Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Faculty Member

Bernard C.K. Choi Ph.D., Epidemiology; M.Sc., Occupational Health & Safety; B.Sc., Biochemistry

Research Interests

Bio (English)

Bernard Choi is a senior research scientist in the Public Health Agency of Canada. He has a PhD in epidemiology (University of Toronto). Prior to joining the Government of Canada, he was a professor in the University of Toronto. He is an adjunct professor in the University of Toronto, University of Ottawa and Shantou University (China). He has conducted original research and published widely in occupational and environmental health, epidemiology and surveillance of chronic diseases and risk factors, knowledge translation, policy research, program evaluation and international health. He has developed a series of statistical procedures for public health.

Bio (French)

Bernard Choi est chercheur scientifique principal à l’Agence de la santé publique du Canada. Il possède un doctorat en épidémiologie de l’Université de Toronto. Avant de travailler pour le gouvernement du Canada, il était professeur à l’Université de Toronto. Bernard Choi est professeur auxiliaire à l’Université de Toronto, l’Université d’Ottawa et à l’Université de Shantou, en Chine. Il a fait de la recherche et a largement publié sur la santé au travail et l’hygiène du milieu, l’épidémiologie et la surveillance des maladies chroniques et des facteurs de risque, la transmission des connaissances, la recherche des politiques, l’évaluation des programmes et la santé internationale. Il a mis au point une série de méthodes statistiques en santé publique.

Education & Training History

Ph.D., Epidemiology, University of Toronto, Canada, 1983

M.Sc., Occupational Health & Safety, University of Aston in Birmingham, England, 1978

B.Sc., Biochemistry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1977

Other Affiliations

2009-present Adjunct Professor, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China

1996-present Adjunct Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

Primary Teaching Responsibilities

1997-present. Supervision of MHSc and MPH practicum students in the Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa.

Professional Summary & Appointments

2001-present Senior Research Scientist, Public Health Agency of Canada (formerly Population and Public Health Branch, Health Canada, 2001-2004), Ottawa, Canada

1992-present Associate Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health (formerly Department of Public Health Sciences, 1997-2008, Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics, 1978-1997), University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

1997 Chief, Respiratory Disease Division, Bureau of Cardio-Respiratory Diseases and Diabetes, Laboratory Centre for Disease Control, Health Canada

1996 – 2001 Chief Epidemiologist, Bureau of Cardio-Respiratory Diseases and Diabetes, Laboratory Centre for Disease Control (restructured in 2000 as Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, Population and Public Health Branch), Health Canada, Ottawa, Canada

1995 – 1999 Associate Professor, Community Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Canada

1995 – 1998 Associate Professor, Department of Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada

1995 – 1996 Associate Professor, Community Dental Health Services Research Unit, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Canada

1995 Expert on Occupational Accident and Disease Information Systems, International Labour Organisation (ILO), United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland (Grade P.05)

1992 – 1999 Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada

1992 – 1997 Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada

1992 – 1997 Associate Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics (renamed Department of Public Health Sciences in 1997), Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada

1992 – 1995 Associate Professor, Occupational and Environmental Health Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada

1985 – 1992 Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada

1985 – 1992 Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada

1985 – 1992 Assistant Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada

1985 – 1990 Associate Member, School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto, Canada

1983 – 1992 Assistant Professor, Occupational and Environmental Health Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada

Honours & Awards

2016 Pan American Health Organization – Certificate of Recognition

2015 Public Health Agency of Canada, Government of Canada – Policy and Program Merit Award

2012 Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada – Gold Medal for Excellence in Public Service

2011 Government of Canada – Public Service 15 year Long Service Award

2009 Public Health Agency of Canada, Government of Canada – Creativity and Innovation Award

2007 Department of National Defence, Government of Canada – Plaque of Recognition

Current Research Projects

1. Clinical Public Health and Surveillance

a. Past, present and future of public health surveillance

b. Historical development of national chronic disease surveillance in Canada and lessons learned, 1960-2000

c. Methods to enhance multi-disciplinary, inter-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary teamwork and capacity building

d. Asssessment of barriers and promotors of national and international networks in chronic disease surveillance including the Canadian Alliance for Regional Risk Factor Surveillance (CARRFS), Americas’ Network for Chronic Disease Surveillance (AMNET), and World Alliance for Risk Factor Surveillance (WARFS)

2. Public Health Policy

a. Use of Health-Adjusted Life Expectancy (HALE) as an indicator for Performance Measurement Framework (PMF) in the Federal Government

b. China-Canada survey on methods to bridge the gap between science and policy

c. How can scientists and policy makers work together

3. Global Health

a. Esperanza de vida y esperanza de vida ajustada por salud en algunos países de América Latina y Canadá: un proyecto colaborativo internacional (Life expectancy and health-adjusted life expectancy in several Latin-American countries and Canada: an international collaborative project)

b. Development and evaluation of a smoke-free policy in taxis in Tianjin, China

4. Epidemiology

a. Use of the Receiver Operating Curve methodology to validate a new screening test performance index for optimising the cut-off level for case definitions for the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System (CCDSS)

b. Life expectancy and health-adjusted life expectancy by body mass index category in adult Canadians

Representative Publications

1. Choi BCK, Maza RA, Mujica OJ, PAHO Strategic Plan Advisory Group, PAHO Technical Team, 2019. The Pan American Health Organization adapted Hanlon method for prioritization of health program areas. Pan American Journal of Public Health (in press).
2. Huston P, Choi BCK, 2017. A guide to publishing scientific research in the health sciences. Canada Communicable Disease Report 2017;43:169-75.
3. Steensma C, Loukine L, Choi BCK, 2017. Evaluating compression or expansion of morbidity in Canada: trends in life expectancy and health-adjusted life expectancy from 1994 to 2010. Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada 2017;37:68-76.
4. Lin Z, Ji Y, Xiao Q, Luo L, Li L, Choi BCK, 2017. Risk factors of bicycle traffic injury among middle school students in Chaoshan rural areas of China. Int J Equity Health 2017;16:28 (9 pages).
5. Choi BCK, Li L, Lu Y, Zhang LR, Zhu Y, Pak AWP, Chen Y, Little J, 2016. Bridging the gap between science and policy: An international survey of scientists and policy makers in China and Canada. Implementation Science 2016;11:16-26. doi: 10.1186/s13012-016-0377-7 (11 pages)
6. Choi BCK, Wigle DT, Johansen H, Losos J, Fair ME, Napke E, Anderson LJ, Davies JW, White K, Miller AB, Li FCK, Stachenko S, Lindsay J, Gaudette LA, Nair C, Levy I, Morrison H, Silins J, Bouchard F, Tonmyr L, Villeneuve PJ, McRae L, Johnson KC, Lane RSD, Probert A, 2015. Retracing the history of the early development of national chronic disease surveillance in Canada and the major role of the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control (LCDC) from 1972 to 2000. Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada 2015;35:35-44.
7. Choi BCK, Decou ML, Rasali D, Martens PJ, Mancuso M, Plotnikoff RC, Neudorf C, Thanos J, Svenson LW, Denny K, Oprana H, Stewart P, King M, Griffith J, Erickson T, van Dorp R, White D, Ali A, 2014. Enhancing capacity for risk factor surveillance at the regional/local level: A follow-up review of the findings of the Canadian Think Tank Forum after 4 years. Archives of Public Health 2014;72:2-12. PMID: 24451555 DOI: 10.1186/2049-3258-72-2
8. Coulthart MB, Jansen GH, Olsen E, Godal DL, Connolly T, Choi BCK, Wang Z, Cashman NR, 2011. Diagnostic accuracy of cerebrospinal fluid protein markers for sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Canada: a 6-year prospective study, BMC Neurology, 11:133-146. PMID: 22032272
9. Choi BCK, 2010. Population attributable fraction: Comparison of two mathematical procedures to estimate the annual attributable number of deaths. Epi Perspectives & Innovations, 7: 1-8
10. Wang X, Jiang G, Choi BCK, Wang D, Wu T, Pan Y, Boulton M, 2009. Surveillance of trend and distribution of stroke mortality by subtype, age, gender and geographic areas in Tianjin, China, 1999-2006. International Journal of Stroke, 4:169-174. PMID: 19659816
11. Choi BCK, Pak AWP, 2008. Multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity in health research, services, education and policy: 3. Discipline, inter-discipline distance, and selection of discipline. Clinical and Investigative Medicine 31: E41-E48. PMID: 18312747
12. Choi BCK, Frank J, Mindell JS, Orlova A, Lin V, Vaillancourt ADMG, Puska P, Pang T, Skinner H, Marsh M, Mokdad AH, Yu SZ, Lindner MC, Sherman G, Barreto SM, Green LW, Svenson LW, Sainsbury P, Yan YP, Zhang ZF, Ho SC, de Salazar LM, 2007. Vision for a Global Registry of Anticipated Public Health Studies (GRAPHS). American Journal of Public Health, 97:S82-S87.
13. Klein-Geltink JE, Choi BCK, Fry RN, 2006. Multiple exposures to smoking, alcohol, physical inactivity and overweight: Prevalences according to Canadian Community Health Survey Cycle 1.1.  Chronic Diseases in Canada, 27: 25-33
14. Choi BCK, 2005. Twelve essentials of science-based policy.  Preventing Chronic Diseases [serial online] Vol 2 (No 4) 2005 Oct
15. Choi BCK, Hunter DJ, Tsou W, Sainsbury P, 2005. Diseases of comfort: Primary cause of death in the 22^nd century.  Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 59: 1030-1034.
16. Choi BCK, Pang T, Lin V, Puska P, Sherman G, Goddard M, Ackland MJ, Sainsbury P, Stachenko S, Morrison H, Clottey C, 2005. Can scientists and policy-makers work together? Jounal of Epidemiology and Community Health 59: 632-637.
17. Choi BCK, Corber SJ, McQueen DV, Bonita R, Zevallos JC, Douglas KA, Barceló A, Gonzalez M, Robles S, Stachenko S, Hall M, Champagne BM, Lindner MC, de Salazar LM, Granero R, Soto de Laurido LE, Lum W, Torres RE, Warren CW, Mokdad AH, 2005. Enhancing regional capacity in chronic disease surveillance in the Americas.  Pan American Journal of Public Health 17: 130-141.
18. Choi BCK, Pak AWP, 2005. A catalogue of biases in questionnaires. Preventing Chronic Disease [serial online] Vol 2 (No 1) 2005 Jan
19. 16. Choi BCK, 2004. An international comparison of women’s health issues in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore: The CIDA-SEAGEP Study.  The Scientific World Journal 4: 989-1006.
20. Choi BCK, Pak AWP, 2003. A simple approximate mathematical model to predict the number of SARS cases and deaths. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 57: 831-835.
21. Choi BCK, Pak AWP, 2002. A method for comparing and combining cost-of-illness studies: An example from cardiovascular disease.  Chronic Diseases in Canada, 23: 47-57.
22. Choi BCK, Shi F, 2001. Risk factors for diabetes mellitus by age and sex: Results of the National Population Health Survey.  Diabetologia, 44:1221-1231.
23. Choi BCK, Pak AWP, 2001. Lessons for surveillance in the 21st century: A historical perspective from the past 5 millennia.  Social and Preventive Medicine, 46:361-368.
24. Choi BCK, 2000. A technique to re-assess epidemiologic evidence in light of the healthy worker effect: The case of firefighting and heart disease.  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 42:1021-1034.
25. Choi BCK, de Guia N, Walsh P, 1999. Look before you leap: Stratify before you standardize. American Journal of Epidemiology, 149:1087-1096.
26. Choi BCK, 1998. Slopes of a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve and likelihood ratios for a diagnostic test.  American Journal of Epidemiology, 148:1127-1132.
27. Choi BCK, 1997. Causal modeling to estimate sensitivity and specificity of a screening test when prevalence changes.  Epidemiology, 8:80-86.
28. Choi BCK, 1996. Recording, notification, compilation, and classification of statistics of occupational accidents and diseases: The Thai experience.  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 38:1151-1160.
29. Choi BCK, 1996. Risk assessment in dentistry: Health risks of dental amalgam revisited.  Journal of Canadian Dental Association, 62:328-332.
30. Choi BCK, Connolly JG, Zhou RH, 1995. Application of urinary mutagen testing to detect workplace hazardous exposure and bladder cancer.  Mutation Research, 341:207-216.
31. Choi BCK, Hanley AJG, Holowaty EJ, Dale D, 1993. Use of surnames to identify individuals of Chinese ancestry.  American Journal of Epidemiology, 138:723-734.
32. Choi BCK, 1992. Sensitivity and specificity of a single diagnostic test in the presence of work-up bias.  Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 45:581-586.
33. Guomin Z, Choi BCK, Yu X, Zou R, Shao Y, Ma X, 1991. Mass screening for rectal neoplasm in Jiashan county, China. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 44:1379-1385.
34. Choi BCK, 1985. N-nitroso compounds and human cancer:  A molecular epidemiologic approach.  American Journal of Epidemiology, 121:737-743.
35. Choi BCK, Howe GR, 1984. Methodological issues in case-control studies:  IV.  Validity and efficiency of various analysis strategies for continuous variables using the unconditional logistic regression model.  International Journal of Epidemiology, 13:526-532.
36. Choi BCK, 1982. Index for rating predictive accuracy of screening tests.  Methods of Information in Medicine, 21:149-153.