Dr. Stephen Scherer appointed Chief of Research at SickKids

Following an extensive search, Dr. Stephen Scherer has been appointed Chief of Research at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). Dr. Scherer will assume his responsibilities as Chief of Research on July 5, 2021.

Dr. Scherer is a world-renowned researcher in genome sciences and has a long history at SickKids Research Institute. Starting as a graduate student with Dr. Lap-Chee Tsui in 1987 and serving as Associate Chief of the Research Institute between 2002-2007, Dr. Scherer’s ground-breaking research over the past three decades has continued to expand scientific limits, mapping and sequencing the human genome to transform our understanding of human genetic makeup. His 2004 discovery of large-scale copy number variations (CNVs), and its association with various human diseases has had a significant impact on diagnosis and treatment of many disorders, including Dr. Scherer’s own research using CNVs to find susceptibility genes in autism spectrum disorder.

Dr. Scherer is currently Senior Scientist in the Genetics & Genome Biology program, Director of The Centre for Applied Genomics (TCAG), Director of the University of Toronto McLaughlin Centre, and Distinguished Professor at the University of Toronto. He is the GlaxoSmithKline Research Chair in Genome Sciences.

“Steve’s work has deepened our understanding of the role of genetics in human health and disease and brought us into the era of personalized medicine. He is a trailblazer, who has continued to push the boundaries of science and medicine, while challenging others to do the same. I am excited to have Steve join the SickKids executive team to support and mobilize our organization in advancing our goal to achieve unprecedented outcomes for our children through Precision Child Health, and a research hospital where every patient has the chance to participate and benefit from fundamental discovery and clinical research,” says Dr. Ronald Cohn, President and CEO, SickKids.

Dr. Scherer is also a founding Scientific Director of CGEn, a Canada Foundation of Innovation Major Science Initiative linking TCAG to genomic centres in Montreal and British Columbia. In addition, he leads the MSSNG project, which has grown into one of the world’s largest open-access genome databases and enabled his team and scientists worldwide to develop novel diagnostic and therapeutics approaches in the study of autism. He also founded the Database of Genomic Variants that has become a CNV resource used in all major international genome databases and facilitates thousands of clinical diagnoses around the world every day.

Dr. Scherer has received numerous awards including the Killam Prize in Health Sciences (2019), Thomson Reuters (now Clarivate) Highly Cited Researcher (2015) and Citation Laureate, Physiology and Medicine (2014), Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medical (2013), Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2011), Ontario Premier's Summit Award for Biomedical Research (2008), Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2007), Steacie Prize in the Natural Sciences (2003), and International Scholar of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2002). He has published more than 650 scientific papers, many of which have been in the highest impact journals, such as Nature, Nature Genetics, Nature Medicine, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Science.