Biography
Dr. Wiper-Bergeron was appointed Interim Vice-Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at the Faculty of Medicine in April 2024, bringing to the role her vast experience in educational leadership within the Faculty and beyond, including innovation in education at both the undergraduate and graduate level.
A Full Professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Dr. Wiper-Bergeron has been a dedicated and dynamic member of the Faculty for 20 years, teaching in both the undergraduate and graduate programs in English and French. For two decades, she has been a content expert for the undergraduate medical curriculum, contributing to the disciplines of immunology, histology and embryology. She has an interest in the development of innovative educational tools and approaches for undergraduate medical education, many of which have been adopted by the Faculty’s MD program.
Dr. Wiper-Bergeron is also committed to innovation in graduate-level education. As Assistant Dean, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies from 2019 to 2024, Dr. Wiper-Bergeron participated in the creation of new programs, including the MSc with Research Project, the integrated Bachelor of Science (BSc) with Honours in Translational and Molecular Medicine (TMM) to MSc and PhD paths, and the MSc in Anatomical Sciences Education, as well as supported student wellness and experience initiatives. She chairs the Faculty’s Graduate and Postdoctoral Student Experience and Wellness Committee and has served on the University of Ottawa’s Graduate Program Evaluation Committee since 2017. She served as the Director of the Graduate Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine from 2012 to 2019 and led two institutional quality assurance processes to ensure graduate program quality.
Dr. Wiper-Bergeron’s research interests include stem cell biology and investigating the molecular mechanisms that control cell fate decisions in skeletal muscle wasting conditions with a particular focus on cachexia. She is actively involved in grant review panels, including currently serving as a member of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) College of Reviewers and as a standing member of the CIHR Movement and Exercise Grant Review Panel. She has also participated as a member or as an invited reviewer to numerous national and international grant review panels from Canada (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC), the US (FLDOH), and France (Agence nationale de la recherche). She is a Review Editor for Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. Overall, her breadth of experience and interests have established her as a much-valued and respected member of the Faculty.