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Profiles

Braden Manns

Braden Manns
Image source: Alberta Health Services

Braden Manns is a Canadian public health official and medical researcher based in Calgary, Alberta. He is an Associate Chief Medical Officer for the Strategic Clinical Networks (SCNs) within Alberta Health Services[1] and Professor in Health Economics and a kidney specialist at the University of Calgary.[2]

He also served as Co-Chair of the AHS COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Group, instructing the Government of Alberta's response to the declared COVID-19 pandemic.[3]

Manns serves on the Steering Committee for the Alberta SPOR SUPPORT Unit (AbSPORU),[4] has participated as a member of the Alberta Kidney Disease Network[5] and Network of Alberta Health Economists,[6] and is co-principal investigator for the Can-SOLVE CKD Network and Interdisciplinary Chronic Disease Collaboration (ICDC).[7][1:1] He was past-president of the Canadian Society of Nephrology,[8] and is a special advisor to the Reformulary Group.[9]

History

Manns began his post-secondary education with his Bachelor of Science degree with Honours in Biochemistry from the University of Saskatchewan, graduating in 1990.

He received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Toronto in May 1994, graduating with Honours Standing. He completed a General Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Calgary in 1997, where he was named a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Internal Medicine the following year. He repeated the process with a Nephrology fellowship in 1999. Manns got his Masters in Health Economics at the University of York, England, in October 2000.

He returned to complete a post-doctoral fellowship in Health Economics at the University of Calgary in June 2001.[10]

Career

From 2006-2008, Manns served as chair of the Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committee.[11]

Manns was a speaker at BC Kidney Days 2013 on October 24, 2013.[12]

Manns received the 2017 Medal for Research Excellence from the Kidney Foundation of Canada, stating “his expertise in applied health economics, health outcomes, pharmaceutical review and priority setting has directly informed health policy and decision-making.”[13]

COVID-19

Manns co-chaired the AHS COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Group alongside Lynora Saxinger.[3:1] In this role, Manns co-authored an article insisting that ivermectin not be used to treat COVID-19. He and his colleagues asserted that “there is no evidence that ivermectin benefits COVID-19 patients, but there are known harms. Ivermectin use has been associated with rash, nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure, abdominal pain, tremors, seizures and severe hepatitis (liver disease) requiring hospitalization.” The conclusion they reach is that “vaccination remains our best means of preventing COVID-19. Our vaccines are safe, fully approved and have been studied in high quality trials of tens of thousands of people.”[14]

William Makis called for Manns' resignation from the Advisory Group and an investigation into why he and his colleagues blocked ivermectin.[15]

Manns received funding for COVID-19 research through a COVID-19 Rapid Research Funding Opportunity grant provided by Alberta Innovates.[16][17][18] Manns was a "knowledge user" for COVID-19 Evidence Network to Support Decision-making (COVID-END).[19]

Activities

Manns has received funding from Alberta Innovates,[16:1] Baxter International,[20] and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).[21]

Publications

Interviews

  1. Manns, B. (2018). Introducing Braden Manns. Alberta Health Services. https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/about/scn/ahs-scn-pfe-newsletter-braden-manns.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. Manns, B., & Clement, F. (2017, November 1). A Different Prescription-Pharmacare isn’t the only solution to high drug costs. Alberta Views - the Magazine for Engaged Citizens. http://archive.today/2022.01.08-155246/https://albertaviews.ca/a-different-prescription/ ↩︎

  3. 2019-nCoV Scientific Advisory Group. (2021, May 27). Alberta Health Services. https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/info/ppih/if-ppih-covid-19-sag-terms-of-reference.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. About Us. Alberta Strategy for Patient Oriented Research SUPPORT Unit (AbSPORU). Retrieved January 8, 2022, from http://archive.vn/2022.01.08-153522/https://absporu.ca/about-us/ ↩︎

  5. Our Team. (2017, October 23). Alberta Kidney Disease Network. https://web.archive.org/web/20171023095419/https://www.akdn.info/our-team ↩︎

  6. Our Members. Network of Alberta Health Economists. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from https://noahe.ca/members# ↩︎

  7. Levin, A., & Manns, B. (2016). Canadians Seeking Solutions and Innovations to Overcome Chronic Kidney Disease (Can-SOLVE CKD). Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes. https://web.archive.org/web/20250108230546/https://www.advancinghealth.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Can-SOLVE-CKD-Overview.pdf ↩︎

  8. HE Braden Manns. O’Brien Institute for Public Health. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from https://obrieniph.ucalgary.ca/research/centres-programs-research-groups-and-units/health-economics/meet-our-team/dr-braden-manns-0 ↩︎

  9. Our Experts. Reformulary Group. Retrieved January 8, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250108231413/https://reformulary.com/our-experts/ ↩︎

  10. Manns, B. (2015, July). BRADEN MANNS, MD, MSc, FRCPC - CV. University of Calgary. https://contacts.ucalgary.ca/info/chs/profiles/1-4840509/braden-j-manns-cv.pdf ↩︎

  11. Braden Manns. UCalgary Profiles. Retrieved March 6, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230306025108/https://profiles.ucalgary.ca/braden-manns ↩︎

  12. Compassion in Kidney Care: From Patients to Providers. BC Renal Agency. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from http://www.bcrenal.ca/resource-gallery/Documents/Final_program_design_web.pdf ↩︎

  13. Dr. Braden Manns. Kidney Foundation of Canada. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from http://archive.vn/2022.01.08-164111/https://kidney.ca/Research/The-Impact-of-Research/Medal-for-Research-Excellence/Council-(1)/Test/Dr-Braden-Manns ↩︎

  14. Manns, B., Saxinger, L., & Joffe, M. (2021, October 12). Alberta Health Services: Ivermectin is a useful drug, but not a treatment for COVID-19. MSN News; Calgary Herald. http://archive.vn/2022.01.08-154040/https://www.msn.com/en-ca/health/medical/alberta-health-services-ivermectin-is-a-useful-drug-but-not-a-treatment-for-covid-19/ar-AAQ0PFZ ↩︎

  15. @MakisMD. (2021, June 15). "We first need a full Investigation of the AHS COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Group lead by NDP/AHS Executive Braden Manns and his associates like @AntibioticDoc and @drslmd." [Tweet]. Twitter. http://archive.vn/2022.01.08-172400/https://twitter.com/MakisMD/status/1405018246571446273 ↩︎

  16. Benham, J. L., Atabati, O., Oxoby, R. J., Mourali, M., Shaffer, B., Sheikh, H., Boucher, J.-C., Constantinescu, C., Parsons Leigh, J., Ivers, N. M., Ratzan, S. C., Fullerton, M. M., Tang, T., Manns, B. J., Marshall, D. A., Hu, J., & Lang, R. (2021). COVID-19 Vaccine–Related Attitudes and Beliefs in Canada: National Cross-sectional Survey and Cluster Analysis. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 7(12), e30424. https://doi.org/10.2196/30424 ↩︎ ↩︎

  17. Lang, R., Atabati, O., Oxoby, R. J., Mourali, M., Shaffer, B., Sheikh, H., Fullerton, M. M., Tang, T., Leigh, J. P., Manns, B. J., Marshall, D. A., Ivers, N. M., Ratzan, S. C., Hu, J., & Benham, J. L. (2021). Characterization of non-adopters of COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions through a national cross-sectional survey to assess attitudes and behaviours. Scientific Reports, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01279-2 ↩︎

  18. Lang, R., Benham, J. L., Atabati, O., Hollis, A., Tombe, T., Shaffer, B., Burns, K. K., MacKean, G., Léveillé, T., McCormack, B., Sheikh, H., Fullerton, M. M., Tang, T., Boucher, J.-C., Constantinescu, C., Mourali, M., Manns, B. J., Marshall, D. A., Hu, J., & Oxoby, R. J. (2021). Attitudes, behaviours and barriers to public health measures for COVID-19: a survey to inform public health messaging. BMC Public Health, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10790-0 ↩︎

  19. COVID-END in Canada evidence synthesis teams. McMaster Health Forum. Retrieved August 17, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220817095347/https://www.mcmasterforum.org/docs/default-source/covidend/covid-end-in-canada-evidence-synthesis-teams.pdf?sfvrsn=83fb59d5_14 ↩︎

  20. Trachtenberg, A. J., Quinn, A. E., Ma, Z., Klarenbach, S., Hemmelgarn, B., Tonelli, M., Faris, P., Weaver, R., Au, F., Zhang, J., & Manns, B. (2020). Association between change in physician remuneration and use of peritoneal dialysis: a population-based cohort analysis. CMAJ Open, 8(1), E96–E104. https://doi.org/10.9778/cmajo.20190132 ↩︎

  21. Trachtenberg, A. J., Quinn, A. E., Ma, Z., Klarenbach, S., Hemmelgarn, B., Tonelli, M., Faris, P., Weaver, R., Au, F., Zhang, J., & Manns, B. (2020). Association between change in physician remuneration and use of peritoneal dialysis: a population-based cohort analysis. CMAJ Open, 8(1), E96–E104. https://doi.org/10.9778/cmajo.20190132 ↩︎