Jean-Marie shares OHIG’s vision to put the patient at the center of his own medical care, rather than being seen as a subject, as he is customarily referred to. This vision motivated him to enthusiastically join the OHIG team as Administrative Manager following his retirement from his full-time position with the Administration, Research Institute of the MUHC (RI-MUHC).

Mr. Jean-Marie Chavannes started working in the biomedical field as an Animal Biologist at the American Health Foundation in Valhalla, New York City in 1973 while completing his undergraduate studies in Biology with a minor in computer science at the City University of New York. In 1978 he was promoted to the Quality Control Biologist position in charge of the research animal clinical laboratory. In 1983 he relocated to Montreal, Canada to start a 36-year career with the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.

He began at the RI-MUHC as Supervisor of the animal facilities on December 5, 1983. Throughout the years he occupied a wide spectrum of key positions, amongst them Manager - Technical Support for Information Systems (I.S.), Director – Redevelopment, Information Technology & amp, Telecommunications, Director - Research Information Technology, Infrastructure, and Biomedical Engineering, and until his retirement in June 2020 Director - Research Information Technology and Telecommunication.

Mr. Chavannes played an important role in the implementation and successful completion of various projects at the RI-MUHC, with one of his most outstanding achievements being the supervision of the construction of the Research Institute building at the Glen.