Dr. David Buckeridge is strengthening The Institute's role in health data science and its impact on patient care
SOURCE: The Institute
September 18, 2025
David Buckeridge, MD, PhD, Senior Scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (The Institute) and leader of The Institute's Strategic Research Priority for Digital Health and Data Science, has secured new funding to advance international partnerships and health data innovation.
A newly awarded initiative with the University of Bordeaux in France highlights his leadership in linking data science to clinical research and patient care.
International partnership with Bordeaux
Dr. Buckeridge is co-leading the project Enabling Oncology Clinical Trials Through Multi-Modal Data Integration under the Université de Bordeaux International Associated Laboratory (UBLIA) program. The project will harmonize structured and unstructured clinical data using the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) Common Data Model, enabling oncology researchers to better support clinical trials and develop new predictive tools. The OMOP Common Data Model is a patient-centric standard that converts diverse health data into a common format. By harmonizing structure and content across databases, it enables large-scale, collaborative research across institutions and countries through federated data networks.
The collaboration builds on a longstanding partnership that includes a dual McGill–Bordeaux Master's in Public Health Data Science and joint PhD cotutelle projects. Each institution has committed €75,000 over five years, including support for a fully funded PhD student at McGill.
In July 2025, the University of Bordeaux formally confirmed the partnership, awarding a 36-month doctoral fellowship (Nov 2025–Nov 2028) to support a graduate student in France. These reciprocal positions and exchanges ensure that training and knowledge transfer are central to the initiative.
Driving impact through collaboration
This initiative reflects both Dr. Buckeridge's leadership and The Institute's commitment to advancing health data science internationally. The collaboration aligns closely with The Institute's priorities of fostering innovation, building strong partnerships, and training the next generation. By connecting expertise across borders and sectors, the project is helping translate big data into meaningful improvements for patients and health systems.
"We are so pleased that Dr. Buckeridge is strengthening international collaborations in health data science — a great success that reflects The Institute's commitment to global partnerships and innovation," says Dr. Rhian Touyz, Executive Director and Chief Scientific Officer at The Institute.
These efforts will also be showcased at the upcoming Research Symposium on Data Science and Digital Health, to be held on November 3 and 4, 2025, co-organized by Dr. Buckeridge and colleagues. The event will bring together researchers, clinicians, and partners from Quebec and abroad to share advances and foster new collaborations in digital health.
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