Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Faculty Member

Xiaolin Wei MD, MPH, PhD

Research Interests

• Implementation Science
• Antimicrobial resistance
• Tuberculosis
• Diabetes and hypertension
• Primary care
• Global health
• One health

Biography

Professor Xiaolin Wei, MD, PhD, FCAHS, is an internationally recognized leader in global health policy and implementation science whose work has shaped national and international health systems. As a Full Professor and the inaugural Dalla Lana Chair in Global Health Policy at the University of Toronto, he has led major scientific and policy innovations across tuberculosis (TB), antimicrobial resistance (AMR), chronic disease care, and pandemic response. He published nearly 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, including The Lancet and Nature Medicine. He has led C$16m in research funding as the principal investigator, funded by NIHR, MRC, DFID, CIHR, IDRC, and the United Nations. He served as a Board Member, Secretary General, and Vice President of the International Union of Lung Disease from 2012 to 2023. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. As a global leader in knowledge dissemination, he has been invited to give over 110 keynote speeches by the WHO, governments, academic institutes and health agencies.

Education & training history

• 2012- Fellow, Faculty of Public Health, UK
• 2004 – PhD, University of Toronto, Canada
• 2001 – MSc in Health Admin, Peking University, China
• 1998 – MD, Jining Medical School, China

Teaching responsibilities

• CHL5631H: Integrating Public Health and Clinical Care: The case of TB
• HAD5752H: Introduction of Knowledge Translation and Implementation Science
• HAD5778H: Comparative Health Systems and Policy （until 2023)
• Full SGS member, supervising PhD student in Health Service Research in IHPME

Students currently under supervision:

PhD students as main supervisor:

Raja Faisal Abbas, Hammad Durraini

Previous PhD students:

Victoria Haldane, Qi Zhang, Quanfang Dong

PhD student as co-supervisor or committee member:

Bryan Gascon, Monica Kataria

I accept PhD students from the Health System Research (HSR) of IHPME.

I am the Director of the MSc Course Only Program in IHPME.

Ongoing Research Projects (as PI)

2025-2026        Promoting planetary health education, smoking-free home, and clean air community mobilization to prevent air pollution related non-communicable diseases in urban Pakistan, by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) – Priority Announcement

2023-2025        Evaluating the effectiveness and implementation process of population-level interventions to reduce inappropriate use of antibiotics in primary care settings to inform policy development in Canada, by Canadian Institutes of Health Research

2021-2023.       Developing a tool kit to build vaccine confidence and ensure equitable COVID-19 vaccination implementation strategies in low-and-middle income countries: a multi-stakeholder implementation science and co-development study, by Canadian Institutes of Health Research

2022-2023.        Implementing a telemedicine and remote-mentoring platform to provide integrated noncommunicable disease and COVID- 19 care in primary care facilities in rural Pakistan, by Canadian Institutes of Health Research

2020-2023        Developing integrated guidelines for health care workers in hospital and primary healthcare facilities in response to Covid-19 pandemic in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), 2020-2022, by Canadian Institutes of Health Research

2019-2024.       Antibiotic stewardship program in primary care facilities to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory tract infections: a clustered randomised controlled trial and follow-up study in rural China, 2019-2024, by China Primary Care Foundation

Research Summary

My academic contribution has been focused on disease control and primary care in four areas: 1) primary care policy; 2) antimicrobial resistance (AMR); 3) tuberculosis (TB); 4) hypertension and diabetes, and 5) COVID-19. My research program has been strongly linked to creative professional activities in employing implementation science frameworks to change practice and health policies in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Through my research, I have established extensive partnerships with health authorities, NGOs and academics in several LMICs (including China, the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Uganda and Swaziland). Evidence from my research has been used to formulate national policies in control of antimicrobial, tuberculosis, COVID-19, and diabetes/ hypertension in primary care settings in China, Nepal, and Ghana to improve population health and equity. My research have changed global policies on TB and AMR.

I have proven records of impacts in teaching, capacity building and leadership. I designed and direct five courses in DLSPH (3 compulsory and 2 elective). I also teach for family physicians and medical students, and give open lectures for undergraduate and high school students in Toronto. Through my career, I have supervised over 50 junior staff, 30 postgraduate students (PhD and MSc) in Canada, UK and Hong Kong. In the University of Toronto, I am the faculty led for implementation science cluster. I am also the Director for MSc Course-only Program in health system research. At the University level, I serve on the President’s International Council on East Asia.

Recent selected publications :

Pan J,* Wei X,* Lu H, Wu X, Li C, Hai X, et al. List prices and clinical value of anticancer drugs in China, Japan, and South Korea: a retrospective comparative study. Lancet Reg Health West Pac. 2024;47:101088

Litvinjenko S, Magwood O, Wu S, Wei X*. Burden of tuberculosis among vulnerable populations worldwide: an overview of systematic reviews. Lancet Infect Dis. 2023 Dec;23(12):1395-1407. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(23)00372-9.

Wu S, Li Y, Mishra S, Bodner K, Baral S, Kwong JC, Wei X*. Effect of the incremental protection of previous infection against Omicron infection among individuals with a hybrid of infection- and vaccine-induced immunity: a population-based cohort study in Canada. Int J Infect Dis. 2023;127:69-73.

Wu S, Tannous E, Haldane V, Ellen ME, Wei X*. Barriers and facilitators of implementing interventions to improve appropriate antibiotic use in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review based on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Implement Sci. 2022;17(1):30.

Dodd W, Brubacher LJ, Kipp A, Wyngaarden S, Haldane V, Ferrolino H, Wilson K, Servano D Jr, Lau L, Wei X*. Navigating fear and care: The lived experiences of community-based health actors in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Soc Sci Med. 2022;308:115222.

Haldane V, Li BP, Ge S, Huang JZ, Huang H, Sadutshang L, Wei X*. Exploring the translation process for multilingual implementation research studies: a collaborative autoethnography. BMJ Glob Health. 2022;7(5).

Wei, X., Zhang Z, Chong M, Hicks J, Gong W, Zou G, Zhong J, Walley, J.D., Upshur R, Yu, M. 2021, Effect of a package of risk-based pharmaceutical and lifestyle interventions on patients with hypertension and/or diabetes in rural China: a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial, PLoS Med 18(7): e1003694. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pmed.1003694

Zou G, Zhang W, King R, Zhang Z, Walley J, Gong W, Yu M, Wei X*. Process Evaluation of a Clustered Randomized Control Trial of a Comprehensive Intervention to Reduce the Risk of Cardiovascular Events in Primary Health Care in Rural China. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(11).

Haldane V, Ratnapalan S, Perera N, Zhang Z, Ge S, Choi M, Lau LL, Samaraweera S, Dodd W, Walley J, Wei X*.: Codevelopment of COVID-19 infection prevention and control guidelines in lower-middle-income countries: the ‘SPRINT’ principles. BMJ Glob Health 2021, 6(8).

Lau LL, Hung N, Go DJ, Ferma J, Choi M, Dodd W, Wei X. Knowledge, attitudes and practices of COVID-19 among income-poor households in the Philippines: A cross-sectional study. J Glob Health. 2020;10(1):011007.

Haldane V, Zhang Z, Abbas RF, Dodd W, Lau LL, Kidd MR, Rouleau, K., Zou, G., Chao, Z., Upshur, R.,Walley, J, Wei X*. National primary care responses to COVID-19: a rapid review of the literature. BMJ Open. 2020;10(12):e041622

Wei X*, Deng S, Haldane V, Blacklock C, Zhang W, Walley J, King R, et al. Understanding complex interventions to reduce antibiotic prescribing in rural China: a process evaluation of a randomised controlled trial. Journal of health services research & policy. 2020;25(2):94-103.

Wei X, Zhang Z, Hicks JP, Walley JD, King R, Newell JN, Yin, J., Zeng, J., Guo, Y., Lin, M., Upshur, R. E. G., Sun, Q. “Long-term outcomes of an educational intervention to reduce antibiotic prescribing for childhood upper respiratory tract infections in rural China: Follow-up of a cluster-randomised controlled trial”. PLoS Med. 2019;16(2):e1002733.

Zhang Z, Dawkins B, Hicks JP, Walley JD, Hulme C, Elsey H., Deng SM., Lin M., Zeng J., Wei, X*. “Cost-effectiveness analysis of a multi-dimensional intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for children with upper respiratory tract infections in China”. Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH. 2018;23(10):1092-100.

Wei X, Zhang Z, Walley JD, Hicks JP, Zeng J, Deng S, Zhou Y, Yin J, Newell JN, Sun Q, Zou G, Guo Y, Upshur R, Lin M. “Effect of a training and educational intervention for physicians and caregivers on antibiotic prescribing for upper respiratory tract infections in children at primary care facilities in rural China: a cluster-randomised controlled trial”. Lancet Glob Health. 2017;5(12):e1258-e67.

Walker IF, Shi OM, Hicks JP, Elsey H, Wei X., Menzies D., Falzon D, Migliori GB, Perez-Guzman C, Vargas MH, Garcia-Garcia L, Osornio JS, Ponce-De-Leon A, Van der Walt M, Newell JN. “Analysis of loss to follow up in 4,099 multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis patients”. European Respiratory Journal. 2019; 54(1)

Wei X, Hicks JP, Pande P, Zhang Z, Haldane V, Liu XQ, et al. “Protocol for a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of improving tuberculosis patients’ treatment adherence via electronic monitors and an app versus usual care in Tibet”. Trials. 2019;20(1):273

Li B, Zhang XL, Guo J, Wang J, Pianduo B, Wei XL, Ying TT, Hu J. “The Prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis in Tibet Autonomous Region, China in 2014”. The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease. 2019;23(6):735-740

Ge E, Li D, Luo M, Tsui KWS, Waye MMY, Shen X, Wei X*. “Transmission of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Shanghai: roles of residential status”. The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease. 2018;22(12):1462-8.

Wei, X., Walley, J.D., Zhang, Z., Zou, G., Gong, W., Deng, S., Harries, A.D., Hicks, J.P., Chong, M.K.C., Newell, J.N., Zhong, J., Yu, M. 2017. “Implementation of a comprehensive intervention for patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease in rural China: A pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial”. PLoS One. 12, e0183169.

Wei X*, Li H, Yang N, Wong YSS, Chong MCK, Shi, L, Wong MCS, Xu J, Zhang D, Tang J, Li DKT, Meng Q, Griffiths S, (2015). “Changes of primary care quality in two megacities of China between 2011 and 2013: a multivariate difference-in-difference analysis”, Bulletin of the World Health Organization 93:407-16

Full publication list available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Xiaolin_Wei2

News Articles

Managing Diabetes and Hypertension Remotely in Rural Pakistan

“A Perfect Storm”: DLSPH Researchers Fight Vaccine Hesitancy in the Philippines

U of T Researchers Receive Grant to Increase Tuberculosis Treatment Adherence in Tibet

U of T study finds long-term success in reducing unnecessary antibiotics prescriptions in China