Tel.: 514-398-6953
Dr. Howard Bergman

Senior Investigator, Lady Davis Institute
Professor of Family Medicine, Medicine, and Oncology
Assistant Dean, International Affairs, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University,


 
Howard Bergman is Assistant Dean, International Affairs, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University. He is a Professor of Family Medicine, Medicine (Geriatrics) and Oncology and in the School of Population and Global Health.

He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS). Dr. Bergman is a Fellow of both the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

In 2022, the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) honoured Dr. Bergman with the W. Victor Johnston Award which recognizes a renowned Canadian or international family medicine leader for continuous and enduring contributions to the specialty of family medicine in Canada and abroad. The Canadian Geriatrics Society honoured him with the Ronald Cape Distinguished Service Award. He was the recipient of the Irma M. Parhad Award for Excellence for outstanding contributions to the understanding and treatment of patients suffering from cognitive disorders by The Consortium of Canadian Centres for Clinical Cognitive Research (C5R).

From 2012 to 2019, he served as Chair of the Department of Family Medicine. He was the inaugural Dr. Joseph Kaufmann Chair in Geriatric Medicine from 2001 to 2015 and from 1993 to 2009, Director of Geriatric Medicine, McGill University. In 2001-2002, he was acting Physician-in-Chief and Chief of Medicine at the Jewish General Hospital. From 2009 to 2011, Dr. Bergman was Vice-President, Scientific Affairs of the Fonds de la recherche en Santé du Québec (FRSQ), the Quebec health research funding organization.

In 2021, Dr. Bergman was named one of the 24 members of the World Dementia Council.

From 1999 to 2002, he was one of two principal investigators in the development and evaluation of the SIPA model of integrated care for the very frail elderly population. The SIPA project has had a considerable influence on the evolution of services for the elderly in Quebec, Canada and internationally and continues to be a reference.

In 2018, he chaired the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences Expert Panel for the Evaluation of Evidence and Best Practices for the Development of the Canadian Dementia Strategy. The panel, convened at the request of the Public Health Agency of Canada, delivered its report in 2019: "Improving Quality of Life and Care for People Living with Dementia and their Caregivers."

Appointed by the Quebec Minister of Health and Social Services (MSSS), Dr. Bergman tabled the Quebec Alzheimer's Plan in 2009. He works with the MSSS on the implementation of the plan. Dr. Bergman co-created and co-leads the Canadian Team for Health Services and Systems Improvement in Dementia (ROSA Research Group), which is dedicated to evaluating and implementing initiatives to improve the capacity of primary care to diagnose and treat person’s with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers.

In 2010, Dr. Bergman was a member of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences Expert Panel on Improving Chronic Disease Outcomes through Health System Transformation. In 2017, he was a member the Council of Canadian Academies Expert Panel on the Transportation Needs of an Aging Population.

Dr. Bergman led a group of Canadian and international investigators in the Canadian Initiative on Frailty and Ageing leading to 30 peer-reviewed publications.

He is an adjunct professor at the Department of Health Management, Evaluation and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Montreal and Distinguished Professor at the Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences of the University of Lille in France. He is also an adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Center for Healthy Longevity and Aging Sciences at Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. He is a member of the external advisory board of the Johns Hopkins University Older Americans Independence Center (OAIC). He was recently appointed to the Expert Committee of Health and Sustainable Development of the Global Health Forum of Boao Forum for Asia. He is on the Advisory Board of the JMA, the journal of the Japan Medical Association and the Japanese Association of Medical Sciences.

Dr. Bergman is a member of the Board of Directors of the Institut national d'excellence en santé et en services sociaux du Québec (the Quebec NICE). He is a consultant to health authorities and universities in Canada and abroad. In 2008 and again in 2019, Dr. Bergman was invited by the Singapore Ministry of Health for two-week missions as a foreign expert in family medicine, primary care and continuity of care, with a focus on care of the elderly.

When Dean David Eidelman announced his appointment in 2012 as chair of McGill's Department of Family Medicine, he wrote, "A professor of family medicine, medicine and oncology, Dr. Bergman is widely recognized as a force for change in the health sciences community."

Major Research Activities
 
Howard Bergman’s work focuses on health services and policy research and implementation. Appointed by the Quebec Minister of Health and Social Services (MSSS), Dr. Bergman tabled the Quebec Alzheimer's Plan in 2009. He works with the MSSS on the implementation of the plan. Dr. Bergman co-created and co-leads the Canadian Team for Health Services and Systems Improvement in Dementia (ROSA Research Group), which is dedicated to evaluating and implementing initiatives to improve the capacity of primary care to diagnose and treat person’s with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers. ROSA has received major grants from the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA).
 
Recent Publications

Vedel I, McAiney C, Couturier Y, Pakzad S, Arsenault-Lapierre G, Godard-Sebillotte C, Sourial N, Simmons R, Bergman H, Research on the Organization of healthcare Services for Alzheimer’s Team. Assessing care models implemented in primary health care for persons with dementia: a mixed methods study protocol. BMJ Open 2020;10:e035916. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-035916.

Arsenault-Lapierre G, Henein M, Rojas-Rozo L, Sourial N, Bergman H, Couturier Y, Vedel I. Primary care clinicians' knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning dementia: They are willing and need support. Can Fam Physician. 2021 Oct;67(10):731-735. doi: 10.46747/cfp.6710731. PMID: 34649895; PMCID: PMC8516166.

Henein, M., Arsenault-Lapierre, G., Sourial, N., Godard-Sebillotte C, Bergman H, et al. Description of organizational and clinician characteristics of primary dementia care in Canada: a multi-method study. BMC Prim. Care 23, 121 (2022). doi: 10.1186/s12875-022-01732-9.

Karunananthan S, Bergman H. Managing frailty in primary care: evidence gaps cannot be ignored. CMAJ September 24, 2018; 190 (38) E1122-E1123; doi: 10.1503/cmaj.181151.

Bergman H, Hogan D, Keefe J, McAiney C, Morgan D, Vedel I, Kupka S. Improving the Quality of Life and Care of Persons Living with Dementia and their Caregivers. Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS) 2019 Expert Panel report to the Public Helath Agency of Canada (PHAC).

Guillette M, Couturier Y, Vedel I, Bergman H. (2021). The Quebec Alzheimer Plan: sharing the experience of its implementation to strengthen primary care (knowledge transfer tools – English version). Available online.
Snapshot
Dr. Bergman, a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS), is an internationally recognized scientist on aging, in particular on health services and policy, primary care, frailty and chronic disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. He has over 190 peer-reviewed publications as well as numerous reports and book chapters.

He has made major contributions in health policy as author of the Quebec Alzheimer Plan (known as the Bergman Report). He chaired the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences Expert Panel for the Evaluation of Evidence and Best Practices for the Development of the Canadian Dementia Strategy. The panel, convened at the request of the Public Health Agency of Canada, delivered its report in 2019: "Improving Quality of Life and Care for People Living with Dementia and their Caregivers." He is a member of the World Dementia Council comprised of 24 members from industry, academia, government and civil society.
 
 
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