Duncan Sinclair joins CFN Board of Directors

Duncan Sinclair, PhD, MSc, DVM, LLD, is an emeritus Professor of Physiology and Fellow of the School of Policy Studies of Queen’s University, and Former Vice-Principal (Health Sciences) and Past Dean, Faculty of Medicine at Queen’s, where he was the first non-MD to serve as a Dean of Medicine and Vice Principal of Health Sciences in Canada.

Dr. Sinclair has also contributed widely beyond the confines of academe, and his astute and pragmatic leadership has often been called upon in health care reform in Ontario, and nationally. In Ontario, he served on the Ministry of Health’s Steering Committee for review of the Public Hospitals Act and chaired the Task Group on Governance; he was a member of the Premier’s Council on Health, Well-Being and Social Justice and acted as Chair of the Council’s Research Steering Committee. And as chair of the Health Services Restructuring Commission (HSRC) of Ontario from 1996 until its sunset in 2000, his diplomatic leadership led to a re-defined health system in Ontario. Dr. Sinclair achieved national recognition as a member of the National Forum on Health, and also served as the founding Chair and acting CEO of Canada Health Infoway.

His leadership has been recognized in numerous ways, most notably by an Honourary Fellowship in the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in recognition of his contributions to medical scholarship and education, and his April 23, 2015 induction into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame for significant contributions to the improvement of health and health care in Canada and worldwide.

In addition to his expertise in academia, research and policy, Dr. Sinclair brings to CFN’s Board a passion about the need for people-centred health care, and familiarity with volunteer caregiving. He also sits on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association for People-Centred Health (CAPCH), a national, non-partisan, independent, not-for-profit organization that brings together academics, health care professionals and patients to deliver working eHealth projects that highlight the benefits of people-centred care.