SBME Interfaces with Alejandro Adem

Our renewed interest in science.
The state of scientific funding in Canada.
Supporting both applied and pure research.

We sat down with Dr. Alejandro Adem on all this and more in our latest episode.

Guest:
Alejandro Adem
President, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

Professor Alejandro Adem was appointed President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) in October 2019.

As a highly accomplished researcher in the field of mathematics and a faculty member at the University of British Columbia, Professor Adem has significant leadership experience in the Canadian research and innovation ecosystem. Before joining NSERC, he was CEO and Scientific Director of Mitacs (2015–19) where he oversaw a significant expansion of its domestic and international internship programs, as well as launching the Mitacs Canadian Science Policy Fellowships, an Indigenous engagement initiative and an innovative entrepreneurship program. Prior to that, he served as Director (2008–2015) of the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences , a research and training consortium supporting the mathematical sciences across Western Canada. From 1989 to 2004 he was a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA).

Professor Adem is currently the Chair of the Canada Research Coordinating Committee and Vice-Chair of the Governing Board of the Global Research Council. Over his career he has served on a variety of scientific, editorial and governance boards for the worldwide mathematical sciences community, and is a member of the International Mathematical Union's Committee for Women in Mathematics.

Alejandro Adem is a Canadian citizen who was born and raised in Mexico City, and is a proud member of the Latin American community in Canada. He is married and has two grown children.

Learn more about Alejandro here

Host:
Miguel Eichelberger
Communications & Engagement Manager, School of Biomedical Engineering

Miguel is an unflinching optimist. He is a communicator and writer whose work has appeared in literary magazines and on stages around the world. His most recent publications include Harpur Palate, the Literary Review of Canada, Plainsongs Magazine, and Soliloquies Anthology. He believes in authenticity; in doing and saying what you actually believe, and he is an obsessive student of leadership from the biological and anthropological perspectives. You've likely heard him rant about it, and he's not sorry.

Learn more about Miguel's work here

Chapters

• 0:00 SBME Interfaces with Alejandro Adem
• 1:50 On the impact of COVID across the NSERC Mandate
• 4:12 On the lessons we've learned in government funding over the past two years
• 5:40 On the aha moments that brought Alejandro to the resourcing side of research funding
• 9:00 On the importance of sustainable funding for advancement in Canadian scientific research
• 11:50 On blending both funding and people in interdisciplinary research as a basis to meet challenges
• 14:46 On Canada stepping up in terms of R&D funding and doing more in the science space
• 16:50 On the life sciences rising to the top of our minds after being neglected for so long
• 19:20 On mathematicians needing to be more assertive in the importance of their areas
• 21:25 On not wasting time, especially in our youth
• 22:00 On the diversity of scientific advancement in Canada