News

CADTH Announces New Chair and Vice-Chair of the Canadian Drug Expert Committee

September 3, 2014, Ottawa — Dr. Brian O’Rourke, President and CEO of CADTH, today announced changes to the leadership of the Canadian Drug Expert Committee.

Dr. Lindsay Nicolle has been appointed the new Chair of the committee and Dr. James Silvius has been appointed Vice-Chair. Their appointments are for two and three-year terms respectively and are effective September 1, 2014.

Dr. Nicolle is an internationally recognized expert in infectious diseases, with a focus on infections in long-term care facilities. She is a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Microbiology at the University of Manitoba, and a consultant in adult infectious diseases at the Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. She was the founding editor of the Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases, subsequently the Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology, and served as the journal’s editor-in-chief for 20 years. Most recently, she served as Vice-Chair of the Canadian Drug Expert Committee from 2011 to 2014. Dr. Nicolle succeeds former Chair, Dr. Robert Peterson.

Dr. Silvius is an associate professor in the Division of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Calgary’s Department of Medicine. At the Alberta Health Services he is also the Medical Director of Seniors Health and the Medical Director of Pharmacy Services.

“On behalf of CADTH, I want to thank Dr. Peterson for his leadership of the Canadian Drug Expert Committee,” said Dr. O’Rourke. “Every day, important decisions are made about how drugs are used in our health system and Dr. Peterson has been a tireless advocate for the importance of evidence-based drug policy in Canada. I’m also delighted to welcome Dr. Nicolle to the role of Chair and I’m confident that her skills and expertise will be a great asset to the committee.”

The Canadian Drug Expert Committee is an advisory body to CADTH made up of experts in drug evaluation and utilization, as well as public members. The committee provides 18 of Canada’s public drug plans with recommendations about which drugs to include in their formularies, as well as advice on the optimal use of drugs within a specific class or category.

The complete list of expert committee members is available on the CADTH website.

About CADTH

Created by the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, CADTH is an independent, not-for-profit organization that helps decision-makers across Canada make evidence-informed decisions about how best to use health technologies, including drugs, in our health care system.

The CADTH Common Drug Review is an evidence-based drug review process. It is designed to bring consistency and clarity to the assessment of drugs in Canada by reviewing clinical, economic, and patient evidence, and using this information to make non-binding recommendations to Canada’s public drug plans to support their drug funding decisions. Quebec manages its own drug review process.