Kirsty Duncan

Kirsty Duncan is the Minister of Science and Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities for the Government of Canada. As a member of Parliament, she has been the voice on Parliament Hill for the citizens of Etobicoke-North since 2008. Duncan has also been a driving force for putting science front and center in the federal government's agenda. She is committed to strengthening science and evidence-based decision making and fostering a culture of curiosity in Canada. And she is taking action to improve equity, diversity and youth participation in Canada’s research community.

Duncan is a medical geographer who led an expedition to remote Svalbard, Norway, to search for the cause of the Spanish Flu, the deadliest of flu pandemics, which has killed upwards of 50 million people worldwide. She is internationally recognized as a leading expert in pandemic influenza and environmental change and its impact on human health. As a fierce defender of the environment, Duncan contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an organization which, jointly with Al Gore, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Prior to entering politics in 2008, Duncan was an associate professor at the University of Toronto and the University of Windsor.