Dr. Rebecca Auer

Dr. Rebecca Auer is the Executive Vice-President of Research and Innovation at The Ottawa Hospital and the CEO and Scientific Director of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. Dr. Auer is an internationally recognized translational researcher in the field of perioperative cancer therapies.

After receiving the Gold Medal in Medicine at Queen’s University, Dr. Auer undertook her residency in General Surgery while concurrently completing an MSc in Biochemistry at the University of Ottawa.  She completed a fellowship in Surgical Oncology at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York where she served as Chief Fellow for the Department of Surgery.  In 2007, Dr. Auer was recruited to Ottawa and currently holds the position of Surgical Oncologist at The Ottawa Hospital, Senior Scientist in the Cancer Research Program at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and Professor in the Department of Surgery and the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Ottawa.

Dr. Auer’s translational research program focuses on understanding the promotion of metastatic disease in the postoperative period (www.auerlab.ca). Her team has identified numerous candidate immunotherapies capable of counteracting the immunosuppressive effects of surgery and led six “PERIOP” clinical trials of cancer therapies based on this preclinical research. She has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and received over $30 million dollars in peer-reviewed funding to support her work. Dr. Auer is also the co-founder of the Canadian Cholangiocarcinoma Collaborative (C3) which aims provide hope to Canadian patients with biliary tract cancers by integrating research into care.

Dr. Auer is an international leader in the field of Surgical Oncology. She has served on the executive of the Canadian Cancer Trials Group, the Society of Surgical Oncology, and the Canadian Association of General Surgeons, where she served as the Chair of the Research Committee. She is also an active member of the Terry Fox Research Institute, BioCanRx and the Canadian Cancer Society, where she sits of the Advisory Council. Dr. Auer believes that research IS care and is dedicated to ensuring all patients are provided an opportunity to participate in research.

Last updated on: June 28th, 2024