Seven DLSPH Faculty Receive Prestigious Canada Research Chairs
June 18/2019
The newest crop of Canada Research Chairs includes DLSPH professors Patricia O’Campo, Nav Persaud, Tara Gomes, Noah Ivers, Vincent Kuuire, Beate Sander and Wendy J. Ungar.
Science and Sport Minister Kirsty Duncan made the announcement June 14 at the University of Victoria.
The Canada Research Chairs Program aims to make Canada one of the world’s top countries in research and development, by attracting and retaining a body of diverse and exceptional researchers. Chairholders are scientists who strive to achieve research excellence in engineering and the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities and social science.
The newest crop of Canada Research Chairs includes DLSPH professors Patricia O’Campo, Nav Persaud, Tara Gomes, Noah Ivers, Vincent Kuuire, Beate Sander and Wendy J. Ungar.
“My hearty congratulations to all five of our new chairs,” said Prof. Adalsteinn (Steini) Brown, Dean of DLSPH. “Their research represents the breadth of scholarship at DLSPH in global health, epidemiology, policy, quality improvement and health justice. This is a recognition that our researchers are at the forefront of change to improve human health.”
The new chairholders are making significant contributions to the areas of health policy, family and community medicine, epidemiology, global health, evidence-based practice and social and population health.
Prof. O’Campo has been appointed a Tier 1 CRC in Population Health Intervention Research. She is leading research into the advancement of population health interventions by evaluating current practices, and informing the design of health and social protection programs and policies to reduce urban health inequities.
Prof. Persaud, of the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME), became a Tier 2 CRC in Health Justice. He studies initiatives aimed at narrowing the gap between the highest and lowest wealth brackets. In particular, he examines the effects of providing individuals experiencing poverty with tangible goods to improve their health, such as essential medicines and healthy foods.
As a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Drug Policy Research and Evaluation, IHPME Prof Gomes is undertaking an innovative research program to leverage health databases nationally and internationally and conduct research that will inform drug policy decisions impacting the lives of Canadians.
Prof. Ivers is an IHPME professor and Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Implementation of Evidence-based Practice. He is designing, testing, and evaluating evidence-based, patient-centered interventions to improve care quality.
Prof. Kuuire is studying immigrant integration dynamics in Canada and healthcare access disparities and the growing prominence of non-communicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. He was awarded a tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Immigrant Well-Being and Global Health
IHPME Prof. Sander has been leading research in the economic evaluation of intervention strategies of infectious and vector-borne diseases. Sander, a new Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Economics of Infectious Diseases, will explore the societal impact of infectious diseases and their interventions.
Prof. Ungar, of IHPME, founded a leading research unit in Technology Assessment at Sick Kids (TASK) devoted to applying the methods of health technology assessment to child health. She has led research in the cost-effectiveness of genomic diagnostics and interventions for pediatric neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism. Ungar has been appointed as a new Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Economic Evaluation and Technology Assessment in Child Health.