Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation

Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Mental Health

Women

Subheadline

“The current road towards pandemic recovery needs to consider these at-risk populations. If not, there could be dire long-term consequences for the current generation and ones to come”

Two new studies supported by the Institute for Pandemics – a UUֱ�� institutional strategic initiative – show that the non-pharmaceutical public health measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with increased mental health visits for mothers with young children, young women and adolescent girls.

As governments around the world imposed public health measures to reduce viral transmission, including stay-at-home orders, travel restrictions, and school closures, experts raised concerns about the potential lasting impact on the mental health of individuals, especially those belonging to vulnerable and at-risk populations.

In particular, mothers with young children faced obstacles related to parenting and caregiving, while young women and adolescent girls experienced major disruptions to school, social and daily routines.

The new studies – which built on previous research showing the COVID-19 pandemic had a larger impact on the mental health of men compared to women – aimed to examine how these pandemic-related non-pharmaceutical interventions have impacted the mental health of these groups.

“This work raises concerns about how to contain and address this issue,” says Geoffrey Anderson, a professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) and lead of the pandemic recovery theme at the Institute for Pandemics.

“The current road towards pandemic recovery needs to consider these at-risk populations. If not, there could be dire long-term consequences for the current generation and ones to come.”

The research team also included: John Moin, a former post-doctoral researcher funded by the Institute for Pandemics; Shauna Brail, an associate professor at UUֱ�� Mississauga who directs the Institute for Management & Innovation; and Simone Vigod, head of the department of psychiatry at Women’s College Hospital and a professor in the department of psychiatry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

Both studies compared rates of doctor visits for mental health care in the pre-pandemic period from March 2016 to March 2020 to rates during the pandemic from April 2020 to November 2021.

The first, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) Open, found a rapid increase in doctor visits by mothers of young children for mental health care during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period, with most of the care for mood, anxiety, depressive disorders and alcohol and substance abuse.

In the second study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Open, the team found an increase in doctor visits for adolescent girls and women aged 14 to 24 for mental health care largely driven by care for mood, anxiety and depressive disorders. Additionally, there was an increase in hospital visits for eating disorders for adolescent girls and women aged 14 to 19. There was no increase in doctor visits or hospitalizations for boys or young men.

Both studies show that the implementation of public health measures during the pandemic was associated with increased usage of mental health services among mothers of young children, young women and adolescent girls, and point to potential lessons for future public health crises.

“Our research raises concerns about the mental health impacts of public health measures on vulnerable women,” says Anderson. “We need to address these impacts as key part of any effective and equitable pandemic recovery strategy and we need to pay more attention to these consequences in future public health crises”.

"We saw the rapid and ongoing application of non-pharmaceutical interventions as public health measures throughout the pandemic,” says Moin, who was the lead author of both studies. “We also now know that they were associated with abrupt and prolonged changes in the utilization of mental health services. This association should be considered for future public health planning and strategy.”

Renzo Calderon, another post-doctoral fellow funded by the Institute for Pandemics, is leading a team that is further exploring this observed trend.

Despite nearly four years having passed since the beginning of the restrictions, the pandemic continues to alter the landscape of mental health. Hence, the researchers’ focus is not solely on exploring the overarching trends but also on better understanding if there are specific socio-demographic groups of women who were particularly affected.

Preliminary results indicate that the demand for mental health services around specific issues such as eating disorders and substance abuse, especially among young women, has not yet diminished.

Such a targeted approach aims to uncover nuanced insights into how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these problems and lead to more effective interventions.

How AI will – and won’t – change health care in 2024

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 18:54:54 +0000

How AI will – and won’t – change health care in 2024

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 01/24/2024 - 13:54

Cutline

(photo by Sean Anthony Eddy/Getty Images)

Adina Bresge

Topic

Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation

Unity Health

Artificial Intelligence

Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy

Subheadline

Muhammad Mamdani, who has overseen the implementation of more than 50 AI-powered solutions into clinical practice, says "the potential is massive for patient care in several areas"

Muhammad Mamdani understands why people are wary of artificial intelligence having a say in their health care – but he’s even more concerned about the patients who are waiting to benefit from the potentially life-saving benefits of AI-assisted medicine.

As vice-president, data science and advanced analytics at Unity Health Toronto, Mamdani has overseen the implementation of more than 50 AI-powered solutions into clinical practice – from an early warning system that uses electronic medical records to predict a patient’s risk of death or requiring intensive care, to a brain-bleed detection tool that can help fast-track access to critical treatment.

And he says there’s more to come in 2024.

“I hope to see more AI being used for clinical decision making,” say Mamdani, who is a professor in the department of medicine in the UUֱ��’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine and the director of the Temerty Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM).

Yet, despite AI's potential to transform patient care, it isn’t a cure-all for the underlying problems in Canada’s health system, warns Mamdani, who holds cross-appointments in UUֱ��’s Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

Mamdani recently spoke to UUֱ�� News about how AI will – and won’t – shape health care in 2024.

How do you expect AI will transform health care in 2024?

For the past few years, we’ve been in this era of AI hype in health care. A lot of talk, some people doing a few small things here and there, but not really a big splash – and I’m not sure we’ll see a big splash in 2024. A lot of organizations are actively getting into this space, but I would say we’re still at least a few years away from seeing really, really big changes. Instead, I think we’ll see a more gradual adoption of AI in health care.

In 2024, I hope to see more AI being used for clinical decision making. Right now, we’re seeing it used more for non-clinical or administrative tasks. For example, quite a few primary-care clinics and outpatient clinics are using AI scribes that can “listen” to a conversation between a doctor and a patient, transcribe the visit and provide a really good summary note.

[Doctors] are notorious for not writing everything down, and that’s very unfortunate because medicine is very data- and information-driven. When a doctor is talking with a patient, they’re focused on the patient – as they should be – but when the patient leaves, they might have forgotten many of the things that were discussed or didn’t have time to write things down. Then you have an imperfect data set the next time around.

We’re also starting to see tools that can take these transcriptions to suggest diagnoses or recommend medications and, with the doctor’s OK, send prescriptions to the pharmacy.

This coming year, [at Unity Health], we’re working on creating a multimodal data environment that incorporates not only clinical data, but also medical imaging data and waveform data from monitors and ventilators that we’re able to access in real time. For example, you could go into the ICU and constantly ingest data from ventilators to understand if a patient is going to have trouble breathing in the next 20 minutes.

What are some of the ways AI could improve patient care?

The potential is massive for patient care in several areas. One is around chatbot-style solutions where you can ask questions about health-related issues. There are many [clinics] now where you can go on to a website and say, “I have these symptoms. What do you think?”

The other area that I think will probably be more useful is around continuity of care when a patient leaves the hospital or clinic. Oftentimes, patients complain that they don’t have enough information or it wasn’t explained to them what to do next. You’re in this institution undergoing all of these tests and procedures, then when you leave, the doctor tells you all of these things you need to do, and you’re basically on your own – and you may not remember half of what you were told.

Poor post-discharge communication and management is one of the reasons we see a lot of patients being readmitted to hospitals. What if we had an AI chatbot that could stay in contact with the patient, summarize their treatment plan, answer their questions and tell them to call their doctor when necessary?

What are the most significant challenges you foresee in implementing AI technologies in health-care settings?

We should temper our expectations for AI, because when you deal with a health-care system, you have to try to solve the system problem first and use technology to enable appropriate solutions.

Take, for example, the problems we see because of a lack of information sharing between health providers. AI is only as good as the data it’s given, so if a patient goes to hospital X for a problem that was treated at hospital Y a month earlier – but the two hospitals don’t talk to each other, [hospital X’s] AI will be blind to what happened at hospital Y.

As a province, if we got together and enabled these data sources to talk to each other in realtime, AI would be way more powerful.

What are some of the ethical considerations that need to be taken into account when deploying AI in health care?

Obviously, you have to have a robust environment to protect privacy and security for patients. But at the same time, you have to have a progressive data governance framework that allows that data to be accessed by the people who need it.

Another concern is making sure your algorithms perform well among various subgroups. For example, does it perform just as well among young versus old, sick versus not sick, males versus females? The problem is we don’t have data on all these subgroups. So how do we know that our algorithms perform just as well on one race versus another or across all genders when we don’t have such data readily available?

The other challenges are going to be scaling the solutions from one hospital to another or to an entire system. Patient care and processes may differ considerably and AI solutions may need to be tailored to local context. Further, while these AI solutions are really exciting, they can be very expensive. So who pays for them?

At Unity Health, we’ve deployed more than 50 AI solutions into clinical practice, with more going live soon. Other hospitals should have these kinds of tools, but not all of them have the resources to develop and deploy AI solutions and patients are suffering as a result.

What would you say to people who are apprehensive about “Dr. AI?”

That kind of apprehension is very much justified. I get it. There are going to be some failures as well as some successes. But I don’t think this is going away. The potential benefits are far too great to ignore. We need to deploy AI in health care thoughtfully and responsibly. AI is here and it will permeate health care – how it permeates is yet to be determined.

Mindfulness training can help doctors improve well-being and communication, study finds

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 16:55:22 +0000

Mindfulness training can help doctors improve well-being and communication, study finds

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 11/24/2023 - 11:55

Cutline

(photo by sturti/Getty Images)

Gabrielle Giroday

Topic

Breaking Research

Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation

New College

Psychiatry

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

Subheadline

The research involved doctors who came from a range of specialities, including surgery, psychiatry, emergency medicine and family medicine

A new study involving researchers from the UUֱ�� has found mindfulness training for doctors improved their communication with patients and colleagues, and led to positive cognitive and behavioural changes.

The study, by Elli Weisbaum, an assistant professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s department of psychiatry, was recently published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The research looked at the experiences of 28 doctors who received five weeks of mindfulness training.

“This study’s findings are encouraging for all health-care professionals interested in developing healthy and compassionate workplaces. My hope is that these findings contribute to both individual and systems-level change,” said Weisbaum, who is cross-appointed to the Dalla Lana School of Public Health’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and is acting program director for New College’s Buddhism, psychology and mental health program in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

Trevor Young, UUֱ��’s vice-president and provost, as well as a professor in Temerty Medicine’s departments of psychiatry, and pharmacology and toxicology, and Nicholas Chadi, a clinical assistant professor at the Université de Montréal, co-authored the study.

The research involved doctors who came from a range of specialities, including surgery, psychiatry, emergency medicine and family medicine.

Over a span of five weeks in 2019, participants attended weekly in-person applied mindfulness training sessions, based on the teachings of scholar and Zen Buddhist monk Thích Nhất Hạnh.

Researchers then conducted interviews to understand how the training impacted doctors’ work and daily lives.

“Participants report that integrating brief mindfulness practices at the beginning and end of their workday can lead to more effective regulation of workplace stressors, which can lead to feeling more energized at the end of the day,” the study authors wrote.

“Participants also report that a brief mindful reset at the end of the day can reduce the transfer of occupational stressors, such as frustration, to their home environment.”

As well, participants told researchers that mindfulness training helped them to have better skills when it came to balancing their work and home lives.

They said the training assisted them with giving themselves permission not to rush in their work, while still being efficient and effective.

Participants also reported better communication with their patients and their colleagues as a result of mindfulness training. This included enhanced self-awareness and decreased reactivity when confronted with challenging situations, they told researchers.

The study also found mindfulness training increased focus for physicians during patient interactions, and resulted in a higher awareness by physicians of their own biases around patients.

Ultimately, participants said the skillsets developed through mindfulness training led to more patient-centred diagnoses and treatment plans.

“[Due to mindfulness training,] participants describe having a greater awareness of what they contribute to challenging interactions with patients and colleagues. Through this understanding, they can implement more compassionate communication styles, which helps them set and maintain clearer boundaries for themselves during frustrating or irritating interactions,” the researchers wrote.

Weisbaum says the study’s findings point to the value of mindfulness training for physicians, and that the study is a “call to action” for clinicians and policymakers.

She says there is more research underway to examine how applied mindfulness can help address and mitigate physician burn-out.

“This research shows that mindfulness training benefits physicians at an individual level, through more effective management of occupational stressors,” Weisbaum says. “It also shows potential benefits to [the] broader health-care delivery system.”

UUֱ��'s Data Sciences Institute partners with UNICEF to drive innovation in learning

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 18:45:29 +0000

UUֱ��'s Data Sciences Institute partners with UNICEF to drive innovation in learning

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 08/09/2023 - 14:45

Cutline

(photo by Biplov Bhuyan/SOPA Images/Lightbox/Getty Images)

Sara Elhawash

Topic

Global Lens

Data Sciences Institute

Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation

Computer Science

Education

Global

Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation

Undergraduate Students

The Data Sciences Institute (DSI) at the UUֱ�� is partnering with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)’s Frontier Data and Tech team to find new ways to use data to address complex challenges involving children.

Through joint research and training, DSI – a UUֱ�� institutional strategic initiative – will work with UNICEF to strengthen the international organization’s ability to use data science to drive innovation in learning.

That includes a partnership focused on using data and artificial intelligence, or AI, to predict student dropout rates and develop better early warning systems that inform decision makers in the development and humanitarian realm.

“This partnership is a significant milestone for our Frontier Data Network, a global community of practice that leverages data science to positively impact the lives of children worldwide,” says Yves Jaques, chief of the Frontier Data and Technology unit at UNICEF.

“Together, we are poised to unlock new insights, drive evidence-based decision-making, and pave the way to a brighter future for children everywhere.”

The effort aligns with DSI’s strategic goal of leveraging the potential of data to promote the greater public good.

As an initial collaboration, Zahra Shakeri, an assistant professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, will partner with Manuel Garcia-Herranz, data principal researcher, and Karen Avanesyan, statistics and monitoring education specialist at UNICEF’s Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring (DAPM) on a project that aims to revolutionize early warning systems in education through the application of cutting-edge AI technology.

As part of the 2023 Summer Undergraduate Data Science (SUDS) Opportunities Program, the project allows Ziqi Shu, a third-year student studying computer science, cognitive science and mathematics, to gain practical experience by working on fictional case studies focusing on social problems affecting children. By identifying at-risk students and schools with high dropout rates, UNICEF aims to support countries with a strong Education Management Information System (EMIS) and household survey data.

“Our aim is to develop a pilot tool that provides a comprehensive representation of the machine learning-based school dropout prediction landscape, bridging the knowledge gap in this area,” says Shakeri, who is also director of the Health Informatics, Visualization, and Equity (HIVE) Lab at IHPME. “This tool will utilize innovative data analysis and visualization techniques, benefiting researchers, practitioners and other stakeholders in exploring the factors influencing school dropout among children.

“The long-term goal of this project is to harness the power of data science and create an adaptable, publicly accessible system that could support countries in addressing the critical issue of school dropouts. By leveraging AI technology and early warning systems, our aim is to identify and support at-risk students and schools, ultimately safeguarding every child’s right to education.”

The UNICEF-DSI partnership paves the way for further research and training collaborations.

There will be opportunities to connect with the DSI community during its DSI Research Day on Sept. 27, where Garcia-Herranz will deliver the keynote address and Jaques will participate in a panel discussion on developing an effective data science workforce. The discussion will focus on equipping graduates with essential data science skills required in today’s diverse fields and industries. DSI Research Day aims to showcase the work of the DSI community, fostering connections and engagement among academia, industry and government stakeholders.

“By combining our community’s expertise in data science with UNICEF’s commitment to driving results for children globally, we have the opportunity to make a profound impact,” says Lisa Strug, director of the Data Sciences Institute.

“Through our joint efforts, we aim to strengthen UNICEF’s knowledge and capacities in utilizing data science methodologies, fostering innovation in learning and ultimately creating a brighter future for children worldwide.”

Researchers develop tool to help hospitals reduce loss and theft of medications

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 15:34:56 +0000

Researchers develop tool to help hospitals reduce loss and theft of medications

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 06/13/2023 - 11:34

Cutline

(photo by BackyardProduction/Getty Images)

Alisa Kim

Topic

Breaking Research

Opioids

Hospital

University Health Network

Drug diversion in health-care facilities, when prescription medications are obtained or used illegally, is on the rise in Canada – and most Canadian hospitals do not have sufficient safeguards in place to detect and deal with the problem.

That's why Patricia Trbovich and her team at the UUֱ��, in partnership with the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada, have developed a free, online tool that helps hospitals identify the risk of drugs being lost or stolen within their organization, and offers guidance on how to address those risks.

In developing the tool, the team pinpointed areas that make a hospital vulnerable to diversion as opposed to targeting individuals who lose or steal drugs.

“We saw this as an opportunity to look at it from a system perspective, seeing what is it in terms of the way we’ve configured our technologies, workflow processes and environments that is allowing for diversion to occur?” says Trbovich, an associate professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

The diversion risk assessment tool addresses a huge and complex problem. Nationally, reports of the loss of opioids and other controlled drugs have doubled annually since 2015. When drugs are lost or stolen within hospitals, everyone suffers. Drug diversion compromises the safety of patients and staff, increases health-care costs and contributes to substance abuse in the population.

The most commonly diverted drugs are opioids, which are prescribed to relieve pain. Trbovich and Mark Fan, manager of Trbovich’s research group HumanEra, published a study in CMAJ Open that looked at opioid losses from Canadian health-care facilities from 2012 through 2017. Using Health Canada data, they found there were about 65,000 reports of loss during this period, equating to about 112 kilograms of opioids with a street value of about $136 million.

“What makes this topic challenging is that we think losses and thefts are underdetected, and then potentially underreported. We don’t know the relative contributions of those two things,” says Fan, noting that any medication is at risk of going missing.

Moreover, hospitals don’t seem to know when or how medications are being lost or stolen.

“When we started talking to hospitals about it, they were saying, ‘We know it happens, but we don’t have a good way to track how often it happens,’” says Trbovich, who holds the Badeau Family Research Chair in Patient Safety and Quality Improvement at North York General Hospital. “Opioids might go missing for example, but they don’t necessarily know what led to it going missing. They are mandated to report to Health Canada when opioids go missing; often they report it back as ‘unexplained loss.’”

Organizations can use the tool at no cost, but they must first register. The risk assessment examines how controlled drugs are managed throughout a hospital. Users are asked, for example, how discrepancies in inventory records are detected, how staff access controlled areas and how processes around ordering, storage, transfer and disposal of medications are conducted.

The tool produces a risk score based on the information provided. Users can compare their score against other hospitals. There is also a reference guide that has recommendations to address areas of weakness, which was developed in collaboration with the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada and the Ontario Branch of the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists.

Hospitals can re-do the assessment after implementing recommended safeguards, notes Trbovich. “Once they’ve addressed [vulnerabilities], they could then on a regular basis benchmark themselves against others or themselves if they want to see how they’re improving,” she says.

To date, dozens of hospitals have signed up to do the risk assessment. The research team will analyze the aggregated results to provide an overview of the diversion risks in Canadian hospitals. The analysis will highlight differences in risk based on region, hospital size and technologies used, so that organizations can learn from each other, says Fan.

“Having this national ‘snapshot’ is going to help policymakers assess where we need to raise the floor on our safety practices across Canada, and to transfer the learnings,” he says. “If we see some people are doing really well, it’s something to celebrate and bring to other hospitals.”

The project received support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

President’s Impact Awards recognize far-reaching contributions of UUֱ�� researchers

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 16:30:23 +0000

President’s Impact Awards recognize far-reaching contributions of UUֱ�� researchers

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 03/10/2023 - 11:30

Cutline

(photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

Topic

Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation

Unity Health

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

President's Impact Award

Creative Destruction Lab

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Hospital for Sick Children

Mathematics

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Rotman School of Management

University Health Network

Women's College Hospital

From informing Ontario’s pandemic response to shaping the fields of education, social policy, robotics and entrepreneurship, the UUֱ�� is recognizing researchers for the impact of their work across Canada and beyond.

Among the winners of this year’s President’s Impact Awards – which honour individual UUֱ�� faculty members and teams for research that has led to significant impacts beyond academia – are 13 leaders of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table.

The group was recognized as a team for “outstanding contributions and dedication to supporting evidence-informed decision making and response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario and nationally.”

Fahad Razak

Fahad Razak, who served as the Science Table’s scientific director, says he is grateful to be celebrated alongside his colleagues, noting that it was only through their collective expertise and efforts that the Science Table was able to provide transparent scientific analysis and evidence-based, equity-minded guidance in response to an ever-shifting crisis.

“I'm really happy that UUֱ�� has recognized that much of the consequential work that is done is not done by individuals – it's done by teams,” says Razak, an internist and epidemiologist at St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto and an assistant professor in the department of medicine in UUֱ��’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine and at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME).

“That multidisciplinary composition of our table was one of the critical drivers of success of putting out modelling scientific briefs or other recommendations that were thoughtful and comprehensive about the effects that could happen across society.”

The other Science Table members sharing the honour with Razak are:

Peter Jüni, an affiliate scientist at Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Unity Health, who was the table’s scientific director and a professor of medicine and epidemiology in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and IHPME before leaving for University of Oxford in 2022.
Co-chairs Adalsteinn Brown, dean of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Brian Schwartz, a professor in the department of family and community medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and Upton Allen, the head of infectious diseases at the Hospital for Sick Children and a professor of pediatrics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and at IHPME.
Assistant scientific directors Nathan Stall, a physician at Sinai Health and an assistant professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and Karen Born, assistant professor of health administration at IHPME.
Director of communications Robert Steiner, assistant professor and director of the Dalla Lana Fellowship in Global Journalism at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
Modelling consensus table co-chairs Beate Sander, a senior scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, University Health Network, and a professor at IHPME, and Kumar Murty, a professor of mathematics in the Faculty of Arts & Science.
Chair of the congregate care setting working group Paula Rochon, senior scientist at the Women’s College Hospital Research Institute and professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine
Co-chair of the drugs and biologics clinical practice guideline working group Andrew Morris, medical director of the antimicrobial stewardship program at Sinai Health/University Health Network and professor of medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.
Mental health working group chair Linda Mah, a senior clinician scientist at the Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences Centre and an associate professor of psychiatry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

The team joins four other UUֱ�� researchers recognized this year. They are:

Ajay Agrawal, professor of strategic management and Geoffrey Taber Chair in Entrepreneurship at the Rotman School of Management. He is recognized for his “application of economic theory to the problem of market failures associated with transforming scientific inventions into scalable companies that benefit society,” which inspired the founding of the Creative Destruction Lab – a model that has been adopted by business schools around the world.

George Dei, professor in the department of social justice education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Dei was recognized for his “influential work advancing anti-racism, equity, anti-colonial thought and African Indigeneity in education and sustained impact on policies, practices and advocacy for inclusive schooling and Black youth’s educational success.”

Yu Sun, a professor in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and founding director of UUֱ��’s Robotics Institute. He is honoured for “outstanding contributions to robotics at micro-nano scales, whose far-reaching impacts include transformative infertility treatments for patients and materials characterization techniques for industry.”

Ito Peng, a professor of sociology in the Faculty of Arts & Science and the Munk School for Global Affairs & Public Policy. She is credited for global “social policy leadership informing national and international policy bodies on issues of gender, the work of care and care migration.” Peng, whose expertise has been sought out by policymakers across the globe, was also named the recipient of the Carolyn Tuohy Impact on Public Policy Award, presented annually to a faculty member whose scholarship has had a significant impact on public policy as part of the Awards of Excellence Program.

Winners of the President’s Impact Award are designated as members of the President’s Impact Academy, which advocates for sustained excellence in research and innovation impact within and outside of the university.

“These awards represent how UUֱ��’s research community is coming together tackle some of today’s toughest problems and making breakthroughs that result in real-world change,” says Leah Cowen, UUֱ��’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives.

“From global issues to micro-scale innovations, this year’s laureates have shown themselves to be visionaries in their respective fields and consummate collaborators – working with scholars across disciplines and partnering with community members, public stakeholders, industry leaders and policymakers to address our current challenges and drive progress toward a brighter future.”

UUֱ�� scientists to be highlighted at International Day of Women and Girls in Science event

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 20:24:39 +0000

UUֱ�� scientists to be highlighted at International Day of Women and Girls in Science event

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 02/10/2023 - 15:24

Cutline

Hadeel Mohammad, left, and Omnia Elebyary, right, will be joined by Heba Roble and Mohaddeseh Abdolhosseini – all UUֱ�� researchers – at Global Conversations: Women and Girls in Science at the Aga Khan Museum (photos by Dewey Chang)

Tabassum Siddiqui

Topic

Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Faculty of Dentistry

Graduate Students

Women

Four UUֱ�� scientists – all Muslim women – will discuss their career paths and groundbreaking research during a panel at the Aga Khan Museum this weekend to mark the eighth annual International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

The panelists include: Mohaddeseh Abdolhosseini, a PhD student in the department of civil and mineral engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering; Omnia Elebyary, a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Dentistry; Hadeel Mohammad, a PhD candidate in the Edward S. Rogers Sr. department of electrical and computer engineering; and Heba Roble, a first-year master’s student in the health services research program in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

The Feb. 11 event is presented in partnership with Massey College and the Canadian Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

UUֱ�� News spoke with Elebyary, who is researching oral biomarkers that can predict the risk of adverse outcomes in bone-marrow transplant recipients, and Mohammad, whose research examines the intersection of wireless communication and electromagnetics, about their experiences as women in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine).

What made you interested in studying science?

Elebyary: For me, it was mainly curiosity. I was a practising dentist back home in Egypt after graduating from university there. Though I was able to help patients in the clinic, through doing research I can help many more people on a wider scale. I wanted to do something that could benefit patients – especially cancer patients, as I’ve diagnosed a lot of cancer patients during my clinics, and I want to help them more by finding things that could potentially improve their treatment outcomes.

Mohammad: My interest in science started at a very young age because I was inspired by my father, who was a teacher. I started to appreciate science and wanted to know the answers to questions about ourselves. Even the area of research that I’m working on right now – I’m always interested in the unanswered questions and trying to find answers to the specific issues within my field.

Have you faced challenges in being a woman in your field?

Mohammad: As we move forward in the higher education system, from bachelor’s to master’s to PhD, you can see that the number of women in STEMM degrees decreases. You can certainly feel isolated. When I attend seminars or talks, there are fewer female students. There can be pressure to prove yourself – as a minority in the field, you want your voice to be heard. At the same time, I’ve had some great support from supervisors who send opportunities my way and are always looking to empower women in STEMM – so that has been really helpful.

Elebyary: I think the STEMM field is very challenging in itself, regardless of whether you’re a woman or a man. I think there’s often this notion that women are emotional and empathetic, and so maybe you deal differently with the frustrations that come with science – but I’m always showing that being emotional actually fuels me toward doing better in science because I’m very connected to the cause that I’m working toward. But certainly, it comes with a lot of struggle to prove that you can handle everything that comes with academia. Fortunately, we do have a lot of examples of great, achieving women who have done amazing things here at UUֱ�� and elsewhere – seeing their example or having them present in front of you is inspiring.

What’s your advice for young women who might be considering studying STEMM?

Mohammad: We’re so often afraid of failing, so I would say that instead of giving in to that fear, you just have to try. I always try to remember that when one door closes, somewhere another one opens – and that is applicable to different aspects of life. It’s only through persistence that you can reach for something rewarding. So just keep trying – and remember there are lots of different opportunities in the field of science.

Elebyary: Part of being successful is asking a lot of questions – and really listening to what people have to say. A lot of the things I’ve done I once thought were impossible. But when you ask a lot of people, a lot of small doors open for you – leading to even bigger doors; you just never know where they will lead. So, I’ve always been keen on asking those questions and learning from other people’s experiences.

Why is it important to celebrate women in STEMM through the International Day of Women and Girls in Science?

Mohammad: It raises awareness and reminds people that even though we have gone through a lot of advancements in our world, women still do face some challenges in the field. For women in the field, it’s a chance to reflect on all we have done; and for the younger generation, it’s a source of encouragement and makes them excited to know more about the contributions of women.

Elebyary: It's important to have this type of initiative to open doors for women so they feel like they can be represented in the field. I know that it can be intimidating to enter a field where you feel you’re a minority. But when you see Muslim women being represented at an event like this one at the Aga Khan Museum, you might just get inspired. That’s partly how I became interested in science myself – I attended a conference once where I saw another visibly Muslim woman present an amazing talk. It made me realize, “Maybe I can do it.” So, one of my main goals is to show that women – especially BIPOC women – can be represented in these spaces.

From Africana development to decarbonization: 34 UUֱ�� researchers awarded Canada Research Chairs

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 19:01:13 +0000

From Africana development to decarbonization: 34 UUֱ�� researchers awarded Canada Research Chairs

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 11/16/2022 - 14:01

Cutline

Scott Gray-Owen, Caroline Hossein and Marianne Hatzopoulou are three of 34 scholars at UUֱ�� who were awarded new or renewed Canada Research Chairs (photos by Nick Iwanyshyn, courtesy of Caroline Hossein, by Johnny Guatto)

Scott Anderson

Topic

Sunnybrook Health Sciences

Leah Cowen

Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research

Unity Health

Cell and Systems Biology

Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation

Astronomy & Astrophysics

Canada Research Chairs

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Computer Science

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Hospital for Sick Children

History

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Rotman School of Management

Sociology

UUֱ�� Scarborough

University Health Network

Thirty-four scholars at the UUֱ�� have been awarded new or renewed Canada Research Chairs in fields ranging from artificial intelligence to health and history.

Many of the Canada Research Chairs are working on topics related to complex global challenges – advancing knowledge that will help accelerate the transition to clean energy, for example, achieve more equitable societies or develop new treatments for cancer and other debilitating diseases.

François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s minister of innovation, science and industry, announced the chairs at the Canadian Science Policy Conference on Nov. 16, along with funding for a range of research programs and projects across the country – including the containment level 3 lab at UUֱ��'s Temerty Faculty of Medicine that enables researchers to study certain high-risk pathogens.

Among the 19 new chairs at UUֱ�� is Caroline Hossein, an associate professor in global development studies at UUֱ�� Scarborough. Named a tier two chair in Africana development and feminist political economy, Hossein studies “solidarity economies,” a movement that emphasizes social benefit over financial gain. She is writing a book about “rotating savings and credit associations” in Canada. These are small groups of immigrants, usually from Africa and the Caribbean, who often lack access to bank capital and come together to help each other financially.

Scott Gray-Owen, a UUֱ�� professor in the department of molecular genetics, was named a new tier one chair in infectious immunopathogenesis. His research aims to understand how pathogens such as bacteria and viruses infect their hosts and evade the immune response. In 2021, Gray-Owen was named the inaugural director of a new, forward-looking initiative at UUֱ�� called the Emerging and Pandemic Infections Consortium (EPIC), which seeks to combat new infectious diseases and prevent the rise of future pandemics. In that role, he also oversees UUֱ��’s Combined Containment Level 3 Unit, a biosafety facility at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine that enables researchers to conduct research on certain pathogens.

How cities affect our health is the research interest of Marianne Hatzopoulou, a professor in the department of civil and mineral engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. She was named a new tier one chair in transport decarbonization and air quality. Hatzopoulou creates models of emissions from road transportation and evaluates how this air pollution affects the local population. Not long ago, she was involved in a study that used low-cost sensors to measure carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, coarse particulate matter and other pollutants at nearly 70 sites across Beirut, identifying air pollution hot spots where people were most at risk. She also examined the effects of natural gas fracking in the northeast region of British Columbia. Another study examined the potential improvement in air quality resulting from the widespread adoption of electric vehicles.

Among the UUֱ�� faculty whose Canada Research Chairs were renewed is Jean Philippe Julien, senior scientist with the molecular research program of SickKids Research Institute and an associate professor in the department of biochemistry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. Julien also received support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF), which helps provide research infrastructure associated with the Canada Research Chairs program, for his project, “Molecular Biological Systems for the Study of Antibody-Antigen Complexes.” Named for late UUֱ�� President Emeritus John R. Evans, the fund helps institutions recruit and retain outstanding researchers and provide them with the necessary tools and technology to perform their work.

(See the full list of new and renewed Canada Research Chairs at UUֱ��)

“I’d like to commend all UUֱ�� researchers who were named new Canada Research Chairs or who had their chair renewed in this latest round,” said Leah Cowen, UUֱ��’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives.

“The Canada Research Chair program provides critical support for researchers across our three campuses who are generating new knowledge, developing key innovations and helping to address some of the world’s most complex challenges.”

Established in 2000, the Canada Research Chair program invests up to $310 million annually to attract and retain top academic talent in disciplines spanning engineering, the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities and social sciences.

Here is the full list of new and renewed Canada Research Chairs at UUֱ��:

New Canada Research Chairs

Aimy Bazylak in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, Tier 1 in clean energy.

Denise Belsham in the department of physiology in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 1 in neuroendocrinology.

Maged Goubran at the Sunnybrook Health Science Centre and the department of medical biophysics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 2 in artificial intelligence and computational neuroscience.

Scott Gray-Owen in the department of molecular genetics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 1 in infectious immunopathogenesis.

Robin Hayeems at the Hospital for Sick Children and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Tier 2 in genomics and health policy.

Marianne Hatzopoulou in the department of civil and mineral engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, Tier 1 in transport decarbonization and air quality.

Caroline Hossein in the department of global development studies at UUֱ�� Scarborough, Tier 2 in Africana development and feminist political economy.

Muhammad Husain at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the department of psychiatry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 2 in treatment innovation in mood disorders.

Courtney Jones at the University Health Network and the department of medical biophysics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 2 in leukemia stem cell metabolism.

Andrea Knight at the Hospital for Sick Children and the department of paediatrics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 2 in mental health and chronic disease of childhood.

Sushant Kumar at the University Health Network and the department of medical biophysics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 2 in genomic medicine.

J. Rafael Montenegro Burke in the Donnelly Centre in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 2 in functional metabolomics and lipidomics.

Deborah O'Connor in the department of nutritional sciences in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 1 in human milk and infant nutrition.

Vijay Ramaswamy at the Hospital for Sick Children and the department of paediatrics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 2 in pediatric neuro-oncology.

Gregory Schwartz at the University Health Network and the department of medical biophysics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 2 in bioinformatics and computational Biology.

Jay Shaw in the department of physical therapy in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 2 in responsible health innovation.

Anastasia Tikhonova at the University Health Network and the department of medical biophysics in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 2 in stem cell niche biology.

Burton Yang at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 1 in cardiac remodeling.

Darren Yuen at Unity Health Toronto and the department of medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 2 in fibrotic injury.

Renewed Canada Research Chairs

John Calarco in the department of cell and systems biology in the Faculty of Arts & Science, Tier 2 in neuronal RNA biology.

Myron Cybulsky at the University Health Network and the department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 1 in arterial wall biology and atherogenesis.

David Duvenaud in the department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science, Tier 2 in generative models.

Julie Forman-Kay in the Hospital for Sick Children and the department of biochemistry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 1 in intrinsically disordered proteins.

Bryan Gaensler in the David A. Dunlap department of astronomy and astrophysics in the Faculty of Arts & Science, Tier 1 in radio astronomy.

Alec Jacobson in the department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science, Tier 2 in geometry processing.

Jean-Philippe Julien at the Hospital for Sick Children and the department of biochemistry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 2 in structural immunology.

Kang Lee in the department of applied psychology and human development at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Tier 1 in moral development and developmental neuroscience.

David Levin in the department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science, Tier 2 in simulation-driven graphics and fabrication.

Jed Meltzer at Baycrest Hospital and the department of psychology in the Faculty of Arts & Science, Tier 2 in interventional cognitive neuroscience.

Sean Mills in the department of history in the Faculty of Arts & Science, Tier 2 in Canadian and transnational history.

Kimberly Pernell-Gallagher in the department of sociology in the Faculty of Arts & Science, Tier 2 in economic sociology.

Arun Ramchandran in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, Tier 2 in engineered soft materials and interfaces.

Andras Tilcsik at the Rotman School of Management, Tier 2 in strategy, organizations, and society.

Haley Wyatt in the department of biochemistry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Tier 2 in mechanisms of genome instability.

How should we navigate the next pandemic? UUֱ�� researchers are finding the answers

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 19:43:23 +0000

How should we navigate the next pandemic? UUֱ�� researchers are finding the answers

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 11/15/2022 - 14:43

Cutline

The Institute for Pandemics, based at UUֱ��'s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, is dedicated to preventing, addressing and recovering from pandemics – with a public health focus (photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Tina Adamopoulos

Topic

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

Groundbreakers

Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation