Dr. Graham D. Sher
Chief Executive Officer
Graham has been with Canadian Blood Services since it began operations in September 1998. He first served as vice-president of medical, scientific and clinical management, and was appointed CEO in June 2001.
Graham continues to lead Canadian Blood Services through an extensive, multi-year transformation journey. The early phases of this transformation focused on a comprehensive service delivery model redesign to ensure safety, adequacy and modernization of systems. Leveraging these early changes, Canadian Blood Services’ current strategy positions the organization as a trusted partner in healthcare delivery across Canada and has at its roots a focus on quality excellence, sustainable efficiency and a committed, engaged workforce.
Graham is a recognized expert in transfusion medicine and science, and is a sought-after speaker both nationally and internationally. He sits on a number of blood system and healthcare-related boards and advisory bodies, and has provided consulting support to other countries in the transformation of their blood systems.
Graham is a founding member and current chair of the Alliance of Blood Operators and is the first international director on the board of the AABB (Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies), serving as its president in 2013-2014. Beyond blood system governance, he is passionate about health system design and management, and is active in a number of areas of health system performance improvement and policy development. Recognized for his extensive contributions to Canadian health care and the transfusion and transplantation system in particular, Graham is an Officer of the Order of Canada and was awarded an honourary Degree of Laws (LL.D.)(honoris causa) from the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine in May 2024.
A hematologist by training, Graham acquired his medical and doctoral degrees at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and his specialty certification at the University of Toronto. He was formerly a physician and scientist on staff at the Toronto Hospital and on faculty at the University of Toronto. He is happily married, has three sons, and is constantly struggling to find more time for his other passion in life: photography.
