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ScienceUpFirst

ScienceUpFirst

ScienceUpFirst is a Canadian government-funded propaganda initiative run by the Canadian Association of Science Centres (CASC) in partnership with COVID-19 Resources Canada and the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta.

History

On April 29, 2021, the Public Health Agency of Canada announced that it was investing $1,749,578 million of public funding into ScienceUpFirst, in an effort to "improve access to vaccinations and encourage vaccine acceptance and uptake." The funds were awarded through the Immunization Partnership Fund (IPF).[1]

Organization

Name Position Notes
Timothy Caulfield Co-Founder[2] Health Law Institute
Stan Kutcher Co-Founder[2:1] Senate of Canada
Marie-Eve Carignan Executive Advisory Committee Member[2:2] University of Sherbrooke Department of Communication, UNESCO Chair in Prevention of Radicalisation and Violent Extremism (UNESCO-PREV)
Meghan Chapados Executive Advisory Committee Member[2:3] Morning Star Lodge
Imogen Coe Executive Advisory Committee Member[2:4] Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (iBEST), Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences (CSMB)
Amber MacArthur Executive Advisory Committee Member[2:5] AmberMac Media
Marianne Mader Executive Advisory Committee Member[2:6] Canadian Association of Science Centres (CASC)
Anthony Morgan Executive Advisory Committee Member[2:7] Science Everywhere
Tara Moriarty Executive Advisory Committee Member[2:8] University of Toronto, COVID-19 Resources Canada, CanCOVID, Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network
Samantha Yammine Executive Advisory Committee Member[2:9] Science Sam Media
Lisa Barrett Expert Network member[2:10] Dalhousie University Division of Infectious Diseases
Chantal Barriault Expert Network member[2:11] Laurentian University School of the Environment
Tyler Black Expert Network member[2:12] University of British Columbia (UBC)
Anna Blakney Expert Network member[2:13] Michael Smith Laboratories, UBC School of Biomedical Engineering
Isaac Bogoch Expert Network member[2:14] University of Toronto Department of Medicine, Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, Toronto General Hospital Research Institute
Colette Brin Expert Network member[2:15] Laval University Department of Information and Communication, Centre d'études sur les médias (CDM)
Tania Bubela Expert Network member[2:16] Simon Fraser University Faculty of Health Sciences
Tracy Calogheros Expert Network member[2:17] Exploration Place Museum & Science Centre
Cora Constantinescu Expert Network member[2:18] University of Calgary, Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN)
Zain Chagla Expert Network member[2:19] McMaster University, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Woodstock General Hospital
Christine Chambers Expert Network member[2:20] Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH)
Naheed Dosani Expert Network member[2:21] -
David Goldfarb Expert Network member[2:22] British Columbia Children's Hospital, University of British Columbia Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Kathryn Hill Expert Network member[2:23] MediaSmarts
Jonathan Jarry Expert Network member[2:24] McGill Office for Science and Society
Jim Kellner Expert Network member[2:25] Cumming School of Medicine, Alberta Health Services (AHS)
Vanessa Lapointe Expert Network member[2:26] Wishing Star Lapointe Development Clinic
Janine McCready Expert Network member[2:27] Michael Garron Hospital
Shazma Mithani Expert Network member[2:28] University of Alberta Department of Medicine
Alex Munter Expert Network member[2:29] Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO)
Ubaka Ogbogu Expert Network member[2:30] University of Alberta Faculty of Law
Jesse Papenburg Expert Network member[2:31] Montreal Children's Hospital, McGill University Health Centre (MUHC)
David Patrick Expert Network member[2:32] British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), UBC School of Population and Public Health
Cheryl Peters Expert Network member[2:33] British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), BC Cancer Agency, UBC School of Population and Public Health
Anne Pham-Huy Expert Network member[2:34] University of Ottawa Division of Infectious Diseases, Immunology and Allergy, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), Immunize Canada
Glen Pyle Expert Network member[2:35] Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), Initiative on Medication Management, Policy Analysis, Research & Training (IMPART)
Manish Sadarangani Expert Network member[2:36] UBC Department of Pediatrics, Vaccine Evaluation Center (VEC)
Joe Schwarcz Expert Network member[2:37] McGill Office for Science and Society
Gary W. Slater Expert Network member[2:38] Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada, American Physical Society (APS), Royal Society of Canada (RSC), University of Ottawa Department of Physics
Katharine Smart Expert Network member[2:39] Canadian Medical Association (CMA)
Jonathan N. Stea Expert Network member[2:40] University of Calgary
Marva Sweeney-Nixon Expert Network member[2:41] University of Prince Edward Island Department of Biology
Nisha Thampi Expert Network member[2:42] University of Ottawa Department of Pediatrics
Heidi Tworek Expert Network member[2:43] University of British Columbia (UBC)
Yanet Valdez Tejeira Expert Network member[2:44] COVID-19 Resources Canada
Sabina Vohra-Miller Expert Network member[2:45] Vohra-Miller Foundation
Oluwaseun Adelekan Expert Vetter[2:46] Klick Health
Golnoush Alamian Expert Vetter[2:47] University of Montreal
Kenzie Arnott Expert Vetter[2:48] University of British Columbia (UBC)
Brad Brazeau Expert Vetter[2:49] University of Calgary
Carol Brown Expert Vetter[2:50] University of Alberta
Don Davies Expert Vetter[2:51] St. Boniface Hospital Research
Amna Ejaz Expert Vetter[2:52] Canadian Red Cross
Sajjad Fazel Expert Vetter[2:53] University of Calgary
Cecilia Gimenez Expert Vetter[2:54] University of Toronto
Baijayanta Mukhopadhyay Expert Vetter[2:55] Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay
Jen Novakovich Expert Vetter[2:56] University of Ottawa
Matthew Ratsep Expert Vetter[2:57] McMaster University
Kyra Simone Expert Vetter[2:58] McMaster University
Michael Sugiyama Expert Vetter[2:59] University of Toronto
Krishana Sankar Community Partnerships Lead and Science Advisor[1:1] -
Zoé Duval Content Creator[3] -
Aliya Gulamhusein Content Creator[3:1] -
Sarah Habibi Content Creator[3:2] Mito & Co
Musemo Handhu Content Creator[3:3] -
Gisèle Lullaby Content Creator[3:4] Vision Drag Artists
Kairyn Potts Content Creator[3:5] Neechi Clan
Haley Robinson Content Creator[3:6] -
Kyne Santos Content Creator[3:7] Canada's Drag Race
Xavier Watso Content Creator[3:8] Valides

Funding

ScienceUpFirst has received funding from:[4]

Partners

The Canadian Vaccination Evidence Resource and Exchange Centre (CANVax) included ScienceUpFirst on its list of COVID-19 resources.[5] ScienceUpFirst participated in the Faster Together and This Is Our Shot campaigns to promote COVID-19 vaccines.[6][4:1]

Additional partners and collaborators include:[7][8][9]

  • 19 to Zero
  • Agence Science-Presse
  • American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • BIG Little Science Centre Society
  • British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC)
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
  • Centre for Wise Practices in Indigenous Health
  • Children's Healthcare Canada
  • Christian Horizons
  • COVID-19 Resources Canada
  • Entomica
  • Evidence for Democracy[10]
  • Gairdner Foundation
  • IDEA-STEM
  • Ingenium
  • Light and Life Ministries
  • Lotus STEMM
  • Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre
  • Masks4Canada
  • Ontario Physical and Health Education Association (OPHEA)
  • Ontario Science Centre
  • Ottawa Public Health
  • Our Kids' Health
  • Partnership for Women's Health Research Canada (PWHR)
  • Re.Climate
  • Refugee 613
  • Royal Canadian Institute for Science (RCIScience)
  • Science Everywhere
  • Science North
  • Science World
  • Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP)
  • South Asian Health Network
  • Star Blanket Cree Nation
  • Stem Cell Network (SCN)
  • Telus World of Science Edmonton
  • Vaccine Hunters
  • Visions of Science Network for Learning

Publications

  1. Public Health Agency of Canada. (2021, April 29). Government of Canada funds two new projects to encourage vaccine uptake in Canada. Government of Canada. http://archive.today/2022.11.05-192424/https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/news/2021/04/government-of-canada-funds-two-new-projects-to-encourage-vaccine-uptake-in-canada.html ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. Who We Are. ScienceUpFirst. Retrieved June 23, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250623231750/https://scienceupfirst.com/who-we-are/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. Science Champions. ScienceUpFirst. Retrieved June 24, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250624031850/https://scienceupfirst.com/science-champions/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. Home. This Is Our Shot Canada. Retrieved July 14, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230714200256/https://thisisourshot.ca/ ↩︎ ↩︎

  5. COVID-19 Resources. (2021, September 16). CANVax. https://web.archive.org/web/20210925113233/https://canvax.ca/covid-19-resources ↩︎

  6. Home. Faster Together. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20221129144335/https://fastertogether.ca/ ↩︎

  7. Partners of ScienceUpFirst. ScienceUpFirst. Retrieved January 19, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.01.19-170539/https://www.scienceupfirst.com/partners/ ↩︎

  8. Our Collaborators. ScienceUpFirst. Retrieved November 19, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20241119153513/https://scienceupfirst.com/our-collaborators/ ↩︎

  9. Collaborators of ScienceUpFirst. ScienceUpFirst. Retrieved June 14, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240614211623/https://www.scienceupfirst.com/collaborators/ ↩︎

  10. Home. Evidence Matters. Retrieved August 9, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240809132614/https://www.evidencematterstome.ca/ ↩︎