Robert Platt, PhD
Robert Platt is the Director, School of Population and Global Health (2025) and Associate Dean (Population and Global Health), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 涩里番. Prof. Platt holds the Albert Boehringer Chair in Pharmacoepidemiology and is Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Prof. Platt has previously served as Interim Director of the SPGH from April to September 2019, and as Interim Chair of the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health in 2020-21. For nearly three decades, he has worked as an investigator at the Montreal Children鈥檚 Hospital Research Institute / Research Institute of the 涩里番 Health Centre (RI-MUHC). Since 2011, he has also held an appointment at the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research.
Prof. Platt received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from 涩里番 in 1990 and a Master of Science degree in Statistics from the University of Manitoba in 1993. He received a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of Washington in 1994 and 1996, respectively. He has been on the faculty at 涩里番 since receiving his Ph.D.
Prof. Platt鈥檚 research focuses on developing statistical methods for causal inference in observational studies and in clinical trial data. He has made important contributions to methods for perinatal epidemiology, including methodology for the development of Canadian fetal growth references. His recent research addresses both broad methodological topics in pharmacoepidemiology and statistical issues in pediatric and perinatal epidemiology. From 2011 to 2022, he was the leader of the Methods Team for the Canadian Network for Observational Drug Effect Studies (CNODES), whose mandate is to provide high-quality evidence in response to drug safety queries generated by Canadian public health stakeholders. In his role as the leader of the Methods Team, his responsibilities include ensuring high-quality statistical methods and supervising a methods research program. In 2016, Dr. Platt became co-principal investigator of CNODES, and since September 1, 2022, he is Principal Investigator of the network, responsible for oversight of the network.
Prof. Platt has authored nearly 500 publications in peer-reviewed journals, co-edited the book 鈥淩eproductive and Perinatal Epidemiology鈥� (2010, Oxford University Press) and the upcoming book 鈥淐omparative Effectiveness and Personalized Medicine Research Using Real-World Data鈥� (2026, Taylor and Francis), and has written three book chapters. Prof. Platt was a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher in 2016. Prof. Platt has supervised more than 60 research trainees and given over 120 invited presentations locally, nationally and internationally.
From 2012 to 2013, Prof. Platt served as the President of the Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research and represented the society on the Executive Committee of the Congress of Epidemiology of the Americas from 2013 to 2016. From 2018 to 2019, he served as the President of the Statistical Society of Canada, the primary organization for statisticians in Canada. In 2023, he was the chair of the Scientific Program Committee for the International Conference on Pharmacoepidemiology held in Halifax, NS. He serves as Editor in Chief of Statistics in Medicine, editor of the American Journal of Epidemiology, and Associate Editor of the International Journal of Biostatistics and of Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety. He is a Fellow of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology, and of the American Statistical Association.
Past Directors
Eduardo Franco (2025)
Interim Director, School of Population and Global Health
Associate-Dean (Population and Global Health), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Dr. Franco聽O.C., BSc, MPH, DrPH, PhD (Hon), FRSC, FCAHS, is a Distinguished James 涩里番 Professor, Departments of Oncology and Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 涩里番, Montreal, Canada. He assumed the role of Interim Director, School of Population and Global Health (2025) and Associate Dean (Population and Global Health), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 涩里番. He was Chairman of 涩里番鈥檚 Department of Oncology (2011-2023) and Director of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology (1995-2024). He was on the faculty of Universit茅 du Qu茅bec (1989-94) and Senior Researcher and Epidemiology Unit Head, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Sao Paulo, Brazil (1985-89).
He holds BSc (1975) and Licentiate (1976) degrees in biology from Universidade de Campinas, Brazil, and master's (MPH) and doctoral (DrPH) degrees in public health microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1981-84). He was a Guest Researcher at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta (1980-81 and 1983-84) and a post-doctoral fellow in cancer epidemiology in 1984 at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, and at Louisiana State University, in New Orleans.
Since 1985, his research has focussed on: molecular epidemiology and prevention of cervical cancer and human papillomavirus-associated diseases, cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract, prostate, endometrium, and childhood tumours; epidemiologic methods for evaluating cancer screening efficacy; impact of measurement error in epidemiology; and societal and clinical influences on cancer survival. Much of his research has been international, with projects in Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Portugal, the Congo Republic, the United States, and in collaboration with the International Agency for Research on Cancer in France.
His research has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the US National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute of Canada, Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute, Fonds de la recherche en sant茅 du Qu茅bec (FRSQ), and Cancer Research Society. As of mid-December 2024, he had published 610 scientific articles (h-index: Scopus=86; Google Scholar=112) and 63 chapters, edited two cancer epidemiology and prevention books, and co-edited 10 journal supplement issues. Many of his articles have appeared in premier biomedical journals, such as The Lancet, Journal of the American Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, British Medical Journal, and PLOS Medicine. He made 830 presentations as an invited speaker or session chair in national and international conferences and seminars in academic or clinical departments worldwide (excluding 589 offered abstracts presented in conferences).
He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (2023-) and JNCI Monographs (2023-), Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Preventive Medicine (2013-22) and Preventive Medicine Reports (2014-22), and Senior Editor at eLife (2018-). He has served on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Epidemiology (1993-98), Cancer Detection and Prevention (2001-08), Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention (1995-), eLife (2012-), Epidemiology (1993-2009), International Journal of Cancer (2009-), Medical and Pediatric Oncology (2000-04), Tumor Virus Research (2015-), PLoS-Medicine (2004-17), Preventive Medicine (2008-), among other biomedical journals. He has served in several scientific or grant review panels for the above agencies and national and international health organizations, as well as a consultant to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector on cancer screening and prevention. He served twice as an advisor to the US President鈥檚 Cancer Panel (2012, 2013).
He mentored 99 graduate students (62 MSc, 37 PhD), 36 post-doctoral fellows, and 41 undergraduate trainees since 1985. In addition to his regular teaching at 涩里番, he taught 52 courses on cancer epidemiology and best practices in scientific publishing in Canada, the US, Latin America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. He has been a member of and occasionally chaired organizing or program committees for 68 national and international conferences on epidemiology, infectious diseases, and oncology themes. He chaired the organizing committee for the 16th World Congress of Epidemiology in Montreal in August 2002 and was Honorary President for the EUROGIN Congress, Monaco, in February 2010. He was elected twice (2002-05 and 2017-21) as representative for North America in the Council of the International Epidemiological Association. He has served as Vice-President (2020-22) and President (2022-24) of the Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics. He is President-Elect (2024-27) of the International Epidemiological Association.
His awards include: Doctor Honoris Causa, Universidade Fernando Pessoa, Porto, Portugal (2018); Distinguished Service to Cancer Research Award, Canadian Cancer Research Alliance (2017); Dr. Chew Wei Memorial Prize in Cancer Research, University of British Columbia (2017); Geoffrey Howe Outstanding Contribution Award, Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics (2017); Officer of the Order of Canada (2016); Lifetime Achievement Award, International Papillomavirus Society (2015); Foreign Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (2013); Fellow, Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (2012); Fellow, Royal Society of Canada (2011); McLaughlin-Gallie Award, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (2011); Lifetime Achievement Award, American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (2010); Women in U.S. Government鈥檚 Presidential Leadership Award (2008); Distinguished Services Award, EUROGIN Society (2006); Canadian Cancer Society鈥檚 Warwick Prize in cancer control research (2004); James 涩里番 Professorship (2002, 2009, 2016, 2023); CIHR Distinguished Scientist (2000); Educational Excellence at 涩里番 (2000); Montreal's Emeritus Ambassador for the Palais des Congr茅s (2007); FRSQ's "Chercheur National" Award (1999); Superior Performance Award, US Centers for Disease Control (1984).
As of January 2025
Tim Evans (2019-2025)
Director, School of Population and Global Health
Associate-Dean (Population and Global Health), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Associate Vice-President, Global Policy and Innovation
Executive Director, COVID-19 Immunity Task Force
Dr. Evans joined 涩里番 in September 2019 and was named as the Executive Director of Canada鈥檚 COVID-19 Immunity Task Force in April 2020.聽聽
He has been at the forefront of advancing global health equity and strengthening health systems delivery for more than 20 years. He has worked in NGOs, universities, charitable foundations and hospitals around the world:聽
- Senior Director of the Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice at the World Bank聽
- Group Assistant Director General at the World Health Organization (WHO)聽
- Dean of the James P. Grant School of Public Health at BRAC University in Dhaka, Bangladesh聽
- Director of the Health Equity Theme at the Rockefeller Foundation.聽
Earlier in his career, Dr. Evans was an attending physician of internal medicine at Brigham and Women鈥檚 Hospital in Boston and was Assistant Professor in International Health Economics at the Harvard School of Public Health.聽聽
Dr. Evans has a Medical Degree from McMaster University, was a Research and Internal Medicine Resident at Brigham and Women鈥檚 Hospital, and holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.聽
As of January 2025