Dalla Lana School of Public Health

2025 DLSPH Wrapped: Our community’s highlights from this year

December 18/2025

From award ceremonies and keynote speeches, 

To bold ideas and what your professor teaches, 

Students, faculty, alumni and staff, 

Here’s your 2025 DLSPH Wrapped! 

As 2025 draws to a close, we asked our DLSPH students, faculty, staff, and alumni to share their favourite moments so we could reflect on and celebrate the many accomplishments, adventures and partnerships made during this busy year.

Please enjoy the photos submitted by our community below.

Thank you to everyone who submitted a photo! If you are a student, alum, faculty or staff member who has a memory to share for the 2025 DLSPH Wrapped, it is not too late! Please send your caption and photo to bonnie.osullivan[at]utoronto.ca for consideration by January 5, 2026. We will update this article in the new year with any submissions that come in by that deadline.

2025 Black Leaders in Health Awards

Winners of the third annual Black Leaders in Health Awards (Tameika Shaw, Onye Nnorom, Sylvia Okonofua and Paul Bailey) took a moment to celebrate with DLSPH Dean Adalsteinn Brown and DLSPH Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Office Director, Ryan Hinds. This year marked a milestone as the awards recognized a student recipient for the first time to spotlight emerging leadership in public health and to reinforce DLSPH’s commitment to celebrating Black excellence across both professional and student communities.

MPH-Nutrition and Dietetics Culminating Project Presentations

Second year students in our MPH-Nutrition and Dietetics program celebrated their Culminating Project presentations. Some of the topics covered included: The Gender-Transformative Framework for Nutrition, AI Solutions in Food Services, Development of a Household Food Insecurity Toolkit, An Environmental Scan on First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and Urban Indigenous Diabetes in Ontario, and Policy Review on National Strategies for Anemia Prevention and Control. 

Indigenizing Health Symposium

Attendees at the annual land-based Indigenizing Health Symposium gathered at Hart House Farm, in Caledon, Ontario. The event was hosted by the Waakebiness Institute for Indigenous Health and the Ontario Network Environments for Indigenous Health Research.

The Boehm Lecture on Public Health and Healthcare

The Boehm Lecture on Public Health and Healthcare was held on May 26, 2025, in partnership with CBC Ideas. The keynote speaker Kathy Loon discussed the topic, Indigenous Health in Indigenous Hands. The Boehm Lecture was established at DLSPH in 2018 by Prof. Leslie Boehm to present Canadians with a fresh look at problems affecting Canada and the global health system.

Institute of Health Emergencies and Pandemics Interdisciplinary Symposium

The Institute of Health Emergencies and Pandemics welcomed Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Teresa Tam, who gave the keynote address at their annual Interdisciplinary Symposium.

2025 Biostatistics Research Day

The 2025 Biostatistics Research Day poster presentation winners gathered with Prof. Tony Panzarella, Chair of the organizing committee, Prof. Olli Saarela, organizer of the judging process, and members of the Corey family—Mary Corey and her son Brennan—who sponsor the three Paul Corey Memorial poster prizes.

IHPME Research and Impact Day

In May, the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) held its annual Research and Impact Day, a student-led all-day event. Pictured are the award winners for IHPME’s 2025 Research and Impact Day.

The Dean’s Alumni Cocktail Reception

DLSPH alumni gathered to mingle and celebrate at the Dean’s Alumni Cocktail Reception, part of our Alumni Reunion activities.

Convocation of first MPH Black Health Cohort

The first-ever cohort of the MPH Black Health program graduated this past spring. Congratulations to (pictured) Adrianna Perryman, Josh Pratt, Tiya Samuel, Asli Nur, Simone Blais, MPH in Black Health Program Director Dr. Roberta K. Timothy, Amani Chabikuli, and Osatohanwe (Joanne) Okungbowa! (Photo credit: Asli Nur) 

Clinical Epidemiology & Health Care Research 

DLSPH students in our Clinical Epidemiology & Health Care Research program paused for a moment as they were enjoying their Student Orientation.

CanPath’s first Synthetic Dataset Workshop

CanPath’s first Synthetic Dataset Workshop, hosted at CRIS, brought together students, instructors, and clinician scientists from across the academic health community for hands-on training in its trusted research environment, with partners from Lifebit flying in to support the event.

SBHS PhD Student Travels for Two-week Leadership Program

Social and Behavioural Health Sciences (SBHS) PhD Candidate, Carlos Sanchez-Pimienta, visited the Australian National University for a two-week leadership program on governance for planetary health equity.

Outreach and Access Program

Students from the DLSPH Outreach and Access Program’s Summer Institute visited The Stop’s Green Barn to explore how sustainable farming practices connected to their case study on climate change and its impacts on public health. This year’s program welcomed its largest student cohort to date, deepening opportunities for hands-on learning.

C.P. Shah Alumni Award of Excellence in Public Health

The 2024 C.P. Shah Alumni Award of Excellence in Public Health was awarded to Dr. Jane Philpott. Pictured: DLSPH alum Joanne Thanos in conversation with Dr. Jane Philpott.

The Centre for Global Health at Mastercard Foundation’s Africa Health Collaborative Partnered Workshop

The Centre for Global Health team met with colleagues from the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Rwanda; Moi University, Kenya; University of Cape Town, South Africa and the Office of the Vice President International of the University of Toronto at the first-ever DLSPH and Mastercard Foundation’s Africa Health Collaborative Partnered Workshop in Kigali, Rwanda.

The First to Graduate from Canada’s Only DrPH Program

Zach Miller became the first to graduate from the DrPH program at DLSPH. This accomplishment has not only made him the first Indigenous person to obtain such a degree within Canada, but the first person ever in Canada’s history to graduate with a DrPH from a Canadian university. Congratulations to Dr. Miller, photographed here with DrPH Program Director Dr. Ted Witek, DrPH, and Adjunct Professor Dr. Anne Wojtak, DrPH. 

2025 Ontario Health System Quality and Innovation Awards

On November 25, DLSPH hosted the second annual Ontario Health System Quality and Innovation Awards. Joined by our event partners Ontario Health, the Ontario Hospital Association, and the Ontario Medical Association, we were pleased to celebrate projects across nine categories.  

RISE Centre Presents at Montreal Summit

RISE Centre Coordinator Mac Stewart and MPH student Tega Ubor presented their findings on queering pandemic preparedness from the CIHR-funded “Learning from Mpox” study at the Community-Based Research Centre Summit in Montreal.

MPH: OEH Field Trip

Students from our MPH Program in Occupational and Environmental Health (OEH) participated in a field trip to Mondelez.

IHPME’s Moonshot

IHPME hosted its 11th Moonshot event at the Hart House Great Hall, with keynote, Dr. Sacha Bhatia, who shared his insights on “Building the New Future of Primary Care in Ontario.”

The Office of Research’s Lunch and Learns

The DLSPH Office of Research was excited to host three lunch and learn sessions in 2025, highlighting the great work of our faculty and U of T community members, including at this event where we learned more about data assets available to DLSPH faculty members. Pictured here is a presentation from Dr. Jennifer Brooks, CanPath.

The Centre for Critical Qualitative Health’s New Chapter

In 2025, the Centre for Critical Qualitative Health Research began a new chapter in research and education with Professor Rupaleem Bhuyan joining as Director and Eakin-Hoffmann Chair in Critical Qualitative Health Research, and Assistant Professor Sarah Elton (SBHS), as the Eakin Chair in Critical Qualitative Health Research Methodology.

The Collaborative Centre for Climate, Health + Sustainable Care

The Collaborative Centre for Climate, Health + Sustainable Care’s leadership team was proud to host their annual symposium.