maximize the impact of Canadian health research. Jeff also provides direct advice and support to the President on Indigenous affairs. With over 30 years of experience in the federal public service, Jeff has served in several executive level positions, including most recently as lead for the Lessons from the Pandemic exercise within the Privy Council Office's Public Service Renewal Secretariat as well as Senior Assistant Deputy Minister for Policy and Strategic Direction with Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. Jeff has also held senior level positions with Health Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, and Infrastructure Canada. Jeff brings extensive experience in leading complex, horizontal policies and programs related to health research, Indigenous peoples, infrastructure, skills training, technology development, and economic development. Over his career, he has built productive relationships and partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders and partners including the private sector, post-secondary institutions, provinces/territories, and Indigenous organizations. Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, a Bachelor of Science in Physiology, and a Master of Science in Physiology, all from the University of Ottawa. Jeff is Algonquin and a member of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation.

Job Titles:

• Deputy Director, Stakeholder Engagement

Job Titles:

• Deputy Director, International Relations and Institutes Support
• Manager, International Relations and Institutes Support

Job Titles:

• Deputy Director, Partnership Principles and Standards

Job Titles:

• Associate Vice - President
• Member of the Executive Management Team
• Associate Vice - President, Research - Strategy
• Executive Management / Associate Vice - President, Research - Strategy

Rhonda Kropp is Associate Vice-President Research - Strategy. In this role, Rhonda provides executive leadership and direction of all science-related strategy and policy thinking and development, evidence-integration and knowledge mobilization. She is also responsible for the design of a comprehensive suite of programs and initiatives to support the CIHR mandate aimed at growing and maintaining a strong and sustained capacity in the Canadian research community, advancing equity, diversity and inclusion in Canada's research agenda and supporting open science and data initiatives. Before joining CIHR, Rhonda held several senior executive positions in the federal public service in Health Canada, Statistics Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). Most recently, she launched a Corporate Data and Surveillance Branch at PHAC, leading efforts to optimize the collection, use and sharing of health data in Canada, and support advancements in Canada's ability to detect, understand and act on health threats. Rhonda is the proud recipient of the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Medal for exceptional service in public health. Rhonda worked in microbiology and paediatric oncology nursing before undertaking public health graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She undertook health research for the California Offices of AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Stanford University, and the University of California, San Francisco before joining Canada's public service in 2003. Rhonda has a strong commitment to the optimal mobilization of knowledge to action and to the involvement of impacted and interested parties in Canada's health research landscape.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Executive Management Team
• Executive Management Vice - President Research - Learning Health Systems
• Vice - President Research
• Vice - President Research - Learning Health Systems
• Vice - President, Research Programs

Dr. Tammy Clifford is Vice-President Research - Learning Health Systems. Dr. Tammy Clifford was appointed Vice-President, Research Programs at CIHR, on October 4, 2018. In this role, Dr. Clifford provides leadership for the design, development, and administration of CIHR's funding programs and science policies. As a member of CIHR's Executive Management Committee, she also works with Governing Council and Scientific Directors to help define and oversee the organization's strategic directions. Before joining CIHR, Dr. Clifford was the Chief Scientist and Vice-President, Evidence Standards, at the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH), where she served in a number of senior leadership roles over the past decade. As a member of CADTH's executive team, she led the implementation of four strategic plans, piloted important organizational changes, and oversaw the production of evidence synthesis reports for Canadian decision makers. At the beginning of her career, Dr. Clifford worked on a number of maternal and child health research projects at CHEO's Research Institute, where she also served as a member of the Research Ethics Board. More recently, she had been a principal investigator on a number of knowledge translation research projects, a peer reviewer, and a member of CIHR's Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health Advisory Board. Dr. Clifford received her PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Western Ontario, and her BSc and MSc from McGill University. She is currently an adjunct professor with the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa, where she supervises a number of masters, doctoral, and post-doctoral students. She is recognized for her exceptional leadership abilities, as well as for her passion and commitment to knowledge translation, and to mentoring the next generation of health researchers.

Job Titles:

• Director General, Strategic Partnerships and International Relations