Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Faculty Member

Ann Natalie Burchell BSc, MSc, PhD

Research Interests

Dr. Burchell is a Canada Research Chair in Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention. She uses epidemiological data to improve prevention and health care services for STIs and minimize the complications of STI-associated diseases, including HIV, human papillomavirus (HPV), syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia.

She has extensive methodological experience in the design and implementation of: observational longitudinal studies with primary and secondary data; sexual behaviour and health-access questionnaires; natural history studies using laboratory markers of infection; and pragmatic randomized trials for HPV prevention and improved screening for syphilis, cervical and anal cancer. She currently holds a Foundation Grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

• Infectious disease epidemiology
• STI/HIV Epidemiology
• Epidemiology of human papillomavirus and HPV-associated cancers

Dr. Burchell is currently accepting PhD Applications for Fall 2021/2022.

Education & Training History

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, Epidemiology, 2009, McGill University

MASTER OF SCIENCE, Community Health – Epidemiology Program, 1997, University of Toronto

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE, Honours Biology, Magna cum laude, 1994, University of Ottawa

Professional Summary & Appointments

Scientist, Department of Family and Community Medicine and MAP Centre for Urban Health, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto

Associate Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Epidemiology Division, University of Toronto

Co-Lead of Co-Infection and Related Conditions Core for the Canadian HIV Trials Network

Adjunct Scientist, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto

Honours & Awards

Canada Research Chair in Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention

Department of Family and Community Medicine Non-Clinician Research Scientist Award, University of Toronto, 2019-2020.

CAHR-CANFAR Excellence in Research Award (Epidemiology and Public Health Stream), Canadian Association for HIV Research and Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research, 2018

DFCM Award of Excellence, Research Excellence (Senior Investigator), Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 2017.

Current Research Projects

Dr. Burchell is currently leading a CIHR-funded cluster-randomized trial implementing routinized syphilis screening for HIV-positive men (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02019043) and is a co-principal investigator of the national CANOC Collaborating Centre, which combines data from HIV cohorts across Canada (www.canoc.ca). She is also active in 15 ongoing projects within the areas of HIV, HPV/HPV-related cancers, and STI natural history, prevention, and control.

Dr. Burchell is currently accepting PhD Applications for Fall 2021/2022.

Representative Publications

Burchell AN, Gardner S, Light L, Ellis BM, Antoniou T, Bacon J, Benoit A, Cooper C, Kendall C, Loutfy M, McGee F, Raboud J, Rachlis A, Wobeser W, Rourke SB. Implementation and Operational Research: Engagement in HIV Care Among Persons Enrolled in a Clinical HIV Cohort in Ontario, Canada, 2001-2011. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2015 Sep 1;70(1):e10-9.

Burchell AN, Allen VG, Gardner SL, Moravan V, Tan DH, Grewal R, Raboud J, Bayoumi AM, Kaul R, Mazzulli T, McGee F, Rourke SB. High incidence of diagnosis with syphilis co-infection among men who have sex with men in an HIV cohort in Ontario, Canada. BMC Infect Dis. 2015 Aug 20;15:356.

Burchell AN, Gardner SL, Mazzulli T, Manno M, Raboud J, Allen VG, Bayoumi AM, Kaul R, McGee F, Millson P, Remis RS, Wobeser W, Cooper C, Rourke SB. Hepatitis C virus seroconversion among HIV-positive men who have sex with men with no history of injection drug use: Results from a clinical HIV cohort. Can J Infect Dis Med Microbiol. 2015 Jan-Feb;26(1):17-22.

Gillis J, Cooper C, Burchell AN, Gardner S, Manno M, Mazzulli T, Rourke SB, Raboud JM. Time-dependent bias in hepatitis C classification. Epidemiology. 2015 Mar;26(2):e24-6.

Dahlstrom KR, Burchell AN, Ramanakumar AV, Rodrigues A, Tellier PP, Hanley J, Coutlée F, Franco EL. Sexual transmission of oral human papillomavirus infection among men. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2014 Dec;23(12):2959-64.

Burchell AN, Grewal R, Allen VG, Gardner SL, Moravan V, Bayoumi AM, Kaul R, McGee F, Millson MP, Remis RS, Raboud J, Mazzulli T, Rourke SB. Modest rise in chlamydia and gonorrhoea testing did not increase case detection in a clinical HIV cohort in Ontario, Canada. Sex Transm Infect. 2014 Dec;90(8):608-14.

Tuite AR, Burchell AN, Fisman DN. Cost-effectiveness of enhanced syphilis screening among HIV-positive men who have sex with men: a microsimulation model. PLoS One. 2014 Jul 1;9(7):e101240.

Burchell AN, Rodrigues A, Moravan V, Tellier PP, Hanley J, Coutlée F, Franco EL. Determinants of prevalent human papillomavirus in recently formed heterosexual partnerships: a dyadic-level analysis. J Infect Dis. 2014 Sep 15;210(6):846-52.

Wood B, Burchell AN, Escott N, Little J, Maar M, Ogilvie G, Severini A, Bishop L, Morrisseau K, Zehbe I. Using community engagement to inform and implement a community-randomized controlled trial in the anishinaabek cervical cancer screening study. Front Oncol. 2014 Feb 19;4:27.

Benoit AC, Light L, Burchell AN, Gardner S, Rourke SB, Wobeser W, Loutfy MR. Demographic and clinical factors correlating with high levels of psychological distress in HIV-positive women living in Ontario, Canada. AIDS Care. 2014;26(6):694-701.

Cescon A, Chan K, Raboud JM, Burchell AN, Forrest JI, Klein MB, Loutfy MR, Machouf N, Montaner JS, Tsoukas C, Hogg RS, Cooper C. Significant differences in clinical outcomes between HIV-hepatitis C virus coinfected individuals with and without injection drug use history. AIDS. 2014 Jan 2;28(1):121-7.

Samji H, Cescon A, Hogg RS, Modur SP, Althoff KN, Buchacz K, Burchell AN, et al. Closing the gap: increases in life expectancy among treated HIV-positive individuals in the United States and Canada. PLoS One. 2013 Dec 18;8(12):e81355.

Burchell AN, Allen VG, Moravan V, Gardner S, Raboud J, Tan DH, Bayoumi AM, Kaul R, Mazzulli T, McGee F, Millson P, Remis RS, Rourke SB. Patterns of syphilis testing in a large cohort of HIV patients in Ontario, Canada, 2000-2009. BMC Infect Dis. 2013 May 28;13:246.

Moscicki AB, Schiffman M, Burchell A, Albero G, Giuliano AR, Goodman MT, Kjaer SK, Palefsky J. Updating the natural history of human papillomavirus and anogenital cancers. Vaccine. 2012 Nov 20;30 Suppl 5:F24-33.

Burchell AN, Bayoumi AM, Rourke SB, Major C, Gardner S, Sandstrom P, Rachlis A, Taylor D, Mazzulli T, Fisher M, Brooks J. Increase in transmitted HIV drug resistance among persons undergoing genotypic resistance testing in Ontario, Canada, 2002-09. J Antimicrob Chemother 2012; 67(11):2755-2765.

Burchell AN, Coutlée F, Tellier PP, Hanley J, Franco EL. Genital transmission of human papillomavirus in recently formed heterosexual couples. J Infect Dis 2011; 204(11):1723-9.

Burchell AN, Tellier PP, Hanley J, Coutlée F, Franco EL. Human papillomavirus infections among couples in new sexual relationships. Epidemiology 2010; 21(1):31-37.

Burchell AN, Calzavara L, Myers T, Remis RS, Raboud J, Corey P, Swantee C.Stress and increased HIV infection risk among gay and bisexual men. AIDS 2010; 24:1757-1764.

Bosch FX, Burchell AN, Schiffman M, Giuliano AR, de Sanjose S, Bruni L, Tortolero-Luna G, Kjaer SK, Muñoz N. Epidemiology and natural history of human papillomavirus infections and type-specific implications in cervical neoplasia. Vaccine. 2008 Aug 19;26 Suppl 10:K1-16.

Burchell AN, Winer RL, de Sanjosé S, Franco EL. Chapter 6: Epidemiology and transmission dynamics of genital HPV infection.Vaccine 2006; 24(supplement 3):S52-S61.

Burchell AN, Richardson H, Mahmud SM, Trottier H, Tellier PP, Hanley J, Coutlée F, Franco EL. Modeling the sexual transmissibility of human papillomavirus infection using stochastic computer simulation and empirical data from a cohort study of young women in Montreal, Canada. Am J Epidemiol 2006; 163:534-543.