Birtwhistle, Richard

Richard Birtwhistle, MD, MSc, FCFP Queen’s University

Member: Board of Directors

Dr. Richard Birtwhistle is a family physician and clinical epidemiologist. He is a Professor in the departments of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, and is currently Director of the Centre for Studies in Primary Care in the department of Family Medicine at Queen’s University. He also served as the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education in the School of Medicine at Queen’s from 1996-2004. His primary research interests include hypertension, chronic disease management, and the evaluation of primary care models. Since 2008 he has been the principal investigator and is the current Chair for the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network (CPCSSN) which is a national project previously funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada ($11.8M). The Network has primary care health information on over 1 million primary care patients in Canada for use in Surveillance of chronic disease, Research and Practice. He has been recognized by the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) for his successes with CPCSSN and research: in 2015 as one of the Top 20 Pioneers of Family Medicine Research in Canada and a Lifetime Achievement Research Award, and in 2010 he was chosen Researcher of the Year. He is also the Vice Chair of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Healthcare which produces evidence based guidelines in prevention for primary care practitioners. Dr. Birtwhistle served as the Interim Scientific Director for TVN from February 1, 2013 to August 31, 2013.