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Florence Chumpuka’s professional path has taken many turns, had many bumps, and has spanned two continents. She now looks back at her accomplishments with a sense of pride.
Profile: Dr. Frank Plummer
Significant contributions to better public health
Dr. Frank Plummer is regarded internationally as a world-leading HIV/AIDS researcher and specialist in infectious diseases whose work has influenced public health policy in Canada and abroad.
The role of the Public Health Agency of Canada
Dr. Frank Plummer is the Chief Science Advisor and Scientific Director General of the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg. The Agency’s mission is to promote and protect the health of Canadians through leadership, partnership, innovation and action in public health. Dr. Plummer has a key role to play toward the achievement of this goal.
potential to lead
to HIV vaccines.”
The Agency was created in response to growing concerns about the capacity of Canada’s public health system to anticipate and respond effectively to public health threats. Events like the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, the spread of West Nile disease, along with the rise of chronic illnesses, all underscored the urgent need for decisive action. In 2004, the Agency was officially launched to work closely with provinces and territories to keep Canadians healthy and help reduce pressures on the health care system. This would be achieved by focussing on more effective efforts to prevent injuries and chronic diseases, like cancer and heart disease, and responding to public health emergencies and infectious disease outbreaks.
Dr. Plummer is regarded internationally as a world-leading HIV/AIDS researcher and specialist in infectious diseases whose work has influenced public health policy in Canada and abroad. In his role of Scientific Director General, he has positioned the Agency’s NML as a world-renowned centre for diagnosis and research of dangerous infectious diseases, notably SARS and the West Nile virus. The NML is responsible for the identification, control and prevention of infectious diseases and is the only facility that has high containment laboratories for human and animal health in one facility. The NML is also the only facility in Canada to have the highest level of biological safety (level 4) and is recognized as a leading facility in an elite group of 15 centres around the world.
Beginning in Nairobi
Dr. Plummer didn’t begin his career in the Public Service. Rather, his journey into health research began when he treated hundreds of patients at a small health clinic in Nairobi, Kenya. “We were two doctors treating 600 patients a day. I quickly realized that treating conditions this way was never going to solve the underlying problems. It transformed me from someone interested in caring for patients directly to an interest in getting to the basic issues through public health and research,” says Dr. Plummer.
In 1984, Dr. Plummer took on a health research post in Nairobi to study sexually transmitted diseases. HIV had only been identified the year before and his findings shocked the medical world when one of his studies showed that two-thirds of a group of 600 women who worked in the sex trade were infected with HIV. An even bigger surprise was that many of the uninfected women turned out to be resistant to the virus, never becoming infected. It was the first documented case of natural HIV resistance.
During Dr. Plummer’s 17 years in Nairobi, his research was fundamental to documenting the emerging HIV epidemic in Africa. Dr. Plummer’s ground-breaking HIV/AIDS research, particularly his work on understanding natural immunities to the virus, is now paving the way for the development of an HIV vaccine. “It’s a very complex disease which is why it’s taken 25 years to get to this point,” says Dr. Plummer. “But I think our work has the potential to lead to HIV vaccines.”
Joining the Public Service of Canada
Since joining the Public Service of Canada in 2000, Dr. Plummer has made many significant contributions. In particular, his leadership during the SARS outbreak saw the NML make a significant contribution to the identification and control of the disease. In his overall role within the Agency, Dr. Plummer has galvanized the infectious disease community, encouraging closer working relationships and coordinating research efforts to ensure improved outcomes.
Dr. Plummer’s outstanding work over the span of his career has earned him a number of prestigious distinctions. Most recently, he was awarded Canada’s Health Researcher of the Year from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in November 2007. In October 2007, he was invested into the Order of Canada, a great honour bestowed upon individuals for a lifetime of achievement and merit of a high degree, especially in service to Canada or to humanity at large.- Next: France Provost decided when she was quite young that she wanted to be a veterinarian and work with animals. Now she’s a “go-to” person for interpreting the regulations that govern red meat slaughter.
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