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Dr. Paul Hébert, President, CIHR

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. In particular, he led a ground-breaking trial entitled, "Transfusion Requirements in Critical Care (TRICC)," published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1999. This study demonstrated that a restrictive approach to the care of critically ill patients (i.e., giving less blood) was certainly no worse than, and was possibly superior to, giving more red cells. This study decreased blood use in acute care settings worldwide. Many other basic and clinical blood studies followed, including a recent study again published in the NEJM demonstrating that patients who suffer from a myocardial infarction are one of the only patients who need more blood rather than less.

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.

Date modified:

2025-01-15