Ariel Levine, a senior investigator at the U.S. National Institute of Health who studies spinal cord biology, in a park in Bethesda, Md. She is a U.S. citizen and will be moving to Canada this year.Louie Palu/The Globe and Mail
American neuroscientist Ariel Levine was at a point in her career when she was open to change – and a tenuous science research landscape in her country played into her calculation.
This fall, Dr. Levine will step away from her senior investigator position at the National Institutes of Health and her home in Washington to make the 700-kilometre journey to Canada’s largest city.
Dr. Levine, hailed as a superstar in her field, where she studies how the brain and spinal cord communicate and can be re-engaged after an injury, is among dozens of scientists recruited by Toronto’s University Health Network as part of a campaign by the hospital network to attract the best and the brightest. The UHN Foundation, along with the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, have committed $63.8-million to Canada Leads.
The campaign is being rolled out at a time when the Trump administration has cut funds from universities and research institutions in the U.S., and many scientists may be looking for professional refuge.
“It is definitely a time when I was thinking about where I want to be,” Dr. Levine, 48, said in a recent interview. “But you don’t make moves like this just based on one factor. It has to be just the right match.”
Dr. Levine is hailed as a superstar in her field, where she studies how the brain and spinal cord communicate and can be re-engaged after an injury.Louie Palu/The Globe and Mail
The Canada Leads program, created a year ago by UHN, aims to attract 100 early- to mid-career scientists from other countries. The hospital network said so far, more than 70 global scientists have been recruited. On Monday, it will hold an event with some of its recruits, including Dr. Levine.
Brad Wouters, UHN’s executive vice-president of science and research, said that for the last five decades, the U.S. has been “a magnet for talent.” Researchers from Canada and around the world moved there because support for science was so strong.
That has changed, he said.
“It meant that last year was a very unusual year in terms of the talent availability around the world, including Canadians who would often have gone to the U.S.”
For Dr. Levine, UHN is the best place for her at this stage of her career, which she regards as precious. She is looking forward to her new role in Toronto, including the opportunity to work alongside Michael Fehlings, a neurosurgeon and senior scientist at the UHN’s Krembil Brain Institute.
Other Canadian institutions have launched similar programs to attract workers who no longer feel valued south of the border. Four Quebec universities – McGill, Laval, the University of Montreal and the University of Sherbrooke – started a program called the Polaris initiative, which is designed to recruit top talent and bolster research capacity.
“The recent volatility resulting from budgetary challenges and growing political constraints in the United States presents considerable risks for Quebec and Canada’s research ecosystem,” a document about the program said last year.
“At the same time, the situation provides an opportunity for Quebec and Canada to consolidate its scientific sovereignty by positioning itself as a stable destination for the world’s top talent and expanding its role in international research partnership.”
Dr. Wouters said UHN is working closely with other institutions, as well as the federal government, on the need to scale up recruitment Canada-wide.
In the last federal budget, Ottawa earmarked $1.7-billion over 12 years for international talent recruitment called the Canada Global Impact+ Research Talent Initiative.
Dr. Wagner Souza, scientific associate at Surgical AI Research Academy, in a teaching operating room/research space in Toronto, on April 29.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Last December, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said that as “countries constrain academic freedoms and undermine cutting-edge research, Canada is investing in – and doubling down on – science.”
Canada Leads, which made its first recruitment in July, has been looking for candidates who excel in science with commercialization potential.
Among the recruits is Wagner Souza, a 42-year-old neuroscientist, clinician and researcher from Natal, Brazil.
Dr. Souza studied at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, McGill University and Johns Hopkins University before he became part of Canada Leads last August.
As a scientific associate with UHN’s Surgical AI Research Academy, Dr. Souza has been working with its director, Amin Madani, on tools to improve surgical planning and patient outcomes.
Dr. Souza studied at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, McGill University and Johns Hopkins University.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Dr. Souza is mindful of the patient experience because he was diagnosed at the age of 19 with a painful, incurable autoimmune disease called ankylosing spondylitis. It causes the spine to fuse, along with other challenges such as inflammation in the eyes.
“I got very sick and I didn’t know what was happening to me; the doctors didn’t know as well,” he said.
Dr. Souza said that while he continues to live in pain, he loves coming to the lab at UHN. “I found a community,” he said.
He considers the Canada Leads program to be very special because it is bringing researchers with expertise from all over the world who can invest their skills to spur local growth with global impact.
“It shows that Canada is really invested into not only bringing people but providing resources so that these people can stay here and thrive.”