Leading with Data, Guided by Purpose: Reflections from Dr. Michael Schull
Wed Dec 17 2025
How do you guide a research and data analytics institute through massive growth, a pandemic, and the rise of AI? In this episode, Michael Schull shares insights from 12 years as CEO of ICES, celebrating its achievements and outlining the opportunities he sees for ICES to advance health care and health research in Ontario.
Michael Schull, MSc, MD, FRCPC, is a nationally recognized leader with a track record of driving digital transformation, building national and international research and data partnerships, and organizational growth and sustainability. Prior to joining the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, he served for 12 years as CEO and Senior Scientist at ICES, Canada’s leading health services research and data analytics institute. He is a founding member of Health Data Research Network Canada (HDRN), a pan-Canadian network of health data and research centres seeking to facilitate and enable pan-Canadian research, and past co-director of the International Population Data Linkage network.
During his tenure at ICES, Michael led major initiatives related to expanding researcher access to new data types, creating a virtual data platform for linked datasets and launching a health AI data and analysis platform. He also engaged the public and communities in the work of ICES to ensure alignment with public values and strengthened relationships with Indigenous partners.
Michael is a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and a Senior Scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute. His research areas include health service utilization, quality of care, health system integration and patient outcomes, and evaluation of health policy. His work has focused on strengthening Ontario and Canada’s health research infrastructure for the analysis of large, routinely collected data sets, and creation of new data access models for research and health system evaluation.
Fluent in both English and French, Michael was born in Montreal and raised in Québec before relocating to Ontario, where he earned a BA and M.D. from Queen’s University. He later completed an MSc in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from McGill University and a Harkness Fellowship with the Commonwealth Fund in the US. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada. He is currently based in Toronto.
More information about ICES and DRAC
ICES | About Us | Community of Research, Data & Clinical Experts
ICES | Applied Health Research Questions | AHRQ
ICES | Public and Community Engagement at ICES
ICES | Partnerships & Collaborations | Indigenous Partnerships, Data and Analytics
Digital Research Alliance of Canada
EPISODE CREDITS:
Produced, edited and mixed by Will Mcintyre, Richard Villeneuve and Pop Up PodcastingArtwork designed by Stella-Luna HaMusic licensed through Melodie Music
LINKS:
Be sure to follow and tag ICES on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. To find out more about our organization, visit us at ices.on.ca
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How do you guide a research and data analytics institute through massive growth, a pandemic, and the rise of AI? In this episode, Michael Schull shares insights from 12 years as CEO of ICES, celebrating its achievements and outlining the opportunities he sees for ICES to advance health care and health research in Ontario. Michael Schull, MSc, MD, FRCPC, is a nationally recognized leader with a track record of driving digital transformation, building national and international research and data partnerships, and organizational growth and sustainability. Prior to joining the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, he served for 12 years as CEO and Senior Scientist at ICES, Canada’s leading health services research and data analytics institute. He is a founding member of Health Data Research Network Canada (HDRN), a pan-Canadian network of health data and research centres seeking to facilitate and enable pan-Canadian research, and past co-director of the International Population Data Linkage network. During his tenure at ICES, Michael led major initiatives related to expanding researcher access to new data types, creating a virtual data platform for linked datasets and launching a health AI data and analysis platform. He also engaged the public and communities in the work of ICES to ensure alignment with public values and strengthened relationships with Indigenous partners. Michael is a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and a Senior Scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute. His research areas include health service utilization, quality of care, health system integration and patient outcomes, and evaluation of health policy. His work has focused on strengthening Ontario and Canada’s health research infrastructure for the analysis of large, routinely collected data sets, and creation of new data access models for research and health system evaluation. Fluent in both English and French, Michael was born in Montreal and raised in Québec before relocating to Ontario, where he earned a BA and M.D. from Queen’s University. He later completed an MSc in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from McGill University and a Harkness Fellowship with the Commonwealth Fund in the US. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada. He is currently based in Toronto. More information about ICES and DRAC ICES | About Us | Community of Research, Data & Clinical Experts ICES | Applied Health Research Questions | AHRQ ICES | Public and Community Engagement at ICES ICES | Partnerships & Collaborations | Indigenous Partnerships, Data and Analytics Digital Research Alliance of Canada EPISODE CREDITS: Produced, edited and mixed by Will Mcintyre, Richard Villeneuve and Pop Up PodcastingArtwork designed by Stella-Luna HaMusic licensed through Melodie Music LINKS: Be sure to follow and tag ICES on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. To find out more about our organization, visit us at ices.on.ca