Welcome
Christian Baron (Ph.D.), led a long, impactful career as a scientist and research administrator in academia and government. I have created Baron Academic Consulting to share the depth and breadth of my extensive knowledge of the Canadian research funding ecosystem with the scientific community. We offer widespread research strategies and grant support services to increase the competitiveness of individual principal investigators and institutions in an increasingly complex funding environment. Supporting researchers and cutting-edge science is our passion - this is the core mission of Baron Academic Consulting.
About us
Career
Impact
Christian Baron was responsible for recruiting and mentoring of many professors, CRCs, and institute directors at local, regional and national levels. His coaching translated into many researchers and fostered successes of principal investigators. He knows hows to write competitive grants and can help you navigate the research funding system. He has both organized internal peer reviews and contributed to the success of major institutional applications such as CFI, CRC and CFREF. His significant contributions to institutional strategic planning and philanthropic initiatives are unparalleled.
Funding
During his academic career, Christian was a perennially successful researcher in the fields of molecular microbiology and biochemistry, both independently and in collaboration with others. He secured funding from a variety of sources, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Cancer Research Society (CRS), Genome Canada and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).
Overview
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2025 – Consultant, Baron Academic Consulting
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2022-2025 Vice-president Research – Programs (Assistant Deputy Minister), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Government of Canada
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2020-2022 Professor, Université de Montréal
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2015-2020 Vice-Dean of Research, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal
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2014-2015 President, Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences (CSMB)
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2008-2015 Professor and Chair, Université de Montréal
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2002-2008 Associate Professor, McMaster University
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1997-2002 University Assistant/Assistant Professor, University of Munich, Germany
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1994-1997 Postdoc at UC Berkeley, US
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1984-1993 Student of biology, Ph.D. in microbiology, University of Munich, Germany
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Publications: Pubmed
Experience
Grants: I have worked in leading roles as an administrator in academia and in government for more than 15 years. Over the course of this career, I have written, reviewed and/or revised a wide variety of grants for individual principal investigators, for teams and for institutions.
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Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
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Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery, Research Tools and Instrumentation (RTI) and CREATE grants
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New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF)
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Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) leader’s and Innovation Fund
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Canada Research Chair (CRC)
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Canada 150 Research Chair (CRC 150)
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Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC)
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Canada’s First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF)
I also led the recruitment and mentoring of scientists at various levels such as professors, department chairs and institute directors. Finally, I have extensive experience with strategic planning.
Services
Based on my extensive experience and comprehension of the funding ecosystem, I understand what it takes to write successful grants and to build careers in academia. Baron Academic Consulting offers the following research support services to the academic community:
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Individual principal investigators:
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Grant planning, writing and revision (e.g. CIHR, CRC, CFI, NSERC)
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Coaching and career planning (e.g. funding strategies, lab management)
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Institutions and research institutes:
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Planning, writing and revising of institutional grants (CERC, CFI, CFREF) including equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) considerations
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Organizing grant writing and review sessions
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Organizing internal peer review
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Advising on recruitment and candidate selection
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Advising on strategic planning
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Advising on government relations
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Contact me for a free 30-minutes discussion on your service needs and to provide information on pricing by email at christian.baron@baron-academic-consulting.com or via the contact form below.
Comments
Yves Brun, Ph.D.
Université de Montréal
Christian offered crucial support and advice for my CRC-150 application. It was a pleasure working with him.
Joaquin Ortega, Ph.D.
McGill University
Working with Christian on CFI projects has always been an absolute pleasure and a learning opportunity for me.
Marie Elliot, Ph.D.
McMaster University
Christian was a great mentor when I started my career as a faculty member. His strategic insight was invaluable in helping me establish my lab and begin navigating the institutional and Canadian academic environments, in addition to providing outstanding guidance and advice on my initial grant submissions.
Alba Guarne, Ph.D.
McGill University
I interacted with Christian during my tenure as Associate Dean (Biomedical Sciences) and I was struck by his ability to balance effectiveness, vision and leadership. Now we can learn the secrets of his success
Isabelle Hardy, M.D.
Université de Montréal
While I was Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, Christian offered invaluable insights and support for philanthropy projects and CRC applications.
Antonio Nanci, Ph.D.
Université de Montréal
It was a pleasure working with Christian on multiple CFI projects. He provided me with both practical and strategic advice on some CIHR grants.