Profile - Dr. Gary Kramer

This content was archived on June 24, 2013.

My Career

We can say that I had "kind of a plan" when I finished university. I wanted to work in the academic world to do research in the field of Physical Inorganic Chemistry, and teach. The path to achieve this was to do some Post-Doc fellowships to build up my number of peer-reviewed publications. I wanted to travel during this phase with some stops in Canada, the US, Australia and hopefully to secure a position in an English university. I tried many times to secure a position in a university but just ended up with a tall stack of rejection letters.

I decided that the university career was not going to happen and I developed personal roots in Canada. I now had to find a job that would allow me to raise a family in Canada so I started looking for alternative employment where my education would provide a sound foundation for progress.

I have to say looking back at this decision, I have no regrets. This shift in strategy put me on the road that eventually led to the place I am now: the Head of the National Internal Radiation Assessment Section of the Radiation Protection Bureau, one of the top 5 laboratories for In Vitro, In Vivo bioassay research in the world.

Here's how my career evolved:

Current Position

Title: Head, National Internal Radiation Assessment Section, Radiation Production Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch
Education: Ph.D. in Physical Inorganic Chemistry and Bachelor of Science, 1st honours in Chemistry
Number of Years in the Workforce: 31
Number of Years at Health Canada: 23

My Experience at Health Canada

I was attracted to Health Canada (HC) because I was looking for new challenges. Constraints had set in at my previous job; funding was being cut and the work environment had become much less stimulating. I started to look around for work and that's when I came upon HC.

My first position at HC was as Head of what is now known as the National Internal Radiation Assessment Section. It was great because my supervisor at the time gave me "carte blanche" to develop the laboratory. I was literally setting the priorities for our research and for the type of facility I thought HC needed to have.

Today, the job gives me and my staff the possibility to conduct research and collaborate with other countries. There are new things happening regularly and we are frequently making discoveries which we were unaware of the day before; this is very rewarding.

HC gave me freedom to develop and expand my own sphere of expertise and this is priceless. Many of my international peers are jealous of the time we have to pursue research.

Career Timeline

Job Profile	The Story
1974-1975 Postdoctoral Fellow University of Calgary, Alberta Calgary, Alberta	My first fellowship was at the University of Calgary, where I taught and conducted research to understand the influence of Freon on Ozone holes.
1975-1979 Research Associate University of Toronto, Ontario Toronto, Ontario	At the University of Toronto I taught and worked on the effects of halogens on materials like red blood cells.
1979-1983 Analytical Radiochemist, BiomedicalRresearch Branch Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories, Ontario Chalk River, Ontario	At Chalk River I worked on the development of new bioassay methods and testing, improving and documenting existing methods. I was also responsible for teaching radiation safety. Bioassay: measurement of radioactive material in urine and feces. After I decided I was no longer going to pursue an academic career, I secured two job offers: one for Chalk River and the other one from an IT firm in the United States. I had to decide between nuclear science and information technology. I had to ask myself if I wanted to leave science. I recall doing plus and minus on a piece of paper for certain criteria related to the jobs. I remember that I lost sleep over that process. Finally, science won. I remember that at the time I took the decision, one thing that was quite influential was that when I was at school the nuclear industry had greatly interested me. However, I did not take physics at university because I thought it would be too complicated. And then, here I was in front of a job offer where I would use my chemistry in the nuclear industry. What a chance, I could not let it go!
1983-1985 Head of Bioassay Laboratory, Dosimetric Research Branch Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories, Ontario Chalk River, Ontario	My second job at Chalk River allowed me to research more fully the biological transport mechanisms of uranium in the human body.
1985-1987 Head of Bioassay Laboratory and In-Vivo Monitoring Facility, Dosimetric research Branch Chalk River Nuclear Laboratory, Ontario Chalk River, Ontario	My third job at Chalk River involved further research into bio-assay methods. This job also involved staff supervision, software development, contract management and teaching duties.
1987-2008 Head, Human Monitoring Laboratory Health Canada Ottawa, Ontario	My first job at HC. The Human Monitoring Laboratory does a great deal of critical research, in addition to In Vivo monitoring of internally contaminated individuals. The Laboratory is an emergency response unit in case of a nuclear incident and it works to facilitate joint research with other international organizations on this topic, amongst others. How did I get my job at HC? Someone phoned me. This position was an accident. A pleasant and fortunate accident!
1993-1995 Acting Head, Fallout and Reactor Section Health Canada Ottawa, Ontario	These were additional responsibilities to my existing jobs. Here I was operating, maintaining and upgrading the Canadian National Radioactivity Monitoring Network.
2008- present Head, National Internal Radiation Assessment Section Health Canada Ottawa, Ontario	My career continues to be rich and compelling and my research remains as fascinating to me today as it was when I started my career 30 years ago. I have a lot more influence and flexibility than I did at the start of my career and I use that influence to further our research goals and work in collaboration with international partners.