Andrea Smith

Science & AI Policy Professional

Department of Innovation, Science & Economic Development, Government of Canada

Direct a team of 15 in the implementation of the Strategic Science Fund, negotiating 19 contribution agreements over a period of 4 months.
Mobilize and conduct oversight for over $800M in funding to 24, multisectoral, third-party science organizations.
Lead a team in managing over 5 funding agreements to fund third party organizations (including National AI Institutes - Mila, Vector, Amii) to advance Canada’s research, talent, and commercialization priorities under the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy (PCAIS).
Co-led with Policy Sector colleagues on formal proposals to government to direct $50M to boost Canada’s research and policy implementation capabilities in the area of AI Safety.
Led team in conducting policy analysis and departmental proposals to renew funding for PCAIS to further accelerate research and commercialization activities.
Regularly engage with science and research stakeholders to advance collective interests in building out Canada’s science culture, from growing STEM capabilities in youth to creating translational and commercialization opportunities for the country’s thriving research ecosystem.

Public Health Agency of Canada, Government of Canada

Lead a team of economists and public health analysts to strengthen the Agency’s economic and socio-economic evidence base and expand decision support for public health policy and programs.
Launched a refresh of a large-scale analytics project focused on the economic cost of illness in Canada to provide a comprehensive overview of direct and indirect costs of illness to public health decision makers.
Leveraged my network to establish partnerships with key external stakeholders, such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Health Data Research Network, to advance work in socioeconomic research and translate evidence to PHAC’s policy context.

Vector Institute

Collaborated with researchers, policy makers, Canadian and international research institutions and health data stakeholders to solve the sticky challenge of accessing analysis-ready data for world-class machine learning researchers.
Established a partnership with collaborators at Unity Health Toronto (GEMINI Initiative) to expand ML researcher access to multi-site clinical data in a high-performance computing (HPC) environment.
Led in the implementation and performance measurement of a first-of-its kind, high performance computing (HPC) platform (the Health AI Data Analysis Platform) enabling top-tier artificial intelligence (AI) researchers to work with linked, population health data to advance health discovery, which ultimately evolved into the Ontario Health Data Platform.
Initiated and negotiated a partnership between Vector and Kids Help Phone to improve targeting of mental health supports through application of AI and advance AI applied research in mental health, collaborating with Vector’s staff scientist to define pilot projects to inform longer term opportunities.
Collaborated with stakeholders in the public and private sectors to develop the site MyHealthDataPath, a data literacy tool for the public.
Convened and collaborated with data, health, and AI stakeholders to develop new avenues for accessing health data that balance innovation with privacy, including the application of new governance models such as data trusts and collaboratives.

Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Managed a team to operationalize over 15 of CIHR’s strategic investments, managing a grants and awards envelope exceeding $200M, ensuring effective project management and performance measurement, providing critical support to the Vice President Research, and initiating a $6M strategic funding opportunity focused on AI, health, and society.

*Roles also included Acting Director General and Manager, Knowledge Translation