Starting July 1, 2024, Dr. Rebecca Auer will be the Executive Vice-President of Research and Innovation at The Ottawa Hospital and CEO and Scientific Director of the hospital’s research institute (OHRI). The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Rebecca Auer as Executive Vice-President of Research and Innovation at TOH and CEO and Scientific Director of the hospital’s research institute (OHRI). Dr. Auer was unanimously recommended by a distinguished selection committee after an extensive international search.
“Dr. Auer is not only an experienced leader and an outstanding scientist, but also a dedicated surgeon with great compassion and a remarkable drive to make a difference for patients,” said Katie Lafferty, Chair of OHRI’s Board of Directors and member of TOH’s Board of Governors. “With extensive experience in basic, translational and clinical research and patient care, she is ideally positioned to strengthen and grow research and innovation at TOH and build on the tremendous legacy of our outgoing research leader, Dr. Duncan Stewart.”
As Director of Cancer Research at TOH since 2018, Dr. Auer provided leadership for more than 300 scientists, clinician investigators, trainees and staff. She implemented innovative programs to accelerate human tissue research, connect trainees and patients and advance planetary health. In 2023, she received the hospital’s Chrétien Researcher of the Year Award, and was awarded a multi-million dollar grant to launch an innovative cellular immunotherapy clinical trial and enhance support for patients with a rare and aggressive form of cancer, called cholangiocarcinoma.
Dr. Auer has also provided exceptional leadership within the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine, with full professor appointments in the Department of Surgery and the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology and a Tier 1 Research Chair in Perioperative Cancer Therapeutics. Before she was recruited to Ottawa, Dr. Auer was Chief Fellow in the Department of Surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York. Among her leadership positions at a national and international level, Dr. Auer has served as the Research Chair for the Canadian Association of General Surgeons and as an executive member of the Canadian Cancer Trials Group and the Perioperative Care Network. She is the Canadian representative for the Global Forum for Cancer Surgeons and a Special Expert on the Gastrointestinal Steering Committee of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
“We are thrilled that Dr. Auer is joining our leadership team at this critical time, as our hospital takes bold steps to reshape the future of health care and embed research and innovation into everything we do, including our new campus,” said TOH President and CEO Cameron Love. “I also want to recognize Dr. Stewart’s outstanding leadership, which has propelled our hospital into the top ranks for research and enabled our city to become a major hub for innovative clinical trials.”
TOH currently ranks as the fourth hospital in Canada for research, with its research institute generating approximately $130 million in annual research funding, and nearly 10,000 patients participating in clinical trials and more than a dozen spinoff companies. TOH’s growing leadership in research has played a critical role in attracting top talent and funding, in addition to fueling world-class patient care.
“I am honoured to have been given this opportunity to work alongside our incredible researchers, trainees, clinicians, staff and patients to build on our success in research and innovation,” said Dr. Auer. “Research often provides the best or the only treatment option for patients, and it also provides hope. The Ottawa Hospital recognizes that research is care. I look forward to strengthening research at all levels within the organization through integration into patient care and ensuring translation of our discoveries into new and better treatments and cures for today and tomorrow.”
Dr. Auer will start her new position on July 1, 2024.
About The Ottawa Hospital
The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) is one of Canada’s top learning and research hospitals where we are guided by our vision to provide the world-class and compassionate care we would all want for our loved ones. Our multi-campus hospital, affiliated with the University of Ottawa, is home to the Regional Trauma Centre and Cancer Centre, and to discoveries that are adopted globally. Backed by generous support from the community, we are focused on reshaping the future of health care to improve the health of our diverse population of patients from Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec, and Nunavut. For more information about The Ottawa Hospital, visit OttawaHospital.on.ca.
Media contact
Jenn Ganton
Director, Communications and Public Relations, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
jganton@ohri.ca
613-614-5253
