DLSPH Open: Our leadership, milestones and refreshed narrative
August 1/2018
Dear colleagues,
I’d like to thank the DLSPH community for a tremendous year and I’m grateful to accept the appointment as Dean of the DLSPH. We’ve achieved a lot together and I’d like to congratulate our students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners for their hard work and achievements that move us closer towards our shared vision of improving health at a population level and health services at a system level.
Over the last year we’ve nurtured and expanded the Faculty’s relationships with partner institutions, focused on administrative and operational improvements, and secured new funding for research and other activities at the School. A few examples of note:
- A number of our faculty took on new hospital research chair positions that will help close the gap between research and patient care in the GTA and strengthen our partnerships with community hospitals;
- A new operational plan is continuing the School’s forward momentum using a tactical approach and focusing on four priority areas: World-Class Governance & Administration; Investments in People & Relationships; Program & Process Excellence; and Strategic Research Initiatives;
- A $20-million gift from the DLSPH’s founding benefactors, Paul and Alessandra Dalla Lana, who “doubled down” on their first investment and bringing their combined support to $40-million.
Our work isn’t going unnoticed. A few weeks ago the DLSPH was recognized by the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2018 (also referred to as the Shanghai Rankings), as among the top 10 public health programs in the world. This honour is worth highlighting because our success and international reputation are built on a foundation of teamwork among our faculty, students and staff.
International recognition is a strong contributor to our reputation and narrative, or brand. Another initiative that has helped unite our community over the last year is the Faculty-wide brand exercise to refine our story as a leading school of public health. This work is part of a broad sweep of activities that the DLSPH is undertaking to increase the recognition, reputation and coherence of the School both internally and externally.
With support and input from our community, we’ve refined DLSPH’s story:
- The DLSPH is an internationally recognized community of scientists, teachers, students, practitioners, policy makers and citizens, creating new knowledge, educating change makers, advancing practice and guiding the way to better, more equitable outcomes in population health and health systems – locally, nationally and globally.
- The DLSPH community collaborates widely to improve health at a population level and health services at a system level – on a sustainable foundation of public good and social justice.
- The DLSPH is strategically situated in the heart of the GTA and an integral part of U of T and of Canada’s largest health ecosystem in a globalized world.
- We are rigorous and inventive, strengthened by the courage to stand up for what is effective, fair and just.
I look forward to working with our faculty, staff, students, alumni and partners to proudly share our story as we develop a new academic plan for the School and re-energize our curriculum. We’re also going to leverage this story to enhance engagement with alumni, cultivate sustainable international partnerships that recognize the global impact of our learners and researchers all while ensuring the DLSPH is consistently at forefront of change in health.
Wishing everyone a happy and relaxing summer,
Adalsteinn Brown
Dean, Dalla Lana School of Public Health
Dalla Lana Chair in Public Health Policy