In the News
PhD Candidate Award Sheds Light on Health Barriers for Black People Living with HIV
By Françoise Makanda, Communications Officer at DLSPH Apondi Judith Odhiambo received the Canadian Association for HIV Research 2021 New Investigator Award last month. She was honoured for her research in unearthing invisible barriers Black people living with HIV face as they enter the Canadian healthcare system. “I am honoured to...
Improve Alignment Between Domestic and Foreign Policy says U of T Researcher
by Françoise Makanda, Communications Officer at DLSPH Domestic policy at the expense of foreign policy is an antiquated global health view, say U of T researchers. DLSPH researchers like Associate Prof. Erica Di Ruggiero are calling on all levels of government to adopt an integrated strategy that recognizes public health...
U of T Students Question Popular Paper Which Supports Three Feet COVID Distancing
by Françoise Makanda, Communications Officer at DLSPH DLSPH epidemiology students have found that an influential paper may have overstated the safety of three feet of physical distancing to protect against COVID-19. The paper observed no statistical significance between students' risk of catching COVID-19 whether three or six feet apart in...
Statement by DLSPH Dean Adalsteinn (Steini) Brown on the Discovery of the Remains of 215 Indigenous Children
I was horrified and heartbroken to learn about the discovery of 215 Indigenous children buried in an unmarked site at the Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C. This atrocity is just the latest in a shameful and, until recently, largely hidden history of discriminatory, racist treatment of Indigenous peoples by...
Meet DLSPH’s New Black Health Lead
Asst. Prof. Roberta Timothy has been appointed Black Health Lead at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health – part of a School-wide initiative to embed equity and anti-racism throughout the curriculum, and to advance research and education in Black population health. Timothy plans to create new and innovative programming...
Alum’s Documentary ‘Mothering in Quarantine’ Wins Big at Toronto Film School Festival
By Françoise Makanda, Communications Officer at The Dalla Lana School of Public Health What was a therapeutic project for Alum Kyisha Williams won the minds and hearts of The Toronto Film School Film Festival as the Best Documentary of 2020. Mothering in Quarantine is an honest video diary featuring Black...
DLSPH Open: Vaccination Efforts at the Community-Level
Dear faculty members, staff and students, With vaccination efforts picking up steam in Canada, I’d like to call your attention to the work of several DLSPH professors whose work embodies our School’s evolving understanding of both equity and precision in public health delivery. These are the culturally specific COVID vaccination...
Fitness and Lower Likelihood of COVID-19 Death Link Found

by Françoise Makanda, Communications Officer at DLSPH U of T researchers have found that fit people are less likely to die from COVID-19. “One of the really cool findings of this study is that anyone with an above low level of physical activity is better protected,” says Rebecca Christensen, a...
A New Era for DLSPH and the WHO’s Collaborating Centre on Health Promotion

DLSPH’s Centre for Global Health has just been named a WHO Collaborating Centre on Health Promotion – part of a network of 800 academic and research institutions that support the organization’s mission to improve the world’s health. Although the School has been a Collaborating Centre since the 1990s, moving the designation...
DLSPH Provides Culturally Safe Vaccination for Indigenous People

Indigenous health experts at the University of Toronto are running a COVID vaccination clinic for Toronto’s Indigenous community – an illustration of the power of public health measures wrapped in culturally appropriate care. The clinic began in early April on campus and runs once a week throughout May. It will...