Jason Nickerson

I am the Humanitarian Affairs Advisor for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Ottawa, Canada. Jason leads MSF’s work on humanitarian diplomacy and representation to the Government of Canada and provides advice to MSF on humanitarian operations, medical advocacy and policy, and access to medicines. I have over 10 years’ clinical experience as a respiratory therapist working in adult critical care and anesthesia and has worked extensively in global public health response in Canada and internationally during armed conflicts, disease epidemics, and sudden onset disasters.
I am a graduate of Dalhousie University’s Bachelor of Health Sciences in Respiratory Therapy program, specializing in anesthesia. Following this, I completed a master’s degree at the University of British Columbia studying the education of health professionals who provide community-based HIV care in Vancouver’s downtown eastside, and a PhD in population health at the University of Ottawa where I focused on the methodologies for conducting assessments of health facilities in severely disrupted health systems during acute and protracted emergencies. My research has been published in high-impact medical journals including The Lancet, the Canadian Medical Association Journal, PLOS Medicine, and Health Policy and Practice, among others. In addition to working for MSF, I am also appointed as an Adjunct Professor of Common Law at the University of Ottawa's Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics and as a Clinical Scientist at the Bruyère Research Institute in Ottawa.