Matthew Tunis

Dr. Matthew Tunis, PhD, BSc is a Canadian immunization and respiratory diseases specialist based in Ottawa, Ontario. He is notable in the COVID-19 pandemic due to his role on the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) during the approval process of the first COVID-19 vaccines.

Tunis attended the University of British Columbia (UBC) for his Bachelor of Science, Integrated Sciences from 2002-2006. He then moved to Dalhousie University where he completed a Doctor of Philosophy program in microbiology and immunology.

He was certified by Medavie HealthEd after training as a paramedic in 2012-2013.

After completing his PhD research studies, Tunis was a research assistant at Dalhousie University, where he “designed, carried out, and interpreted results of animal studies investigating food allergy and basic immunology.”

From July 2013 to July 2014, Tunis was a primary care paramedic with Emergency Health Services Nova Scotia.

Tunis has served as the executive secretary on the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) since August 2018, employed by the Centre for Immunization and Respiratory Infectious Diseases under the Public Health Agency of Canada.¹⁾ He also serves as a Scientific Project Coordinator, having started the role in September 2015. Prior to that, he was a research analyst.²⁾

In December 2018, he co-delivered a presentation with Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh at the Canadian Immunization Conference titled “What's new with NACI?” describing the recent expansion of NACI's roles and responsibilities.^{3) 4)}

Tunis is an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health.⁵⁾

Tunis is a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) COVID-19 Vaccines Working Group, acting as a primary liaison member on behalf of NACI.⁶⁾