COVID vaccines effective against severe outcomes in people with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases: study
April 28/2022
By Alisa Kim The remarkable speed with which vaccines for COVID-19 were developed speak to global cooperation among scientists and unprecedented investment by governments aimed at finding a panacea for the health crisis. Before such vaccines were approved, they were studied in clinical trials with tens of thousands of people...
Trainees outline a road map for population health management in Ontario
April 25/2022
By Alisa Kim The Connecting Care Act, which was passed by the Ontario government in 2019, laid the groundwork for health system reforms including the creation of Ontario Health Teams (OHTs). Comprised of providers and community health organizations, OHTs are responsible for delivering comprehensive and coordinated care to a defined population...
Beyond emergency care: trainee looks at the role of paramedics in the health system
April 13/2022
By Alisa Kim As a paramedic, Amir Allana responds to a wide range of calls—from a heart attack or stroke to people struggling with mental health issues and addiction. “On a given day, I might go from acute trauma to someone who’s 70 who has just had a fall but...
Researchers to examine the experiences of female health care workers to address burnout, attrition
March 17/2022
By Alisa Kim The COVID-19 pandemic has made worse the long-standing issue of burnout among health care workers. A brief prepared for Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, for example, reports prior to 2020 severe burnout—characterized by intense emotional exhaustion and decreased professional achievement—was found in 20 to 40 per cent...
Celebrating International Women’s Day: A Q&A with surgeon-scientist-in-training Dr. Fahima Dossa
March 02/2022
During medical school, Dr. Fahima Dossa thought she would specialize in neurology, but after some clinical rotations she discovered an affinity for surgery. “I remember leaving my surgical rotation satisfied at the end of every day that I personally had done something to contribute to helping the patient with their...
Less is more: Dr. Gillian Parker’s research takes aim at low-value care
February 10/2022
By Alisa Kim, IHPME Being prescribed antibiotics for a viral infection or getting an MRI scan for low back pain are examples of low-value care—health care practices that yield little or no benefit, or even cause harm. Yet, according to a 2017 report by the Canadian Institute of Health...
Positive Zero Transport Futures takes a holistic approach to decarbonizing transportation
February 08/2022By Safa Jinje in University of Toronto Engineering News A new research collaboration supported by U of T Engineering’s Dean Strategic Fund aims to accelerate the decarbonization of transportation. For Professor Marianne Hatzopoulou (CivMin), who co-leads the new initiative, this means going well beyond clean technologies. “Decarbonization is not just...
DLSPH-Led Experts Offer Tactics to Catch Up on Routine Immunizations
September 27/2021
By Heidi Singer A DLSPH-led group of experts is calling on governments, physicians, schools and other health providers to step up immunizations for serious diseases like measles and polio to prevent new epidemics from cropping up. The vaccine experts, led by members of DLSPH’s Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases (CVPD),...
The 501 Blues: How worried should we be about novel SARS-2 variants?
January 18/2021By Dr. David Fisman, Epidemiologist and Professor at DLSPH Over the Christmas break news began to circulate of a novel SARS-2 variant, which had appeared in southern England in September 2021 and which has rapidly become the dominant strain of SARS-2 across England. Particularly worrisome is the fact that this...
Dr. Paul Kurdyak appointed Chair in Addiction and Mental Health Policy at IHPME
January 18/2021by Alisa Kim, Communications Officer at IHPME As a medical student, Dr. Paul Kurdyak was drawn to psychiatry because of his love of stories. Providing mental health care, he says, involves not only identifying a particular condition, but also understanding how that illness affects an individual’s ability to function, and...