Mr. Les Mery studied mathematics at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and completed
graduate school in statistics from the University of Ottawa. He is currently pursuing his PhD
at the University of Twente in the Netherlands on the topic of knowledge translation in
cancer surveillance. His work has primarily been focused on the application of cancer
surveillance and epidemiologic information to help develop cancer control interventions and
policy. Over the past twenty years, his appointments have been across several Canadian
national organizations in cancer – Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada and
the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, including serving as the Executive Director for the
Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control which led to an initial investment by the Canadian
government of $300M over five-years. At the International Agency for Research on Cancer
in Lyon – France, Les is responsible for the Global Initiative on Cancer Registry
Development (GICR) – a multi partner action plan aimed at improving the quality and
coverage of cancer registration. In this capacity, Les oversees the implementation of the
GICR and provides technical support in cancer registration to the Caribbean, Pacific Islands
and Southern, Eastern and South-Eastern Asia.