Senior Management Team
Vice-President, Public, Government and Institute Affairs
Dr. Robert Thirsk
Vice-President, Public, Government and Institute Affairs, Dr. Thirsk provides CIHR with expert advice on all matters related to strategic relations, public and private sector partnerships, communication and public outreach. In this role, he is also a key player in supporting the Institutes to fulfill their respective mandates. He ensures that CIHR's strategic relations and partnerships promote the advancement of health research and the strengthening of our health care system. Finally, as a member of Science Council, he participates in the development, implementation, and evaluation of CIHR's research and knowledge translation strategies.
Dr. Thirsk holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Calgary and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a Doctorate of Medicine from McGill University, and a Master of Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He was selected for the Canadian Astronaut Program in 1983 and has flown on two space missions as a member of the Canadian Space Agency's astronaut corps.
Dr. Thirsk served as crew commander of two space mission simulations, including an eleven day undersea mission off of Key Largo, Florida. In 1996, he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia with six international crewmates as part of the Life and Microgravity Spacelab Mission. This 17-day mission was devoted to the study of life and materials sciences, including experiments that investigated changes in plants, animals and humans under space flight conditions. In 2009, he launched aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and became the first Canadian astronaut to complete a long duration expedition aboard the International Space Station. As a member of the ISS Expedition 20/21 crew, he and his international crewmates performed multidisciplinary research, robotic operations, maintenance and repair work of Station systems and payloads.
During his career, Dr. Thirsk has performed hundreds of medical and scientific experiments benefiting terrestrial society and even future spacefarers. He is a strong promoter of a Canadian economy based upon exploration, innovation and advanced education.