Charles Weijer
Professor
Joint Appointment with Department of Medicine
Cross Appointment with Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Bioethics, Research Ethics
BMdSc, MD Alberta; BA (Hons) MSc,
Office: Stevenson Hall 4130
Email: cweijer@uwo.ca
Website:
Charles Weijer is a bioethicist and an internationally recognized expert in research ethics. From 2008 to 2013 Charles co-led a collaboration that produced the first international ethics guidelines for cluster randomized trials. He led the writing team for the World Health Organization guidance on “Ethical Considerations for Health Policy and Systems Research,” published in 2019. In 2020, Charles served on the WHO Working Group for Guidance on Human Challenge Studies in COVID-19. He currently co-leads a CIHR-funded interdisciplinary team exploring the responsible implementation in Canada of a promising organ donation technology, called normothermic regional perfusion (NRP). Charles also co-leads a CIHR-funded international team writing the 2026 Update to the Ottawa Statement on the Ethical Design and Conduct of Cluster Randomized Trials. Charles held the Canada Research Chair in Bioethics from 2005 to 2019, and, in 2016, he was elected to the Royal Society of Canada.
Selected publications
Weijer C, Grimshaw JM, Eccles MP, McRae AD, White A, Brehaut JC, Taljaard M and the Ottawa Ethics of Cluster Randomized Trials Consensus Group. . PLoS Medicine 2012; 9(11): e1001346.
Weijer C, Bruni T, Gofton T, Young GB, Norton L, Peterson A, Owen AM. . Brain 2016; 139(Pt 1): 292-299.
Mtande TK, Weijer C, Hosseinipour MC, Taljaard M, Matoga M, Goldstein CE, Nyambalo B, Rosenberg NE. . Journal of Medical Ethics 2019; 45(6): 388-393.
Nix HP, Weijer C, Brehaut JC, Forster D, Goldstein CE, Taljaard M. . BMJ Open 2021; 11(9): e054213.
Murphy N, Weijer C. Research bystanders, justice, and the state: Reframing the debate on third-party protections in health research. Bioethics 2022; 36(8): 865-873.
Nix HP, Largent EA, Taljaard M, Mitchell SL, Weijer C. . JAGS: Journal of the American Geriatric Society 2023; 71(2): 588-598.
Murphy N, Weijer C, Debicki D, Laforge G, Norton L, Gofton T, Slessarev M.. Journal of Medical Ethics 2023; 49(5): 311-318.
Rid A, Feld JJ, Liang TJ, Weijer C. . Clinical Infectious Diseases 2023; 77(Supplement_3): S216-S223.
Weijer C, Taljaard M. . New England Journal of Medicine 2024; 391(11): 969-971.
Murphy NB, Slessarev M, Basmaji J, Blackstock L, Blaszak M, Brahmania M, Chandler JA, Dhanani S, Gaulton M, Gross JA, Healey A, Lingard L, Ott M, Shemie SD, Weijer C. . Transplantation 2025; 109(4):597-609.
Nix HP, Goldstein CE, Taljaard M, Weijer C. . BMJ Open 2026; 16(4): e109131.
