I am pleased to announce the appointment of Eduardo Franco, PhD, O.C., as interim Associate Dean and Director of the School of Population and Global Health (SPGH), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), McGill University, effective January 6, 2025. Prof. Franco replaces Timothy Evans, MD. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Evans for his leadership of the School since he inaugurated this role in 2019. Less than a year into his mandate, the world was upturned by the COVID-19 pandemic and Dr. Evans not only ably oversaw School activities, but was also called upon to lead Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force Secretariat. In addition, he was in frequent demand throughout the pandemic to provide clear-eyed analysis and expert advice here at McGill, across Canada and around the world.
Professor in the Gerald Bronfman Department of Oncology and the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health at McGill, as well as Member of the McGill Centre for Viral Diseases, Prof. Franco is also former Director of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology. Until recently, he was Chair of the Gerald Bronfman Department of Oncology, a position he held for 13 years.
Prof. Franco obtained a BSc and Licentiate in biology from Universidade de Campinas, Brazil, and then went on to complete Master’s and Doctoral degrees in public health microbiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
His research over four decades has encompassed the study of molecular epidemiology and prevention of cervical cancer and human papillomavirus-associated diseases, cancers of the upper aero-digestive tract, prostate, endometrium, and childhood tumours; studies of the efficacy of cancer screening strategies; the impact of measurement error in epidemiology; and societal and clinical influences on survival of cancer patients.
His work has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the US National Institutes of Health, the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute, and Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé, and he has published more than 600 scientific articles and two books on cancer epidemiology and prevention. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Preventive Medicine. He is the President-Elect of the International Epidemiological Association. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.
Prof. Franco’s responsibilities as interim Director, SPGH, will include working closely with the Chairs of the School’s three departments (Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health; Equity, Ethics and Policy; and Global and Public Health) to ensure continued strategic alignment and collaboration across teaching and research missions. His duties will include mentorship and guidance to the Chairs and other academic leaders within the School, working with University Advancement and other central University offices as needed, representing the School on the Faculty Leadership Commons and Deanery Executive, and acting as advisor to the VP-Dean on academic matters pertaining to the School.
Please join me in thanking Prof. Franco for accepting this interim appointment as we begin the search for a new SPGH Associate Dean and Director.
Lesley Fellows, MDCM, DPhil
Vice-President (Health Affairs)
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences