Robert Phillips

Robert A. Phillips is a Canadian scientist, with a long-term interest in cancer research, and special interests in blood cell development and in retinoblastoma, an inherited eye tumour in children. His expertise has spanned the breadth of disciplines including radiation biology, cellular and molecular biology, immunology and molecular genetics.

He has been a tireless ambassador for cancer research and cancer control throughout a career that has spanned more than 3 decades. He is a key member of a band of veteran scientists, also including John Evans, the founding dean of faculty of health sciences at McMaster University and former president of the University of Toronto and Cal Stiller, an organ transplant expert and entrepreneur, who pushed for years for the creation of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), an independent, not-for-profit corporation established in December 2005, and funded by the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Research and Innovation.

He has been a member of various Boards of Directors, including the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Network for Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics (CANVAC), the Canadian Prostate Cancer Research Foundation, and Partners in Research.