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Alejandro (Alex) Jadad, MD, DPhil, FRCPCChief Innovator and Founder, Centre for Global
eHealth Innovation Dr. Jadad's mission is to help improve health and wellness for all, thorough information and communication technologies (ICTs). Born and educated in Colombia, he obtained his medical degree in 1986, specializing in anesthesiology. By the time he was 20 years of age and still a medical student, he became a leading medical expert on cocaine in Colombia and an internationally sought after speaker. In 1990 he joined the University of Oxford (Balliol College and the Oxford Pain Unit), where he obtained a doctorate in pain management, knowledge synthesis and meta-analysis. In 1995, he moved to Canada and joined McMaster University, where he was Chief of the Health Information Research Unit; Director of the McMaster Evidence-based Practice Centre; Co-Director of the Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre; Associate Medical Director of the Program in Evidencebased Care for Cancer Care Ontario and Professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics. In 2000, Alex moved to Toronto, where he led the creation of the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, a setting designed as a simulator of the future, to study and optimize the use of ICTs before their widespread introduction into the health system and society at large. He is also spearheading the development of the Global eHealth and eWellness Network Initiative (GENI, pronounced as "genie"), a unique group of individuals, organizations, tools and facilities working in harmony to promote research, development, education, policy, funding, recognition and commercialization activities related to the uses of ICTs to promote optimal levels of health and wellness, worldwide. He is developing virtual clinical tools to transform the encounter between patients and health professionals, new methods to evaluate the impact of ICTs in society, interactive tools to promote knowledge translation and mentorship of health professionals and the public, and a platform to support virtual communities, to respond to major public health threats (e.g., obesity, pandemics) and to enable the public (particularly young people) to shape the health system and society. Dr. Jadad's numerous awards, including a 'National Health Research Scholars Award', by Health Canada (1997), one of 'Canada's Top 40 Under 40' awards (1998), a 'Premier's Research Excellence Award' (1999), the New Pioneers Award in Science and Technology (2002). In 2001 and 2002, he was featured by Time Magazine as one of the new Canadians who will shape the country in the 21st century, and as one of the leading medical researchers in the country. In 2004, he received the Canadian Latin Achievement Award, as one of the people who have made important contributions to the relationship between Canada and the Hispanic world. In 2005, he was selected by the Top 40 Under 40 alumni as one of "The Best of the Best" for achievements in Health and Science, and by his peers in Colombia as the scientist who probably has had the greatest impact in the country's history. Contact Information: |