New scientific director general appointed to National Public Health Laboratories

Ottawa, ON -The Public Health Agency of Canada has appointed Dr. Matthew Gilmour as the new scientific director general of the National Public Health Laboratories. He succeeds Dr. Frank Plummer, who retired earlier this year.

Dr. Gilmour will be responsible for the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg and the Laboratory for Foodborne Zoonoses (LFZ) in Guelph. He will begin his position in February 2015.

He is currently a clinical microbiologist with Diagnostic Services of Manitoba and an assistant professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology at the University of Manitoba. He is also a past employee of the agency where he held the positions of director of bacteriology and enteric diseases and the chief of enteric diseases at the NML.

“I know first hand the level of commitment, the skills and the scientific qualifications needed to run a large national laboratory,” says Dr. Plummer, who is currently professor of medicine and medical microbiology at the University of Manitoba. “I have had the opportunity to work with Dr. Gilmour both in his past work at the agency and as a colleague at the University of Manitoba; and I feel that his skills and research experience make him an excellent choice for this position.”

Dr. Plummer was awarded a 2014 Killam Prize earlier this year.