Chief Science Advisor for the federal government since 2017, Mona Nemer, PhD, delivered the Dzau Distinguished Lecture in Global and Population Health titled Evidence, Trust, and Collaboration: Science Advice for Global Health on May 11 at McGill University. Prof. Nemer—a McGill grad (PhD in Chemistry)—played a key role in guiding the government’s scientific response during the COVID-19 pandemic and has led the creation of a model policy on scientific integrity and a roadmap for open science to promote open and responsible use of science in government. We caught up with Prof. Nemer while she was in town to get her thoughts on Canada’s place in the global scientific world, evolving scientific priorities and the boons and busts of artificial intelligence in scientific research.
Can you fill our readers in about the role of Canada’s Chief Science Advisor?
My role is to provide independent scientific advice to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Industry and the Government of Canada, and to help strengthen the place of science in public decision-making. This often involves consulting with and convening domain experts to garner the best and most accurate information on a given topic. In this capacity, my team helps to build connections between government and the scientific community as well as with international partners.
My office also works to promote scientific integrity, open science, evidence-informed policy, and effective science communication across government and with the public. Increasingly, our efforts are about ensuring that science advice remains trusted, transparent, interdisciplinary, and responsive to rapidly evolving global challenges.
You’ve worked under two Prime Ministers since you took up the reins—has your role changed since Mark Carney took over from Justin Trudeau as PM?
It is important to underscore that the role of the Chief Science Advisor is non-partisan and the tenure is not linked to elections or political change in government. As such, my broad mandate remains the same: to support evidence-informed decision-making and strengthen trust in science and scientific institutions. Science continues to play a critical role in addressing priority issues for this government, such as health, economic and national security resilience, nature protection, and advanced technology and artificial intelligence (AI) sovereignty.
What evolves over time are the priorities and the broader context in which scientific advice is provided. Today, we are operating in an environment shaped by rapid technological change, geopolitical uncertainty, misinformation, and growing expectations around transparency, research security, and public engagement. This is the context in which interdisciplinary collaboration, international partnerships, and responsible governance of emerging technologies must operate.
Our frequent partner in scientific discovery and advancement, the United States, has made substantial changes to agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health. How should Canada be responding, and can we take a leading role in shaping the global scientific discourse?
Science is increasingly shaped by global competition, technological disruption, and geopolitical pressures. At the same time, many of the challenges we face—pandemics, climate change, food security, AI—require international cooperation and trusted scientific institutions.
Canada is well positioned to play a leadership role precisely because of our strength in several sought-after areas, like life sciences, advanced technology, and Arctic, climate and marine sciences. In addition to our reputation as constructive and reliable international partners, we have strong research institutions, state-of-the-art research infrastructure and a highly respected and collaborative scientific community
But leadership today is not only about scientific excellence. It is also about demonstrating that science can remain open, trustworthy, ethical, and globally collaborative in a more fragmented world. This includes strengthening research security while preserving openness, supporting international scientific partnerships, and investing in strong public institutions and scientific capacity.
It also means ensuring that science advice systems are resilient and independent. Public trust in science and public institutions is a strategic asset for any country.
How should young scientists be using (or not using) AI in their work?
AI has extraordinary potential to accelerate scientific discovery and strengthen public health, from analyzing complex datasets to supporting disease surveillance and accelerating research. In many ways, AI is becoming a powerful partner in discovery.
At the same time, AI must remain grounded in scientific integrity, transparency, and human judgment. These tools can reproduce, if not, amplify biases, generate inaccurate outputs, or obscure how conclusions are reached. Scientists therefore need to approach AI critically and responsibly.
For young scientists, AI literacy is important across disciplines. This includes literacy in data science, AI methods, research integrity, cybersecurity, and responsible innovation. The ability to harness data and methodology across disciplines and sectors will be essential to answer the complex societal challenges of the present and the future.
To help address these issues, my office has recently developed a data governance framework and an updated research integrity policy for federally supported research, both of which are designed to address the rapid digitalization of science, the rise of AI, and the growing need for strengthening Canada’s national research capacity. Both documents are publicly available on our website.
Ultimately, AI should enhance human creativity and scientific collaboration—not replace the values that make science trustworthy.