Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Faculty Member

Abdallah S. Daar DPhil (Oxon), FRCP (Lon), FRCS (Eng & Ed), FRCSC

Research Interests

• Global Public Health
• Public Health Ethics
• Biotechnology
• Life Sciences
• Health Biotechnology Innovation Systems of Emerging Economies and Developing Countries
• Chronic Non-communicable Diseases
• Global Mental Health
• “Health in Transition” as a Lens for Global Health
• Global Health Diplomacy
• Human Genome Variation and Global Health
• Innovation and Reform in Medical and Health Sciences Education
• Introducing High Throughput, Low Cost, High Efficiency Health Care Models to sub-Saharan Africa

Education & Training History

Makerere University College of Medicine, Uganda

Univesity of London, St. Thomas’ Hospital Medical School

University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Surgery

Wolfson College, University of Oxford

Other Affiliations

Include:

• Chief Scientific and Ethics Officer, Chair of the International Scientific Advisory Board and Member of the Governing Board, Grand Challenges Canada
• Senior Scientist, University Health Network/ Toronto General Resesarch Institute
• Senior Scientist and Director of Ethics and Commercialization, Sandra Rotman Centre (for Global Health, UHN/University of Toronto
• Founding Chair (2009-110 and current Member of Executive Committee of the Board , Global Alliance For Chronic Diseases (2011-)
• Co-chair of the Executive Committee of Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health initiative (initiated by Dr. Daar under the aegis of the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases) in partnership with the US NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Wellcome Trust and McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health (2010-)
• Member of the International Advisory Council of World Health Organization’s Non-communicable Diseases Network (NCDnet) (2010-)
• Member, Chautauqua Institution Foundation
• Chair, Board of Advisors, United Nations University International Institute for Global Health
• Member, International Bioethics Committee, UNESCO (2008-)
• Member, International Scientific Council and Executive Committee, Israeli Palestinian Science Organization (IPSO) (2007-)
• Faculty Associate, Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto (2006-)
• Member, Senior Advisory Panel, International Council for the Life Sciences – ICLS (2006-)
• Executive Council Member, PharmacoGenetics for Every Nation Initiative, Washington University, St. Louis, USA (2006-)
• Member, Executive Committee, The International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies (based at the US NAS) (2005-)
• Member, Scientific Advisory Board, The Centre for Applied Genomics Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto

• Chair of the Review Committee, Aga Khan University East Africa Faculty of Arts and Sciences Health Sciences Program
• Member, Panel of Experts, Human Genetics Programme (HGN), World Health Organization (WHO) (2003-)
• Member of the Board of Health Innovation in Practice (HIP)

Primary Teaching Responsibilities

Genomics, Bioethics and Public Policy, Dalla Lana Faculty of Public Health (Course Director)

Communicating about Non-communicable Diseases, Dalla Lana Faculty of Public Health (Co-coordinator)

Global Health Education Initiative (Module), Dalla Lana Faculty of Public Health

Insititute of Medical Sciences Global Health Module, University of Toronto

Contributions to various other U of Toronto courses

Professional Summary & Appointments

Abdallah S. Daar FRS (C), D.Phil (Oxon), FRCP (Lon), FRCS, FRCSC

Dr. Abdallah Daar is Professor of Public Health Sciences at the Dalla Lana Faculty of Public Health, University of Toronto, with a cross-appointment in the department of Surgery. He is Senior Scientist at University Health/Toronto General Research Institute, and is Director of Ethics and Commercialization at the Sandra Rotman Centre, University Health Network and University of Toronto. At Grand Challenges Canada, in addition to being a member of the Board of Directors, he is the Chief Science and Ethics Officer and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board. Professor Daar was the founding Chair of the Board of the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (2009-2011) and is Chair of the Advisory Board of the United Nations University International Institute of Global Health. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Genome Canada

After medical schools in Uganda and London, England, he went to the University of Oxford where he did postgraduate clinical training in surgery and also in internal medicine, a doctorate in transplant immunology, and a fellowship in organ transplantation. He was a clinical lecturer in the Nuffield Dept. of Surgery at Oxford for several years before going to the Middle East to help start two medical schools. He was the foundation chair of surgery at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman for a decade before moving to the University of Toronto in 2001.

Professor Daar’s academic career has spanned biomedical sciences, organ transplantation, surgery, global health, and bioethics. He works in various advisory or consulting capacities with the UN, the World Health Organization and UNESCO, was a member of the African Union High Level Panel on Modern Biotechnology, and chaired the 4th External Review of the WHO/World Bank/UNDP/UNICEF Special Program on Tropical Diseases Research and Training.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, The Islamic World Academy of Sciences, and the New York Academy of Sciences; and is a Senior Fellow of Massey College, University of Toronto. He is a member of UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee and was for many years a member of the Ethics Committee of the Human Genome Organization.

His international awards include the Patey Prize of the Surgical Society of Great Britain, the Hunterian Professorship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the UNESCO Avicenna Prize for Ethics of Science, and the Anthony Miller Prize for Research Excellence at the Dalla Lana Faculty of Public Health, University of Toronto. He holds the official world record for performing the youngest kidney transplant. His major research focus is on the use of life sciences to ameliorate global health inequities, with a particular focus on building scientific capacity and increasing innovation in developing countries, in addition to studying how life sciences technologies can be rapidly taken from “lab to village”. He has published over 350 papers in peer-reviewed journals and as chapters in various books. He has also published six books including the latest one co-authored with Dr. Peter Singer, The Grandest Challenge: Taking Life-Saving Science from Lab to Village.

He is currently working on a new book called Garment of Destiny.

Honours & Awards

Include:

Patey Prize. Surgical Research Society of Great Britain

Hunterian Professor, Royal College of Surgeons of England

UNESCO Avicenna Prize for Ethics in Science, UNESCO (2005)

Anthony Miller Award for Research Excellence, University of Toronto (2005)

Ontario Genomics Institute, Societal Impact of Genomics Prize, March 2011.

Award for Best Clinical Sciences Research, Kuwait University 9th Annual Health Sciences Center conference

· Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada

• Fellow of The Hastings Center (2009-)

· Fellow of the Islamic World Academy of Sciences (2009-)

· Fellow of The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) (2007-)

· Fellow, Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (2006-)

• Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences

· Senior Fellow, Massey College, University of Toronto (2006-)

· Inaugural Lecturer of The Bourns Lecture in Bioethics at McMaster University (2004)

· Panel of Examiners, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (1999-2003)

· Jan Brod Lecturer, University of Oxford (1999)

· Ellen Picard Lecturer, Health Law Institute, Faculty of Law, University of Alberta (1999)

· Distinguished Foundation Visitor, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (Universties of Auckland, Otago, Sydney and Queensland) (1996)

· Official world record for performing the youngest cadaveric-donor kidney transplant (records kept at UCLA) – November 7, 1994

· President, First International Congress on Transplantation in Developing Countries, Singapore (May 1993)

· Best Teacher of the Year, Sultan Qaboos University College of Medicine (1989/1990)

· Medical Research Council of Great Britain Training Fellowship (1980-83)

· Medical Research Council of Great Britain Award to Triennial Convocation of Nobel Prize winners in medicine/physiology, Lindau, Germany (1981)

· University Exhibition (Academic Achievement) Makerere University Medical School, Uganda (1969-70)

· University Entrance Scholarship, Makerere University Medical School, Uganda (1968).

Current Research Projects

• Ethical, Social and Cultural Issues in Global Health Research
• Ethical, Social and Cultural Issues in Global Mental Health
• Ethical, Social and Cultural Issues (Social Audits) for Public-Private Partnerships in Agricultural Biotechnology
• Human Genome Variation and Global Health
• Grand Challenges in Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases
• Grand Challenges in Global Health and Development
• Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health
• Integrating Mental Health in Primary Health Care and in Care for Chronic Diseases
• Low Health Care Models in Low and Middle Income Countries, and Reverse Innovation
• Introducing High Throughput, Low Cost, High Efficiency Health Care Models to sub-Saharan Africa
• How to Build Capacity for Regerative Medicine in sub-Saharan Africa (project: Linking African Scientists to Indian, Brazilian and Chinese Scientists for Capacity Building in Cell Biology / Regenerative Medicine)
• Innovation and Curriculum Reform in Medical and Health Sciences Education

Representative Publications

Books

• Daar AS and Singer PA. The Grandest Challenge: Taking Life-saving Science From Lab To Village. Doubleday/Random House Canada. September, 2011.
• Gutmann T, Daar AS, Sells RA and Land W, Eds. Ethical, Legal And Social Issues In Organ Transplantation. Munich: PABST Science Publishers, 2004. ISBN 3-89967-017-5 (Europe), ISBN 1-59326-063-6 (USA)
• Daar AS, ed. Tumour Markers in Clinical Practice: Concepts and Applications. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publishers, 1987. ISBN 0-632-01512-8
• Gough MH, Gear MW, Daar AS. Plain X-Ray Diagnosis of the Acute Abdomen. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publishers, 1986. ISBN 0632-01432-6
• Daar AS, ed. Tumour Markers in Clinical Practice: Concepts and Applications. Oxford,Blackwell Scientific Publishers, 1987. ISBN 0-632-01512-8
• Daar AS, ed. Mercatori Tumerali nella Pratica Clinica: Concetti ed Applicazioni. (Italian Translation of Tumour Markers in Clinical Practice: Concepts and Applications.) Salerno, 1998. ISBN 0-632-01512-8
• Finegold DL, Bensimon CM, Daar AS, Eaton M, Goddard B, Knoppers BM, Mackie JE, Singer PA. BioIndustry Ethics. San Diego: Elsevier Academic Press, 2005. ISBN 0-1236-9370-5
• Castle D, Cline C, Daar AS, Singer PA, Tsamis C. Science, Society, and the Supermarket- The Opportunities and Challenges of Nutrigenomics. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., November 2006. 176 pp. ISBN: 0-471-77000-0
• Reports in Book Form1. Acharya T, Daar AS, Thorsteinsdóttir H, Martin DK, Smith AC, Nast S, Singer PA. Top 10 Biotechnologies for Improving Health in Developing Countries. Report: Program in Applied Ethics and Biotechnology- Canadian Program on Genomics and Global Health. University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics. Foreword by Joshua Lederberg. 2002.

  2. Acharya T, Daar AS, Dowdeswell E, Singer PA, Thorsteinsdóttir H. Genomics and Global Health. A Report of the Genomics Working Group of the Science and Technology Innovation Task Force of the United Nations Millennium Development Project Science and Technology Innovation Task Force, October 2004. In: UN Millennium Project Task Force on Science, Technology and Innovation – Genomics and Nanotechnology Working Group (Juma C, Yee-Cheong L, eds.). Innovation: Applying Knowledge in Development. Achieving the Millennium Development Goals. London: Earthscan, 2005. ISBN 1-84407-218-5

  3. Caulfield T, Daar AS, Hamet P, Kroeger A, Ling V, McPherson A, Morrow J, Slater B, Closson T. A Report of the Expert Working Party on Human Genetic Materials, Intellectual Property and the Health Sector presented to Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee (CBAC). Human Genetic Materials: Making Canada’s Intellectual Property Regime Work for the Health of Canadians. October 2005.

  4. Juma C (Co-Chair), Serageldin I (Co-Chair), Daar AS, member of Panel. “Freedom to Innovate: Biotechnology in Africa’s Development. Report of the High-Level African Panel on Modern Biotechnology. African Union. January 2007; Weblink: http://www.nepadst.org/doclibrary/pdfs/biotech_africarep_2007.pdf

  5. Gold, Edward Richard, Adams, Wendy A., Bernier, Louise , Bubela, Tania, Cassivi, Luc, Castle, David, Cleret de Langavant, Ghislaine, Martin Cloutier, L., Daar AS., Delerue, Hélène , Glass, Amy Jocelyn, Henry, Elisa, Knowles, Lori, Morin, Jean-Frédéric, Piper, Tina and Smith, Pamela J.D. Toward a New Era of Intellectual Property: From Confrontation to Negotiation – A Report by the International Expert Group on Biotechnology, Innovation and Intellectual Property(September 9, 2008). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1260099

Peer reviewed articles and book chapters (selection, for full list see CV)

• Singer PA, Daar AS. Harnessing Genomics and Biotechnology to Improve Global Health Equity. Science 2001 Oct;294(5540):87-9.
• Daar AS, al Khitamy AB. Bioethics for Clinicians: 21. Islamic Bioethics. Canadian Medical Association Journal 2001;164(1):60-3
• Daar AS, Thorsteinsdóttir H, Martin DK, Smith AC, Nast S, Singer PA. Top 10 Biotechnologies for Improving Health in Developing Countries. Nature Genetics 2002 Oct;32(2):229-32.
• Varmus H, Klausner R, Zerhouni E, Acharya T, Daar AS, Singer PA. Public Health. Grand Challenges in Global Health. Science 2003 Oct 17;302(5644):398-9.
• McKneally MF, Daar AS. Introducing New Technologies: Protecting Subjects of Surgical Innovation and Research. World Journal of Surgery 2003 Aug;27(8):930-4; discussion 934-5. Epub 2003 Jun 26.
• Daar AS, Dowdeswell E, Singer PA. Genome Diplomacy: Canada’s Crucial Role. Policy Options 2003;24(8):56-61.
• Benatar SR, Daar AS, Singer PA. Global Health Ethics: The rationale for mutual caring. International Affairs 2003;79:107-38.
• Seguin B, Singer PA, Daar AS. Scientific Diasporas. Science. 2006 Jun 16; 312(5780): 1602-3
• Heather L. Greenwood, Peter A. Singer, Gregory P. Downey, Douglas K. Martin, Halla Thorsteinsdóttir, Abdallah S. Daar (2006) Regenerative Medicine and the Developing World. PLoS Med 3(9): e381 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0030381
• Emerson CI, Daar AS. Defining Conscience and Acting Conscientiously. The American Journal of Bioethics. 2007 Dec; 7 (12): 19-21
• Daar AS, Singer PA, Persad D, et al. Grand Challenges in Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases. Nature. November 2007. Vol 450, pp. 494-496.
• Séguin, B., Hardy, B. J., Singer, P. A. & Daar, AS Genomic medicine and developing countries: creating a room of their own. Nature Rev. Genet. 9, 487–493 (2008).
• Singer PA, Daar, AS, How biodevelopment can enhance biosecurity. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (March/April) 2009 pp: 23-30
• Daar AS, Singer PA. Pharmacogenetics and Geographical Ancestry: Implications for Drug Development and Global Health. Nature Reviews Genetics 2005 Mar;6(3):241-6.
• Collins PY, Patel V, Joestl SS, March D, Insel TR, Daar AS on behalf of the Scientific Advisory Board and the Executive Committee of the Grand Challenges on Global Mental Health. Grand challenges in global mental health. Nature. 2011 Jul 6;475(7354):27-30. doi: 10.1038/475027a
• Obidima Ezezika, Fiona Thomas, Jim Lavery, Daar AS, Peter Singer, A Social Audit Model for Agro-biotechnology Initiatives in Developing Countries: Accounting for Ethical, Social, Cultural, and Commercialization Issues, Journal of Technology, Management and Innovation. 2009, Volume 4, Issue 3, pp 24-33. September 21, 2009
• Simiyu K, Daar AS and Singer PA. Stagnant Health Technologies in Africa. Science (2010) Dec 10;330(6010):1483-4.
• Shah R, Singer PA and Daar AS. Science-based health innovation in Tanzania: bednets and a base for invention. BMC International Health and Human Rights 2010, Dec 13;10 Suppl 1:S4.
• Thorsteinsdottir H, Ray M, Kapoor A and Daar AS. Health biotechnology innovation on a global stage. Nature Reviews Microbiology 2011 Feb;9(2):137-43.
• Lydia Kapiriri, James V. Lavery, Peter A. Singer, Hassan Mshinda, Lorne Babiuk and Abdallah S. Daar. The case for conducting First-in-Human (Phase 0 and Phase 1) clinical trials in low- and middle-income countries. BMC Public Health. October 18, 2011, 11:811.
• Rosenberg-Yunger ZR, Daar AS, Thorsteinsdóttir H, Martin DK. Priority setting for orphan drugs: an international comparison. Health Policy. 2011 Apr;100(1):25-34. Epub 2010 Oct 18.
• Sarah E. Ali-Khan, Tomasz Krakowski, Rabia Tahir, Abdallah S. Daar. The use of race, ethnicity and ancestry in human genetic research. June 17, 2011. HUGO Journal. DOI 10.1007/s11568-011-9154-5.
• Collins PY, Insel TR, Chockalingam A, Daar A, Maddox YT (2013) Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health: Integration in Research, Policy, and Practice. PLoS Med 10(4): e1001434. doi:10.1371/jour- nal.pmed.1001434
  • Ngo VK, Rubinstein A, Ganju V, Kanellis P, Loza N, Cristina Rabadan-Diehl, Abdallah S Daar (2013) Grand Challenges: Integrating Mental Health Care into the Non-Communicable Disease Agenda. PLoS Med 10(5): e1001443. doi:10.1371/ journal.pmed.1001443
  • Arthur Wilson and Abdallah S. Daar. (2013) A Survey of International Legal Instruments to Examine Their Effectiveness in Improving Global Health and in Realizing Health Rights. J Law Med Ethics. 2013 Spring;41(1):89-102. doi: 10.1111/jlme.12007
  • Ali-Khan SE, Daar AS. Admixture mapping: from paradigms of race and ethnicity to population history.Hugo J. 2010 Dec;4(1-4):23-34. doi: 10.1007/s11568-010-9145-y. Epub 2010 Sep 26.
    • Thorsteinsdóttir H, Ray M, Kapoor A, Daar AS. Health biotechnology innovation on a global stage.Nature Rev Microbiol. 2011 Feb;9(2):137-43. doi: 10.1038/nrmicro2492.
    • Kamunyori S, Al-Bader S, Sewankambo N, Singer PA, Daar AS..Science-based health innovation in Uganda: creative strategies for applying research to development..BMC Int Health Hum Rights. 2010 Dec 13;10 Suppl 1:S5. doi: 10.1186/1472-698X-10-S1-S5.
    • Shah R, Singer PA, Daar AS.Science-based health innovation in Tanzania: bednets and a base for invention. BMC Int Health Hum Rights. 2010 Dec 13;10 Suppl 1:S4. doi: 10.1186/1472-698X-10-S1-S4.
    • Masum H, Shah R, Schroeder K, Daar AS, Singer PA. Africa’s largest long-lasting insecticide-treated net producer: lessons from A to Z Textiles.BMC Int Health Hum Rights. 2010 Dec 13;10 Suppl 1:S6. doi: 10.1186/1472-698X-10-S1-S6.PMID: 21144077
      • McMahon DS, Singer PA, Daar AS, Thorsteinsdóttir H. Regenerative medicine in Brazil: small but innovative.Regen Med. 2010 Nov;5(6):863-76. doi: 10.2217/rme.10.76.PMID: 21082887
      • Bhattacharyya O, Khor S, McGahan A, Dunne D, Daar AS, Singer PA. Innovative health service delivery models in low and middle income countries – what can we learn from the private sector? Health Res Policy Syst. 2010 Jul 15;8:24. doi: 10.1186/1478-4505-8-24. PMID: 20630108
      • Omobowale EB, Kuziw M, Naylor MT, Daar AS, Singer PA. Addressing conflicts of interest in Public Private Partnerships. BMC Int Health Hum Rights. 2010 Jul 8;10:19. doi: 10.1186/1472-698X-10-19. PMID: 20615242 [PubMed]
      • Singh JA, Daar AS.. Intra-consortium data sharing in multi-national, multi-institutional genomic studies: gaps and guidance. Hugo J. 2009 Dec;3(1-4):11-4. doi: 10.1007/s11568-009-9130-5. Epub 2009 Nov 14.PMID: 20535402
      • Singh JA, Daar AS, Singer PA..Shared principles of ethics for infant and young child nutrition in the developing world. BMC Public Health. 2010 Jun 8;10:321. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-10-321.

      PMID: 20529339

      • Bhan A, Singer PA, Daar AS. Human-animal chimeras for vaccine development: an endangered species or opportunity for the developing world?BMC Int Health Hum Rights. 2010 May 19;10:8. doi: 10.1186/1472-698X-10-8. PMID: 20482820
      • Thorsteinsdóttir H, Melon CC, Ray M, Chakkalackal S, Li M, Cooper JE, Chadder J, Saenz TW, Paula MC, Ke W, Li L, Madkour MA, Aly S, El-Nikhely N, Chaturvedi S, Konde V, Daar AS, Singer PA. South-South entrepreneurial collaboration in health biotech. Nature Biotechnol. 2010 May;28(5):407-16. doi: 10.1038/nbt0510-407. No abstract available. Erratum in: Nat Biotechnol. 2010. PMID: 20458300

      Select item 20055687

      • McMahon DS, Thorsteinsdóttir H, Singer PA, Daar AS. Cultivating regenerative medicine innovation in China. Regen Med. 2010 Jan;5(1):35-44. doi: 10.2217/rme.09.78.

      PMID: 20055687

      Select item 21144075