CRANIA Scientist elected to Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists

Members selected to join the College are deemed to have demonstrating a high level of achievement at an early stage in their career

Dr. Ervin Sejdić, a scientist with UHN’s Center for Advancing Neurotechnological Innovation to Application (CRANIA), has been elected to the 2022 cohort of the Royal Society of Canada’s (RSC) College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. 

The College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, which was established in 2014, is a multidisciplinary program for Canadian intellectual leadership that represents the emerging generation of scholarly, scientific and artistic leadership in Canada. 

“I’m truly honoured to be elected to such privileged position by my esteemed peers and senior colleagues,” said Dr. Sejdić, who is the Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence for Health Outcomes at North York General Hospital and an associate professor in The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto . 

“I look forward to working with other members of the College to advance scientific knowledge, encourage integrated interdisciplinary understandings, and address issues that are critical to Canadians.”

Members of the College are elected for demonstrating a high level of achievement at an early stage in their career.

Dr. Sejdić earned this accolade for his outstanding leadership in the development of biomedical devices and the application of machine learning to better understand markers of disease, particularly as they relate to swallowing and gait.

Dr. Sejdić’s research has resulted in more than 160 journal papers, 40 conference papers, and over $8 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and industry partners.

In February 2016, former United States president Barack Obama bestowed Dr. Sejdić the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers — the highest honour given by the U.S. to early career researchers. 

“Throughout his brilliant career Dr. Sejdić has continually raised the standard of excellence in his field,” said KITE director Dr. Milos R. Popovic. “I’m confident he will become an indispensable member of the College.”   

Founded in 1882, the RSC recognizes excellence, advises the government and the larger society, and promotes a culture of knowledge and innovation in Canada and with other national academies around the world.