Alan Bernstein

Alan Bernstein, OC FRSC (born June 25, 1947) is President and CEO of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.

Born in Toronto, Bernstein attended Oakwood Collegiate Institute, and then received his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto. Following postdoctoral research in London at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund where he first began working on retroviruses, he returned to Canada in 1974 to join the faculty of the Ontario Cancer Institute. In 1985, he joined the new Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital as Head of the Division of Molecular and Developmental Biology, and then served as its Director of Research from 1994 – 2000.

Prior to his position at CIFAR, Bernstein was the inaugural executive director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, an alliance of independent organizations around the world dedicated to accelerating the development of a preventive HIV vaccine. Bernstein resigned in June 2011.

As Executive Director, Bernstein oversaw the Enterprise Secretariat in implementing activities to support the goals and mission of the Enterprise, including the development of the 2010 Scientific Strategic Plan for HIV vaccine development and facilitating and integrating the activities of the Enterprise partners to ensure their effective implementation of the Enterprise Scientific Strategic Plan.

Prior to leading the Enterprise, Bernstein served as the founding president of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) from 2000 – 2007. During that time, he led a transformation in how health research is organized and funded in Canada and increased Canada’s health research budget by 2.5 fold.

Bernstein’s research interests have centered on hematopoiesis, cancer and embryonic development. He has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

For his contributions to science and science in Canada, Bernstein has received the McLaughlin Medal of the Royal Society of Canada, the Robert L. Noble Prize from the National Cancer Institute of Canada, the Genetics Society of Canada Award of Excellence, the 2001 Australian Society of Medical Research Medal, four honorary degrees, the 2007 Medaille du merite from the Institut de Recherche Clinique de Montreal, the 2008 Gairdner Wightman Award and the Order of Canada in 2002. He is a Senior Fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto. In 2015, Bernstein was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.