CBB Visionary Lecture: Peter Singer - Grand Challenges Canada

Monday, October 5, 2015 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

“Tackling Grand Challenges in Global Health and Development"

Peter Singer
Peter A. Singer,
Chief Executive Officer of Grand Challenges Canada

[Poster] [YouTube Video]

Abstract: The world’s challenges and targets for their solutions have recently been captured in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) which are intended to guide global action from 2015-2030.  Now, the focus is shifting from the strategy of developing and forging consensus around these goals to questions of implementation and execution regarding how these goals will be reached.  In addressing this question, it is clear that innovation will be critical to reaching the SDGs.   This talk will draw upon the experience of Grand Challenges Canada, which was launched in 2010 and is funded by the Government of Canada to support bold ideas with big impact in global health, to illustrate how innovation might be pursued to help reach the SDGs, and how Canada could have a leadership role to do so.

Biosketch:
Dr. Singer is Chief Executive Officer of Grand Challenges Canada. He is also Director at the Sandra Rotman Centre at University Health Network, Professor of Medicine at University of Toronto, Foreign Secretary of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and he chaired the Academy’s assessment on Canada’s Strategic Role in Global Health. In 2014, he was named Co-Chair of Every Woman Every Child’s Innovation Working Group, aimed at harnessing the power of innovation to accelerate progress towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals. He has advised the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UN Secretary General’s office, the Government of Canada, Pepsico, BioVeda China Venture Capital Fund, and several African Governments on global health. Dr. Singer was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2011 for his contributions to health research and bioethics, and for his dedication to improving health in developing countries. In 2007, Dr. Singer received the Michael Smith Prize as Canada’s Health Researcher of the Year in Population Health and Health Services. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, the U.S. Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, and The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS). Dr. Singer has published over 300 research articles and received over $50 million in research grants. He studied internal medicine at University of Toronto, medical ethics at University of Chicago, public health at Yale University, and management at Harvard Business School.

Opening remarks by:

  • Catherine Burns, Director of CBB

  • Rohinton Medhora, President, CIGI

Sponsored by CBB and co-hosted with the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)

Event is FREE – please RSVP via Eventbrite

Eventbrite - CBB Visionary Lecture Series Seminar:                  Peter Singer; Grand Challenges Canada
Pay parking available in lots B or N (map). Visit: cbb.uwaterloo.ca for more information.

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