John N. Lavis

John supports efforts to address health and broader societal challenges using the best-available research evidence and experiences and insights from citizens, professionals, organizational leaders, and government policymakers. He is the co-lead of Rapid-Improvement Support and Exchange (RISE) and the Evidence-Support Network for Canada, Director of the McMaster Health Forum, and Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Evidence-Informed Policy. He is an advisor to the Wellcome Trust on its Evidence Synthesis Infrastructure Collaborative (ESIC), he chairs ESIC’s Steering group and Communities council, and he plays a facilitation role in the transition to a collective-impact approach among ESIC contributors. He is a Professor in the Department of Health Evidence and Impact at McMaster University and the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Evidence-Support Systems. He led the development of the ‘SHOW ME the evidence’ features of an approach to reliably deliver research evidence to those who need it, he was co-lead of and lead report writer for the Global Commission on Evidence to Address Societal Challenges, and he was co-lead of the COVID-19 Evidence Network to support Decision-making (COVID-END). He holds an MD from Queen's University, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a PhD (in Health Policy) from Harvard University.