Accreditation Advisory Board

The HRA Canada Accreditation Advisory Board is composed of individuals who have made a historic and significant impact on research participant protection in our country. The Accreditation Advisory Board offers informed guidance to the Accreditation Council to ensure that its membership is balanced, its processes are transparent and its decisions are well-founded. The Accreditation Advisory Board also guides the Board of Directors on issues regarding public outreach, service direction, education and resources.

Me Pierre Deschamps graduated from the Faculty of Theology at Université de Montréal in 1972. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at McGill University in 1975. He has been a member of the Québec Bar since 1976. Me Deschamps was an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Law at McGill University for 20 years where he taught in the areas of tort law and human rights. He was also research director at the Quebec Centre for Private and Comparative Law for more than 20 years.

Me Deschamps is well known for his expertise in human rights, health law, medical law, ethics, research ethics and organizational ethics. In 1994, he presided over a committee of experts in Québec set up by the Health Minister to study control mechanisms in relation to clinical research. The resulting Deschamps Report served as the basis for the elaboration of the Quebec Ministry of Health Services and Social Services’ Action Plan in Research Ethics and Scientific Integrity.

Me Deschamps was a member of the research ethics board of the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University and at the Montreal Heart Institute for over 15 years. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the National Council on Ethics in Human Research (NCEHR) of Canada for eight years and chaired its Evaluation Committee for 6 years.

Me Deschamps was a member of the Panel of Experts set up by the three Canadian Federal Granting Agencies to revise the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS 2001 – 2008). He also served as an expert on the Experts Committee on Accreditation set up by the three Federal Granting Agencies to assess the need in Canada for an accreditation system for organizations conducting research on humans (2006 – 2007). He is the author of several publications pertaining to research ethics.

Me Deschamps has acted as a consultant for a number of universities, healthcare institutions and clinical research organizations in the area of research ethics. For ten years (2000 – 2010), he was a member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

In 2000, Me Deschamps was made a Member of the Order of Canada for his contribution to research ethics as well as for his involvement in the cause of children suffering from cancer.

Dr. Bartha Maria Knoppers (Comparative Medical Law), is a Full Professor, Canada Research Chair in Law and Medicine and Director of the Centre of Genomics and Policy of the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University.

Bartha is the founder of the Public Population Project in Genomics (P3G) and CARTaGENE Quebec’s population biobank (2007 – ). Since 2005, Bartha has been active in Canadian Stem Cell policy and has chaired the Ethics Working Party of the International Stem Cell Forum (2005 – 2015). Furthermore, she is Chair of the Ethics and Governance Committee of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (2009 – ), as well as of the Ethics Advisory Panel, WADA (2015 – ).

Bartha is one of the co-founders of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (2013 – ), and Co-Chair of its Regulatory and Ethics Working Group. In 2015 – 2016, she was a member of the Drafting Group for OECD’s Health Data Governance Policy, and gave the prestigious Galton Lecture in November 2017.

Bartha holds four Doctorates Honoris Causa and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Hastings Center (bioethics), the Canadian Academy Health Sciences (CAHS), and the Royal Society of Canada.

Bartha is an Officer of the Order of Canada and of Quebec. In 2017, she also became the Commander of the Order of Montreal.

Sébastien Audette is a healthcare administrator and senior executive in Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l’Outaouais in the province of Québec (integrated health and social services centre of Outaouais).

He is the founding Chief Executive Officer of Accreditation Canada International, which position he held between 2011 and 2016. As the organization transformed, he became President, Global Programs at Health Standards Organizations, where he led the development of over 120 standards and numerous National Standards of Canada until 2019.

Mr. Audette is recognized for his contribution to the advancement of health services quality globally. He led the development of the Qmentum International™ accreditation program, as well as EQual™ program for allied health education, co-initiated the Canadian Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety Framework and spoke and moderated numerous conferences around the world and participated in technical, advisory committees and Boards. He oversaw important international projects, notably the development of the blueprints for the European Reference Networks for Rare Diseases, funded by and for the European Commission. In 2021, Mr. Audette became member of the Standards Council of Canada Mirror Committee/ISO/TC 304 – Healthcare organization management.

Mr. Audette is a decorated reservist in the Canadian Armed Forces Health Services, serving since 1994 in the capacity of medical technician and later as health care administration officer. He deployed on numerous operations in Canada and abroad throughout his career. Mr. Audette holds a master’s in public administration from École Nationale d’Administration Publique.

Dr. Ann Cavoukian is recognized as one of the world’s leading privacy experts. Ann served an unprecedented three terms as the Information & Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada. There, she created Privacy by Design, a framework that seeks to proactively embed privacy into the design specifications of information technologies, networked infrastructure and business practices, thereby achieving the strongest protection possible. In 2010, International Privacy Regulators unanimously passed a Resolution recognizing Privacy by Design as an International Standard and, in 2018, Privacy by Design was included in the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.

Ann is currently the Executive Director of the Global Privacy & Security by Design Centre. She is also a Senior Fellow of the Ted Rogers Leadership Centre at Ryerson University, and a Faculty Fellow of the Center for Law, Science & Innovation at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.

Ann is the author of two books, “The Privacy Payoff: How Successful Businesses Build Customer Trust” with Tyler Hamilton, and “Who Knows: Safeguarding Your Privacy in a Networked World” with Don Tapscott.

Ann has received numerous awards recognizing her leadership in privacy, including the Meritorious Service Medal by the Governor General of Canada for her outstanding work on creating Privacy by Design and taking it global (May, 2017), among others, such as:

Top 25 Women of Influence in Canada

Top 10 Women in Data Security and Privacy

‘Power 50’ by Canadian Business

50 Most Impactful Smart Cities Leaders

Top Women in Tech

Toastmasters Communication and Leadership Award

Top 100 Identity

Top 18 Global AI Influencers within the AI and Tech Space

2020 Canadian Women in Cybersecurity Lifetime Achievement Award In Recognition of Outstanding Contributions to Cybersecurity and Privacy in Ontario

Ann holds a BA from York University and an MA and PhD in Psychology from the University of Toronto, where she specialized in criminology and law.

In 2000, Me Deschamps was made a Member of the Order of Canada for his contribution to research ethics as well as for his involvement in the cause of children suffering from cancer.

Bartha Maria Knoppers, PhD (Comparative Medical Law), is a Full Professor, Canada Research Chair in Law and Medicine and Director of the Centre of Genomics and Policy of the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University.

Dr. Knoppers is the founder of the Public Population Project in Genomics (P3G) and CARTaGENE Quebec’s population biobank (2007 – ). Since 2005, Dr. Knoppers has been active in Canadian Stem Cell policy and has chaired the Ethics Working Party of the International Stem Cell Forum (2005 – 2015). Furthermore, she is Chair of the Ethics and Governance Committee of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (2009 – ), as well as of the Ethics Advisory Panel, WADA (2015 – ).

Dr. Knoppers is one of the co-founders of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (2013 – ), and Co-Chair of its Regulatory and Ethics Working Group. In 2015 – 2016, she was a member of the Drafting Group for OECD’s Health Data Governance Policy, and gave the prestigious Galton Lecture in November 2017.

Dr. Knoppers holds four Doctorates Honoris Causa and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Hastings Center (bioethics), the Canadian Academy Health Sciences (CAHS), and the Royal Society of Canada.

Dr. Knoppers is an Officer of the Order of Canada and of Quebec. In 2017, she also became the Commander of the Order of Montreal.

Dr. Michael McDonald was the founding Director of the W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics at the University of British Columbia and occupied the first endowed chair in applied ethics in Canada. From 1969 to 1990, Michael taught ethics at the University of Waterloo.

Michael received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Bioethics Society in 2009 and was awarded honorary professional designation by the Certified General Accounts Association of Canada in 2006 for his extensive work in accounting ethics education.

Michael played a leading role in applied ethics and more particularly in research ethics. He served as the Deputy Chair of the Tri-Council Working Group that created the first version of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans and led the group that wrote the report The Governance of Health Research Involving Human Subjects (2000) commissioned by the Law Commission of Canada.

Michael is the author of numerous publications and held several grants on human research protection. His most recent work has centred on the experiences of research participants and providing participants with strong evidence-based protection.

He has been very active in research ethics education and was the Director of the joint UBC and Dalhousie University doctoral and post-doctoral CIHR Strategic Initiative in Health Research Training Program.

Michael has also been involved in the protection of animals in research including extensive service with the Canadian Council on Animal Care. He was also instrumental in the creation of the internationally renowned Program in Animal Welfare at UBC.

Dr. Eric M. Meslin is the President and CEO of the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA), a not-for-profit organization that conducts evidence-based assessments of leading policy topics for the Government of Canada. Prior to CCA, Eric spent 15 years at Indiana University where he was Founding Director of the Indiana University Center for Bioethics, Associate Dean for Bioethics in the IU School of Medicine, and a tenured Full Professor of Medicine, of Medical & Molecular Genetics, of Bioethics & Law, of Public Health, and of Philosophy.

He also held academic positions at the University of Toronto, the University of Western Australia, and Université de Toulouse, and is currently Senior Fellow PHG Foundation University of Cambridge, Visiting Fellow Centre of Genomics and Policy at McGill University, and 2020 Mentor for the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. Eric received his BA from York University, and his MA and PhD from Georgetown University, both in philosophy/bioethics. He has published more than 200 articles and book chapters, and two co-edited books on ethical and policy issues in genomics, global health, science policy and research ethics.

Eric was the Bioethics Research Director of the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) program for the Human Genome Project, and Executive Director of the U.S. National Bioethics Advisory Commission established by President Bill Clinton.

Eric has been an advisor to and sat on boards and committees of many organizations including the World Health Organization, UNESCO, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Genome Canada, Institute of Medicine, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the UK Biobank.

Among his honours, Eric is an elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the Hastings Center, and is a Chevalier de l’Ordre Nationale du Mérite (Knight of the National Order of Merit) for contributions to French bioethics policy.

Dr. Michael Owen is Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Education at Brock University. Prior to rejoining Brock in August 2017, Michael was Professor and Associate Provost Research (2010 – 2012) and Vice – President Research, International and Innovation (2012 – 2017) and Interim Dean/Dean of the Faculty of Education (2017 – 2017) at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (2010 – 2017), Vice – President Research and Graduate Studies at the Ontario College of Art & Design (2007 – 2010), Professor and Associate Vice – President Research and International at Brock University (2004 – 2007), Director of Research Services, Brock University (2000 – 2004), Director of Research Services, Ryerson University (1997 – 2000), Director of Research Services, University of Saskatchewan (1991 – 1997), and Assistant to the Vice – President Academic, Athabasca University (1985 – 1991).

Michael’s research represents his interests in the development of education in Canada, leadership and management of post – secondary education, and the governance of research ethics in Canada and internationally.
Michael has published on the history of schooling and education in Canada, with a particular interest on the development of larger school units, Canadianization and immigrant children in the 1930s – 1950s, the place of the church in moral and social reform in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, distance education, and human research ethics.

Michael has served as a member and leader of scholarly and professional organizations, including Ontario Council on University Research (OCUR), Clinical Trials Ontario (CTO), Canadian Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences (CFHSS), Southern Ontario Smart Computing & Innovation Platform (SOSCIP – Board member), SHARCNET (Board member and Chair), Canadian Association of Foundations of Education (President), Canadian Society of Church History (President), Canadian Society for Studies in Education (Board Member), Canadian Association of University Research Administrators (Board Member), Society of Research Administrators International (Board Member and President), Canadian Society for Studies in Religion (Board Member), the National Council on Ethics in Human Research (Board Member) and the Canadian General Standards Board working group on accreditation of research ethics boards.