====== Robert Pless ======

{{ ::robert-pless-2.jpeg?150|}}

Dr. **Robert Pless**, MD, MSc, is a Canadian epidemiologist and vaccine specialist based in Ottawa, Ontario.

===== Career and Affiliations =====

==== Health Canada ====

Pless has held multiple positions at [[Health Canada]].((//Robert Pless.// LinkedIn. Retrieved April 21, 2022, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-pless-aa200320/?originalSubdomain=ca))

From May 2017 to March 2018, he served as a Manager at Marketed Biologicals, [[Biotechnology and Natural Health Products Bureau]], [[Marketed Health Products Directorate]], where he evaluated the safety of biological products with a special interest in [[vaccines]].((Jordan, S. A., Jack, S. A., & Pless, R. P. (2018). //Safety Surveillance of Dietary Supplements: Importance, Challenges, and New Horizons.// Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 104(3), 432–434. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpt.1101))

Then, he was Chief at the Clinical Evaluation Division, Centre for Biologics Evaluation, Biologics and Genetic Therapies until September 2021.

==== Public Health Agency of Canada ====

Pless is formerly an ex-officio representative for the [[Biologics and Genetic Therapies Directorate]] at [[Health Canada]] on the [[National Advisory Committee on Immunization]] (NACI), serving at the time the group approved [[COVID-19 vaccines]] in Canada.((//National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI): Membership and representation.// (2020, December 18). Wayback Machine; Government of Canada. https://web.archive.org/web/20201218222110/https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/immunization/national-advisory-committee-on-immunization-naci/naci-membership-representation.html)) Since September 2021, he is a member of the NACI High Consequence Infectious Disease Working Group.((Public Health Agency of Canada. (2022, February 9). //COVID-19 vaccination timing for individuals previously infected with SARS-CoV-2: NACI rapid response.// Government of Canada. https://web.archive.org/web/20220422032902/https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/immunization/national-advisory-committee-on-immunization-naci/rapid-response-guidance-covid-19-vaccination-timing-individuals-previously-infected-sars-cov-2.html))

==== World Health Organization ====

Pless is a member of the [[Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety]] (GACVS) under the [[World Health Organization]] (WHO). He has contributed to publications on pandemic influenza vaccines.((Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS). (2014, November). //Safety of Immunization during Pregnancy: A review of the evidence.// Wayback Machine; World Health Organization. https://web.archive.org/web/20220202232441/https://www.who.int/vaccine_safety/publications/safety_pregnancy_nov2014.pdf))

===== Publications =====

Pless co-authored a paper on the [[GAIA Network]] funded by the [[Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]].((Bonhoeffer, J., Kochhar, S., Hirschfeld, S., Heath, P. T., Jones, C. E., Bauwens, J., Honrado, Á., Heininger, U., Muñoz, F. M., Eckert, L., Steinhoff, M., Black, S., Padula, M., Sturkenboom, M., Buttery, J., Pless, R., & Zuber, P. (2016). //Global alignment of immunization safety assessment in pregnancy – The GAIA project.// Vaccine, 34(49), 5993–5997. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.07.006)) He was associated with the project in his role at the [[Public Health Agency of Canada]].((//Public Health Agency of Canada - GAIA.// (2016, August 1). Wayback Machine; GAIA Network. https://web.archive.org/web/20160801072130/http://gaia-consortium.net/public-health-agency-of-canada-phac/))

He has contributed to other Gates-funded publications.((//Maternal Immunization Safety Monitoring in Low-and Middle-Income Countries: A Roadmap for Program Development.// Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth. Retrieved April 21, 2022, from https://www.gapps.org/PDF/MaternalImmunizationSafetyMonitoringInLMICs.pdf))