Jean-François Ethier
Co-founder and scientific co-director of the GRIIS
Associate professor of medicine at Université de Sherbrooke
Licensed Physician at the CHUS
Director of the Data Access Component of the Quebec Support Unit for the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research
A clinical researcher and associate professor in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Computer Science at the Université de Sherbrooke, Doctor Jean-François Ethier is scientific co-director of the GRIIS. He leads the Data Access component of Quebec’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) and the technological development of CIHR’s Canadian Data Platform.
Jean-François Ethier is associate researcher at Unit 1138 Cordeliers Research Center at INSERM and Paris Descartes University, and at the Research Center of the University Hospital of Sherbrooke. He is a specialist in general internal medicine.
Jean-François Ethier’s work focuses on learning health systems. In particular, it centres on methods of access to health data, research systems and clinical decision aid tools where citizens play active roles. He develops theoretical approaches and concrete tools so that information and research systems can communicate with each other.
His research influences how biomedical data warehouses are structured. It also allows to combine a variety of health data that is stored in computer systems that operate differently.
Jean-François Ethier develops ontologies and biomedical terminologies. These integrate diverse and heterogeneous databases within a unified data network. These solutions facilitate the flow of information between science and clinical practice. They propel health research while supporting health care professionals who make many clinical decisions every day.
Jean-François Ethier participated in the development of the TRANSFoRm project in Europe (project funded by the European Community under the FP7 program). TRANSFoRm has created a prototype of a learning health system to support primary health care and services.
Education
Ph.D., Pierre and Marie Curie University (Paris 6), epidemiology and biomedical information sciences
Master’s, Université de Rennes 1, public health
Specialty in general internal medicine, McGill University
M.D.,C.M. (Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery), McGill University
Awards
1st Prize, Ontology Contest, Cardiovascular Disease Ontology, Formal Ontology in Information Systems, 2014
Dean’s honour roll, McGill University, 2006 and 2002
JW McConnell Scholarship, McGill University, 2004 and 2002
James McGill Scholarship, McGill University, 2001
Scholarly associations
Board Affiliations
Supervision
Houssein Madar
Postdoctoral researcher in public health
Jointly with the CHUM Research Centre
Ryeyan Taseen
Master’s student in computer science
Intern physician in respirology at the CIUSSS de l’Estrie—CHUS
Publications
Ecarot T, Fraikin B, Lavoie L, McGilchrist M, Ethier J-F (2021) A Sensitive Data Access Model in Support of Learning Health Systems. Computers 10:25 . https://doi.org/10.3390/computers10030025 Cite Download
Dahl L, Katz A, Mcgrail K, Diverty B, Ethier J-F, Gavin F, Mcdonald J, Paprica P, Schull M, Walker J, Wu J (2020) The SPOR-Canadian Data Platform: a national initiative to facilitate data rich multi-jurisdictional research. 5:1–9 . https://doi.org/10.23889/ijpds.v5i1.1374 Cite Download
Cumyn A, Barton A, Dault R, Cloutier A-M, Jalbert R, Ethier J-F (2019) Informed consent within a learning health system: A scoping review. Learning Health Systems. https://doi.org/10.1002/lrh2.10206 Cite Download
Khnaisser C, Lavoie L, Fraikin B, Barton A, Burgun A, Ethier J-F (2019) Advanced ontology-driven relational database generation for heterogeneous data : Ontorelα. Journal on Data Semantics (JODS) [Submitted 2019-09-20] Cite
Khnaisser C, Looten V, Lavoie L, Ethier J-F, Burgun A (2019) Combining ontology and temporal databases for data reuse: the example of hospital organizational structures. International Journal of Medical Informatics (IJMI) [To be publised] Cite
Ethier J-F, McGilchrist M, Barton A, Cloutier A-M, Curcin V, Delaney BC, Burgun A (2018) The TRANSFoRm project: Experience and lessons learned regarding functional and interoperability requirements to support primary care. Learn Health Syst 2:e10037 . https://doi.org/10.1002/lrh2.10037 Cite
Khnaisser C, Lavoie L, Burgun A, Ethier J-F (2018) Generating relational database using ontology review : Issues, challenges and trends. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications (IJACSA) 9: . https://doi.org/10.14569/IJACSA.2018.090620 Cite Download
Ethier J-F, Barton A, Taseen R (2018) An ontological analysis of drug prescriptions. Applied Ontology 13:273–294 . https://doi.org/10.3233/AO-180202 Cite Download
Vanasse A, Courteau M, Ethier J-F (2018) The 6W multidimensional model of care trajectories for patients with chronic ambulatory care sensitive conditions and hospital readmissions. Public Health 157:53–61 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2018.01.007 Cite Download
Barton A, Ethier J-F, Duvauferrier R, Burgun A (2017) An ontological analysis of medical Bayesian indicators of performance. J Biomed Semantics 8:1 . https://doi.org/10.1186/s13326-016-0099-4 Cite
Cossette B, Ethier J-F, Joly-Mischlich T, Bergeron J, Ricard G, Brazeau S, Caron M, Germain O, Payette H, Kaczorowski J, Levine M (2017) Reduction in targeted potentially inappropriate medication use in elderly inpatients: a pragmatic randomized controlled trial. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 73:1237–1245 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-017-2293-4 Cite
Ethier J-F, Curcin V, McGilchrist MM, Lim Choi Keung SN, Zhao L, Andreasson A, Bródka P, Michalski R, Arvanitis TN, Mastellos N, Burgun A, Delaney BC (2017) eSource for clinical trials: Implementation and evaluation of a standards-based approach in a real world trial. Int J Med Inform 106:17–24 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2017.06.006 Cite Download Download
Barton A, Ethier J-F, Duvauferrier R, Burgun A (2017) An ontological analysis of medical Bayesian indicators of performance. J Biomed Semant 8:1 . Cite Download
Ethier J-F, McGilchrist MM, Barton A, Cloutier A-M, Curcin V, Delaney BC, Burgun A (2017) The TRANSFoRm project: Experience and lessons learned regarding functional and interoperability requirements to support primary care. Learn Health Sys. https://doi.org/10.1002/lrh2.10037 Cite Download
Cossette B, Bergeron J, Ricard G, Ethier J-F, Joly-Mischlich T, Levine M, Sene M, Mallet L, Lanthier L, Payette H, Rodrigue M-C, Brazeau S (2016) Knowledge translation strategy to reduce the use of potentially inappropriate medications in hospitalized elderly adults. J Am Geriatr Soc 64:2487–2494 . https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.14322 Cite
Ethier J-F, Curcin V, Barton A, McGilchrist MM, Bastiaens H, Andreasson A, Rossiter J, Zhao L, Arvanitis TN, Taweel A, Delaney BC, Burgun A (2015) Clinical data integration model: Core interoperability ontology for research using primary care data. Methods Inf Med 54:16–23 . https://doi.org/10.3414/ME13-02-0024 Cite Download
Delaney BC, Curcin V, Andreasson A, Arvanitis TN, Bastiaens H, Corrigan D, Ethier J-F, Kostopoulou O, Kuchinke W, McGilchrist MM, van Royen P, Wagner P (2015) Translational medicine and patient safety in Europe: TRANSFoRm—Architecture for the learning health system in Europe. Biomed Res Int 2015:961526 . https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/961526 Cite Download
Lim Choi Keung SN, Zhao L, Rossiter J, McGilchrist MM, Culross F, Ethier J-F, Burgun A, Verheij R, Khan N, Taweel A, Curcin V, Delaney BC, Arvanitis T (2014) Detailed clinical modelling approach to data extraction from heterogeneous data sources for clinical research. AMIA Jt Summits Transl Sci Proc 2014:55–59 . https://doi.org/10.13140/2.1.4064.1921 Cite Download
Ethier J-F, Dameron O, Curcin V, McGilchrist MM, Verheij RA, Arvanitis TN, Taweel A, Delaney BC, Burgun A (2013) A unified structural/terminological interoperability framework based on LexEVS: application to TRANSFoRm. J Am Med Inform Assoc 20:986–994 . https://doi.org/10.1136/amiajnl-2012-001312 Cite Download
St-Arnaud C, Ethier J-F, Hamielec C, Bersten A, Guyatt G, Meade M, Zhou Q, Leclair M-A, Patel A, Lamontagne F (2013) Prescribed targets for titration of vasopressors in septic shock: a retrospective cohort study. CMAJ Open 1:E127-133 . https://doi.org/10.9778/cmajo.20130006 Cite
Cumyn A, Barton A, Dault R, Safa N, Cloutier A-M, Ethier J-F (En évaluation) Meta-Consent for the Secondary Use of Health Data Within A Learning Health System: A Qualitative Study of the Public's Perspective. BMC Medical Ethics. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-137973/v1 Cite Download
Cumyn A, Dault R, Barton A, Cloutier A-M, Ethier J-F (Accepté) Citizens, research ethics committee members and researchers' attitude toward information and consent for the secondary use of health data: Implications for research within learning health systems. Journal of empirical research on human research ethics. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-137973/v1 Cite Download
Barton A, Ethier J-F (2016) The two ontological faces of velocity. In: Ferrario R, Kuhn W (eds) Formal Ontology in Information Systems. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference (FOIS 2016). IOS Press, Amsterdam, pp 123–136 Cite Download Download
Khnaisser C, Lavoie L, Diab H, Ethier J-F (2015) Data warehouse design methods review: Trends, challenges and future directions for the healthcare domain. In: Morzy T, Valduriez P, Bellatreche L (eds) New Trends in Databases and Information Systems. Springer International Publishing, pp 76–87 Cite Download Download
Toyoshima F, Barton A, Ethier J-F (2020) Functional Parthood: A Dispositional Perspective. In: Proceedings of the 6th Joint Ontology Workshops (JOWO 2020). CEUR Workshop Proceedings, Virtual & Bozen-Bolzano, Italy, p 8 Cite Download
Barton A, Toyoshima F, Ethier J-F (2020) Clinical Documents and Their Parts. In: Hastings J, Loebe F (eds) ICBO|ODLS 2020 International Conference on Biomedical Ontologies 2020. CEUR-WS.org, Bolzano (virtual event), Italy, p A.1-11 Cite Download
Fabry P, Barton A, Ethier J-F (2020) An Ontological Representation of Sex and Gender Information. In: Hastings J, Loebe F (eds) ICBO|ODLS 2020 International Conference on Biomedical Ontologies 2020. CEUR-WS.org, Bolzano, Italy, p O.1-5 Cite Download
Fabry P, Barton A, Ethier J-F (2020) QUESTO – An ontology for questionnaire. In: ICBO|ODLS 2020 International Conference on Biomedical Ontologies 2020. CEUR-WS.org, Bolzano, Italy, p B.1-12 Cite Download
Barton A, Toyoshima F, Ethier J-F (2020) Approaching Roles with Affordances. In: Proceedings of the Joint Ontology Workshops. CEUR Workshop Proceedings, Virtual & Bozen-Bolzano, Italy, p 14 Cite Download
Barton A, Duncan W, Toyoshima F, Ethier J-F (2018) First steps towards an ontology of belief. In: The Joint Ontology Workshops JOWO 2018. Cape Town, Afrique du Sud Cite Download
Barton A, Grenier O, Ethier J-F (2018) The identity and mereology of pathological dispositions. In: Jaiswal P, Cooper L, Haendel MA, Mungall CJ (eds) Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Biological Ontology (ICBO 2018). CEUR Workshop Proceedings, Corvallis, Oregon, États-Unis, pp 1–6 Cite
Barton A, Jansen L, Ethier J-F (2018) A taxonomy of disposition-parthood. In: Galton A, Neuhaus F (eds) Proceedings of the Joint Ontology Workshops 2017, CEUR Workshop proceedings. CEUR Workshop Proceedings, Bolzano, Italie, pp 1–10 Cite Download
Barton A, Jansen L, Rosier A, Ethier J-F (2018) What is a risk? A formal representation of risk of stroke for people with atrial fibrillation. In: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Biomedical Ontology. Newcastle, UK, pp 1–6 Cite Download
Barton A, Khnaisser C, Lavoie L, Ethier J-F (2017) Ambiguities in medical bitemporalized relational databases: A referent tracking view. In: Proceedings of the Joint Ontology Workshops 2017, CEUR Workshop proceedings. Boeker, M., Herre, H., Jansen, L., Loebe, F., & Shober, D., Bolzano, Italie, pp 1–5 Cite Download
Khnaisser C, Lavoie L, Ethier J-F (2017) Unified bitemporal modelling framework for automatic data warehouse design. In: 28th International Conference on Database and Expert Systems Applications DEXA 2017. Lyon, France Cite
Khnaisser C, Lavoie L, Burgun A, Ethier J-F (2017) Past indeterminacy in data warehouse design. In: Database and Expert Systems Applications. Springer, Cham, pp 90–100 Cite Download
Liang SF, Porat T, Tapuria A, Ethier J-F, Delaney BC, Curcin V (2016) A dynamic medical terminology mapping system—MeTMapS. In: Data Mining for Medical Informatics workshop. Chicago, États-Unis Cite Download
Liang SF, Ethier J-F, Porat T, Tapuria A, Delaney BC, Curcin V (2016) MeTMapS—Medical terminology mapping system. In: 7th Workshop on Ontologies and Data in Life Sciences. Halle, Allemagne Cite Download
Ethier J-F, Taseen R, Lavoie L, Barton A (2016) Improving the semantics of drug prescriptions with a realist ontology. In: Jaiswal P, Hoehndorf R, Arighi C, Meier A (eds) Proceedings of the Joint International Conference on Biological Ontology and BioCreative. Oregon, États-Unis, p IT603:1-6 Cite Download
Lim Choi Keung SN, Zhao L, Arvanitis TN, Curcin V, Delaney BC, Ethier J-F, Burgun A, McGilchrist MM, Bródka P, Tuligowicz W, Andreasson A (2015) TRANSFoRm: Implementing a learning healthcare system in Europe through embedding clinical research into clinical practice. In: 2015 48th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Hawaii, États-Unis, pp 3176–3185 Cite Download
Lim Choi Keung SN, Zhao L, Ethier J-F, Curcin V, Burgun A, Delaney BC, Arvanitis TN (2015) Semantic enrichment of CDISC operational data model. In: AMIA Joint Summits on Translational Science proceedings AMIA Summit on Translational Science. American Medical Informatics Association, San Francisco, États-Unis Cite Download
Zhao L, Lim Choi Keung SN, Golby C, Ethier J-F, Curcin V, Bastiaens H, Burgun A, Delaney BC, Arvanitis TN (2015) EU FP7 TRANSFoRm Project: query workbench for participant identification and data extraction. In: AMIA CRI 2015. San Francisco, États-Unis Cite Download
Lim Choi Keung SN, Ethier J-F, Zhao L, Curcin V, Arvanitis T (2014) The integration challenges in bridging patient care and clinical research in a learning healthcare system. In: European Medical Informatics Conference. Istanbul, Turquie Cite Download
Barton A, Rosier A, Burgun A, Ethier J-F (2014) The cardiovascular disease ontology. In: Proceedings of the 8th conference on Formal Ontology in Information Systems (FOIS). IOS Press, Amsterdam, pp 409–414 Cite Download
Delaney BC, Ethier J-F, Curcin V, Corrigan D, Friedman C (2013) International perspectives on the digital infrastructure for The Learning Healthcare System. In: Panel at AMIA annual symposium. Washington DC, États-Unis Cite
St-Arnaud C, Ethier J-F, Hamielec C, Leclair M-A, Lamontagne F (2011) Prescribed targets for vasopressors titration in septic shock: a retrospective cohort study. In: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine. Berlin, Allemagne Cite
Barton A, Vieu L, Ethier J-F (accepté) Directing actions. In: Proceedings of the Joint Ontology Workshops 2019 (JOWO 2019). Graz, Autriche, pp 1–10 Cite
Barton A, Fabry P, Lavoie L, Ethier J-F (accepté) LABO: An ontology for laboratory test prescription and reporting. In: Proceedings of the Joint Ontology Workshops 2019 (JOWO 2019). Graz, Autriche, pp 1–9 Cite
Barton A, Fabry P, Ethier J-F (accepté) A classification of instructions in drug prescriptions and pharmacist documents. In: Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Biomedical Ontology (ICBO 2019). Buffalo, New York, USA, pp 1–7 Cite
Vanasse A, Ethier J-F, Dault R, Benigeri M, Cloutier A-M (2019) Validated case selection algorithms to identify 7 ambulatory care sensitive conditions Cite
Vanasse A, Benigeri M, Courteau J, Dorais M, Ethier J-F (2018) Linking canadian community health surveys to administrative data in Quebec: A unique opportunity for health care trajectories research on ambulatory care sensitive conditions Cite
Beaudoin A-A, Dault R, Barton A, Cumyn A, Cloutier A-M, Ethier J-F (2018) Initiative CLARET: consentement pour l’utilisation secondaire des données médicales en recherche Cite
Ethier J-F (2018) Plateforme apprenante pour la recherche en santé et services sociaux — PARS3 — Learning health and social services research platform Cite
Ethier J-F (2018) Plateforme apprenante pour la recherche en santé et services sociaux — PARS3 Cite
Ethier J-F (2018) Plateforme apprenante pour la recherche en santé et services sociaux — PARS3 Cite
Ethier J-F (2018) Learning Health Systems: experience and future for primary care Cite
Ethier J-F (2017) Plateforme apprenante pour la recherche en santé et services sociaux — PARS3 Cite
Barton A, Taseen R, Ethier J-F (2017) PDRO: une ontologie des prescriptions médicales Cite
Cossette B, Ethier J-F, Joly-Mischlich T, Bergeron J, Ricard G, Brazeau S, Caron M, Germain O, Payette H, Kaczorowski J, Levine M (2017) Reduction in potentially inappropriate medication use in elderly inpatients: a pragmatic randomized controlled trial Cite
Ethier J-F (2017) La recherche à partir des dossiers médicaux électroniques (DMÉ) dans un système de santé apprenant : défis et opportunités Cite
Ethier J-F (2017) La plateforme de recherche apprenante en santé de l’Estrie: libérer le potentiel de nos données pour la recherche Cite
Ethier J-F (2017) Système de recherche apprenant: défis éthiques Cite
Ethier J-F (2017) Système de recherche apprenant: changement de paradigme et opportunités Cite
Ethier J-F (2017) Développement d’un système de santé apprenant en Estrie Cite
Taseen R, Ethier J-F, Barton A (2016) On prescribing drug prescriptions Cite
Barton A, Taseen R, Ethier J-F (2016) PDRO: une ontologie des prescriptions médicales Cite
Barton A, Taseen R, Ethier J-F (2016) PDRO: une ontologie des prescriptions médicales Cite
Barton A, Taseen R, Ethier J-F (2016) PDRO: une ontologie des prescriptions médicales Cite
Barton A, Ethier J-F, Taseen R (2016) Ontologies to support learning health systems Cite
Beaulieu M-D, Boivin A, Dumez V, Ethier J-F, Kaczorowski J, Légaré F, Pluye P, Rhame E, Vanasse A, Bush P-L, Cloutier A-M, Fournier M, Gordie B, Zomahoun H (2016) Implementing infrastructure for primary care patient oriented research: Challenges and opportunities Cite Download
Ethier J-F (2016) Accès et partage des données des DMÉ au Québec: vision, orientations, innovation Cite
Ethier J-F (2016) Learning health systems: New avenues Cite
Quirion R, Plante J-F, Rousseau L-M, Ethier J-F (2016) À la recherche du patient au coeur des données massives — Looking for the patient at the core of big data Cite
Barton A, Taseen R, Ethier J-F (2015) PDRO: une ontologie des prescriptions médicales Cite
Ethier J-F (2015) Les systèmes de santé apprenant: la recherche translationnelle sous l’angle des données de santé pragmatiques provenant du terrain Cite
Ethier J-F (2015) Les données de santé: comment les utiliser efficacement pour améliorer votre pratique, votre recherche Cite
Ethier J-F (2015) Learning Health Systems — LHS: La recherche translationnelle sous l’angle des données de santé pragmatiques provenant du terrain Cite
Curcin V, Arvanitis TN, Ethier J-F, Fraczkowsk K, Kazienko P, Brodka P, Andreasson A, Blizniuk G, Lim Choi Keung SN, Zhao L, Misiaszek A, McGilchrist MM, Delaney BC, Burgun A (2014) Semantic approach to achieving interoperability between clinical care and clinical research Cite Download
Ethier J-F (2014) Savoir c’est pouvoir. Les données de santé: comment les utiliser efficacement pour améliorer votre pratique, votre recherche Cite
Lim Choi Keung SN, Zhao L, Rossiter J, Ogunsina I, Curcin V, Danger R, McGilchrist MM, Ethier J-F, Ohmann C, Kuchinke W, Taweel A, Delaney BC, Arvanitis TN (2013) Provenance-aware query formulation tool to identify eligible clinical research participants Cite
Delaney BC, Ethier J-F, Taweel A, Arvanitis TN (2012) Semantic interoperability for clinical research in Europe Cite
Khnaisser C, Lavoie L, Fraikin B, Barton A, Burgun A, Ethier J-F (2019) Generating a relational database for heterogeneous data using an ontology Cite Download
Beaulieu M-D, Cloutier A-M, Dault R, Ethier J-F, Goetghebeur M, Khanji C, Roy D, Vanasse A (2018) Utilisation des données cliniques issues des dossiers médicaux électroniques à des fins de recherche et d’amélioration continue de la qualité des soins et services de première ligne. Unité Soutient SRAP du Québec et INESSS Cite Download
Khnaisser C, Lavoie L, Burgun A, Ethier J-F (2017) Unified bitemporal historicization framework. Université de Sherbrooke (GRIIS), Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada Cite
Khnaisser C, Lavoie L, Diab H, Ethier J-F (2015) Data warehouse design methods review for the healthcare domain. Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada Cite Download
Khnaisser C, Lavoie L (dir.) et Ethier J-F (dir.) (2016) Méthode de construction d'entrepôt de données temporalisé pour un système informationnel de santé. Mémoire de maitrise, Université de Sherbrooke Cite Download
Ethier J-F (2016) Integrating resources for translational research: a unified approach for learning health systems. Thèse de doctorat, Université Pierre-Marie Curie - Paris VI Cite Download
Related content
The Israeli laboratory
2021-01-14
Israel will serve as a live laboratory for large-scale testing of vaccine efficacy.
Des données en santé plus faciles d’accès
2020-12-08
Health researchers often don’t know where to start when it comes to accessing data. Data is stored in a myriad of organizations distributed throughout the world.
Que pensez-vous de la vente possible de vos données médicales?
2020-12-08
Our question: What do you think about the possible sale of your medical data?
La fin du télécopieur en santé
2020-07-27
Dr. Ethier noted that Alberta and Nova Scotia have already implemented digital data transfer solutions.
Fini les fax pour comptabiliser les décès
2020-07-27
Dr. Ethier provides an update on health system informatics gaps and informatics solutions that can improve care.
Premier virage réussi pour la téléconsultation médicale
2020-07-27
Dr. Ethier discusses the kinds of health teleconsultation that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pour en finir avec le télécopieur à l’hôpital
2020-07-27
Dr. Jean-François Ethier discusses health technology gaps and IT solutions to address them.
Taking into account the wishes of patients at the end of life with artificial intelligence
2020-07-20
Dr. Ryeyan Taseen is developing an automated tool that will alert physicians when hospitalized patients have a high probability of dying within the next 12 months.
Are there alternatives to fax in Canada’s health care systems?
2020-06-26
Dr. Jean-François Ethier answers questions from the media about the use of the fax machine to transmit health data.
Sharing health data for research
2020-04-30
Research teams and citizens need to navigate the maze of consent in order for care and the health system to improve.
Access to health data from electronic medical records in Quebec
2019-11-28
To support the implementation of priority projects, the ministère entrusts the Interdisciplinary Research Group in Health Informatics to tie the Learning Platform in Research and Social Services with certified electronic health records.
