Careers Beyond Academia, September 18, 2024

On September 18, 2024, SCN hosted a Careers Beyond Academia session focused on Information, Informatics and Data Governance, Ethics & Privacy with Francis Jeanson, Head of the Centre for Analytics at Ontario Brain Institute, and Brendan Behan, Director of Data Strategy and Partnerships at Vector Institute.

Francis studied cognitive science and AI throughout his academic career, completing his doctoral work in computational modelling of cortical processing. With software and data engineering experience in academia and the industry, he supported the Ontario Brain Institute's effort to launch their Brain-CODE neuroscience research data platform in 2013. Francis has co-founded startups and continues to engage and support early-stage companies and research labs in their efforts to have a real-world impact. He's led data science initiatives in the clinical research setting including neuroscience, cardiovascular, and chronic pain. Today, Francis heads the newly formed Centre for Analytics at the Ontario Brain Institute to help advance skills, technologies, and translation of neuroanalytics into care. Over the past decade, he's engaged and published with collaborators on numerous projects aimed at facilitating the sharing and integration of health data via the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH), the International Rare Disease Research Consortium, the INCF, and the Research Data Alliance, as well as in analytics areas such as health risk modelling.

Brendan Behan is Director, Data Strategy and Partnerships at the Vector Institute where he leads the evolution of Vector’s data strategy and data governance program, as well as supporting data partnerships. He previously held the position of Manager, Informatics & Analytics at the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI). During his time at OBI, he managed their neuroinformatics platform, Brain-CODE, which was designed to support the collection, storage, federation, sharing and analysis of different data types across several brain disorders. Through that role, he oversaw several large data releases on Brain-CODE for secondary use, as well as data linkages with health administrative databases such as the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) in Ontario. Brendan has also been involved in national informatics initiatives to support wider data sharing such as the Canadian Open Neuroscience Platform (CONP), as well as similar international efforts such as the Autism Sharing Initiative (ASI). Brendan holds a PhD in neuroscience from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.