Canada Research Chair in eHealth Innovation

By: Morgan Holmes

HPME congratulates our colleague Dr Alejandro (Alex) R. Jadad on the recent renewal of his Canada Research Chair (CRC) in eHealth Innovation. Established in 2002, this CRC has empowered Alex to help people in Canada and beyond use information and communication technologies (ICTs) to achieve optimal levels of health and well-being.

"The Chair first came about at a time when there were few facilities to support large-scale trans-disciplinary work on eHealth innovation and research in Canada," Alex notes. "One of my main goals was, therefore, to attract funds to build state-of-the-art infrastructure and a critical mass of innovators interested in accelerating the transformation of the health system in the age of the Internet."

Among Alex’s many achievements during his first seven years as a CRC holder has been the creation of the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation (CGeI). Located in downtown Toronto, this facility encompasses a Collaboratory focused on research and development, knowledge exchange, training, and business development; a Health Usability Laboratory devoted to the study and development of eHealth innovations; and a Multi-tasking Simulation Environment that can allows testing and improvement of eHealth innovations prior to real-world launch. During the same period, Alex received national and international awards, raised over $40 million to support projects, published 50 articles and two books, gave over 150 lectures on six continents, and built a global team of innovators who are helping to create the future of the health system.

Now that his CRC has been renewed, Alex plans to work with his team and collaborators to achieve several objectives:

Create new and efficient ICT-based health services
Build on social networking tools to level the playing field for disadvantaged groups (i.e., youth; members of diverse ethno-cultural communities; and people living with complex, chronic conditions)
Enable initiatives designed to identify and minimize potentially harmful health effects associated with technology
Facilitate the creation of worldwide collaborative networks of innovators.

"My colleagues and I want to do nothing less than future-proof the health system," says Alex, who some are now referring to as "a human Internet." "A 'high-tech, high-touch' approach to innovation will help Canadians and people around the globe surmount the challenges facing health systems around the globe. We can succeed by putting the needs of the population at the centre, promoting collaboration across boundaries, harmonizing services across sectors, helping healthy people remain well, and ensuring that the ill or frail have the highest possible levels of autonomy and satisfaction."

In addition to being a professor in HPME, Alex holds professorial positions in the Department of Anesthesia and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Alex is also the Rose Family Chair in Supportive Care and a staff physician at Princess Margaret Hospital.

More information about Alex’s work is available online: