Eric M. Meslin

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...

FRSC FCAHS (born 20 October 1961) is a Canadian-American philosopher-bioethicist and current President and CEO of the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA).

Education

Meslin has a B.A. in Philosophy from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and staf ...

, and both an M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy (concentration in bioethics) from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

Academic career

Meslin began his academic career as Assistant Professor of Philosophy at

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

(1988-1996). From 2001-2016 he held several positions at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...

including Founding Director of the Indiana University Center for Bioethics, Associate Dean of Bioethics at the

Indiana University School of Medicine The Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) is a major multi-campus medical school in the state of Indiana. There are nine campuses throughout the state; the principal research and medical center is located on the Indiana University–Purdu ...

, Endowed Professor of Bioethics, Co-Director, Consortium for Health Policy, Law and Bioethics, Tenured Professor of Medicine and of Philosophy, Professor of Medical and Molecular Genetics, and Professor of Public Health. Meslin has also held visiting academic positions at Green Templeton College University of Oxford,

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

, as Pierre de Fermat Chaire d'Excellence at

Université de Toulouse The University of Toulouse (french: Université de Toulouse) was a university in the French city of Toulouse that was established by papal bull in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the Frenc ...

/INSERM, and at

Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge The Department of History and Philosophy of Science (HPS), of the University of Cambridge is the largest department of history and philosophy of science in the United Kingdom. A majority of its submissions received maximum ratings of 4* and 3* in ...

. Currently Meslin is Adjunct Professor at the

Dalla Lana School of Public Health Dalla Lana School of Public Health is the school of public health at the University of Toronto. It was founded in 1927, and was home for 50 years to Connaught Laboratories, a manufacturer of vaccines, insulin, and many other pharmaceutical produc ...

, Senior Fellow at PHG Foundation University of Cambridge, Academic Affiliate at the HeLEX: Centre for Health, Law, and Emerging Technologies, University of Oxford; and Adjunct Professor of Bioethics & Law, Indiana University Robert McKinney School of Law, Center for Law and Health.

Research

Meslin’s research has focused on bioethics aspects of genomics, international health, science policy, and human subjects research, with more than 200 papers, book chapters and other publications, including two co-edited books. His research has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the National Institutes of Health, the Lilly Endowment, and the Richard M Fairbanks Foundation.

Policy Career

Meslin's policy career included positions at

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U ...

and

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It has ...

. His work in clinical ethics leadership included positions at the Clinical Ethics Centre,

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (SHSC), commonly known as Sunnybrook Hospital or simply Sunnybrook, is an academic health science centre located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest trauma centre in Canada and one of two trauma centr ...

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
and

Joint Centre for Bioethics. From 1996-98 Meslin was Bioethics Research Director in the Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) program at the

National Human Genome Research Institute The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) is an institute of the National Institutes of Health, located in Bethesda, Maryland. NHGRI began as the Office of Human Genome Research in The Office of the Director in 1988. This Office transi ...

during the early years of the

Human Genome Project The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international scientific research project with the goal of determining the base pairs that make up human DNA, and of identifying, mapping and sequencing all of the genes of the human genome from both a ...

, and from 1998-2001 he was Executive Director of the

National Bioethics Advisory Commission The National Bioethics Advisory Commission was the name of a United States governmental organization which existed from 1996–2001. It was replaced by The President's Council on Bioethics. Reports In 1999 the NBAC issued a report containing 23 r ...

appointed by

President Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

. NBAC was responsible for providing advice to the White House and Congress on key topics including

stem cell research In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...

, international

clinical trials Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...

, research involving human participants,

biobanking A biobank is a type of biorepository that stores biological samples (usually human) for use in research. Biobanks have become an important resource in medical research, supporting many types of contemporary research like genomics and personaliz ...

, and

cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, c ...

among others. Since 2016, Meslin has been President and CEO of the

Council of Canadian Academies The Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) (french: Conseil des académies canadiennes, CAC) was created to perform independent, expert assessments of the science that is relevant to important public issues. The CCA's assessment scope includes the na ...

, a non-partisan organization that convenes experts from across Canada and abroad to evaluate the best available evidence on complex scientific topics of public interest at the request of the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-i ...

and other sponsors. CCA was founded by Royal Society of Canada,

Canadian Academy of Health Sciences The Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS) is one of three national academies that comprise the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA), the highest honour granted to scholars in Canada. The two other CCA academies are the Royal Society of Canad ...

Canadian Academy of Engineering The Canadian Academy of Engineering (french: L'Académie canadienne du génie) is a national academy of distinguished professional engineers in all fields of engineering, who are elected on the basis of "their distinguished service and contribution ...

in 2005. He has been a member of advisory committees and boards of diverse institutions including the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

, Canadian Ditchley Foundation Human Research Accreditation Canada,

International Electrotechnical Commission The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC; in French: ''Commission électrotechnique internationale'') is an international standards organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and ...

, Pierre Eliot Trudeau Foundation,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

Canadian Institutes of Health Research The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR; french: Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada; IRSC) is a federal agency responsible for funding health and medical research in Canada. Comprising 13 institutes, it is the successor to the M ...

, the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, UK Biobank,

CDC The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

, ESOF, Stem Cell Network, and

Genome Canada Genome Canada is a non-profit organization that aims to use genomics-based technologies to improve the lives of Canadians. It is funded by the Government of Canada. Genome Canada provides large-scale investments that develop new technologies, co ...

Awards

He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, a Chevalier de L’Order Nationale du Mérite conferred by the Government of France, and a Hastings Center Fellow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meslin, Erik Canadian chief executives York University alumni Georgetown University alumni Living people 1961 births Hastings Center Fellows