Dr. Primal Silva

Chief Science Operating Officer and Science Integrity Lead

The Chief Science Operating Officer is responsible for providing strategic leadership and ensuring sound management of Canadian Food Inspection Agency's (CFIA) 13 laboratories in order to deliver the agency's high-priority science needs in food safety, animal health and plant health.

Dr. Primal Silva is a veterinarian and a Ph.D. scientist with several years of postdoctoral training. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Sydney, Australia, and furthered his studies at McMaster University and at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph. He worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of Guelph before joining the federal public service in 1993. He has since held several positions with increasing responsibilities, including Executive Director of the Animal Health Science Directorate and, currently, Chief Science Operating Officer at CFIA.

As Chief Science Operating Officer, Dr. Silva has management accountability for all of the agency's 13 laboratories in order to deliver on the agency's high-priority science needs in food safety, animal health and plant health. He provides management oversight of the daily operations of the laboratory services and the agency's research, as well as strategic leadership in science engagements with academic, federal, provincial and territorial stakeholders. He is also the Science Integrity Lead responsible for promoting high scientific and ethical standards to ensure the foundational principles of scientific integrity are upheld throughout the agency. Dr. Silva represents the CFIA on numerous interdepartmental initiatives to promote regulatory science needs across the Government of Canada, including collaborative programs and federal infrastructure.

Dr. Silva actively promotes Canada's global leadership in regulatory science through strategic partnerships and involvement with a variety of international bodies. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, co-chair of the Biosafety Level 4 Zoonotic Laboratory Network and Canadian representative on the Global Coalition of Regulatory Science Research.