International Human Biomonitoring (i-HBM): HBM4EU’s Leadership Role – How Health Canada National Biomonitoring Program Benefited from the HBM4EU Initiative – 27 April – 3:40 pm CEST

HBM4EU raised the profile of human biomonitoring internationally. It improved the global network of HBM programs and strengthened methods and approaches to interpret and use biomonitoring in decision-making. The cross-country data comparisons provide an overall picture of exposure to substances and it helps to understand where Canada stands, which in turn informs policy-making.

HBM4EU played a major role in the strengthening of HBM interpretation tools in a health risk context in which Health Canada is also involved (e.g: partnership in i-HBM under ISES).

Ms. St-Amand joined Health Canada’s Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch in 2005 after completing a Master’s degree in Toxicology at the University of Montreal. In 2015, she became Section Head managing the National Biomonitoring Program conducted through the Canadian Health Measures Survey. In this role, she consults with stakeholders to identify chemical priorities, collaborates closely with analytical laboratories to develop methods, and actively works to increase awareness and use of human biomonitoring data through scientific publications, biomonitoring reports, open data releases, and stakeholder outreach. She is interested in exposure science, more specifically in the interpretation of biomonitoring data and the development of new tool that facilitate chemical management. She leads a talented team of scientific evaluators and she also supervises graduate students in her position as clinical instructor at the University of Montreal. She is the co-chair of the i-HBM a newly created working group on human biomonitoring under the International Society of Exposure Science (ISES).11