Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Faculty Member

Laura C. Rosella PhD, MHSc

Research Interests

• Epidemiologic methods
• Population and Public Health
• Population-based risk tools to support public health planning
• Social determinants of health
• Premature mortality
• Diabetes and obesity
• Public health policy
• AI and public health
• Multimorbidity
• Chronic disease prevention
• Community wellbeing

Other Affiliations

Stephen Family Chair in Community Health, Institute for Better Health, Trillium Health Partners

Professor, Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, U of T

Education Lead, U of T Temerty Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM)

Associate Director of Education, Data Sciences Institute (DSI)

Member, Banting and Best Diabetes Centre, Vulnerable Populations/Population Health

Faculty Affiliate, Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society

Faculty Affiliate, Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence

Adjunct Scientist ICES and Site Director ICES U of T

Twitter: @LauraCRosella

Primary Teaching Responsibilities

• Methods in epidemiology and applied biostatistics
• Advanced Analytic Methods for Bias in Epidemiology (CHL5429)
• Research Methods II (CHL5408)

Selected Awards and Distinctions

• 2023 Dalla Lana School of Public Health Supervision and Mentorship Award, Recipient, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
• 2022 CP Shah Award for Excellence in Public Health, Recipient, Dalla Lana School of Public Health’s Alumni Association, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
• 2021 The Royal Society of Canada, Member of the College, The Royal Society of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
• 2015 – 2025 Canada Research Chair (Tier 2), Chair, Government of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
• 2018 Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, The Caldwell Partners International, Toronto, ON, Canada.
• 2017 Brian MacMahon Early Career Epidemiologist Award, Recipient, Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER)

Selected Funded Grants as Principal Applicant

• Rosella L.C. (NPA) Anderson M, Buckeridge D, Fan L, Lee J, Lix L, Osgood N. Principal Investigator. Artificial Intelligence for Public Health (AI4PH) Training Platform. Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Health Research Training Platform (HRTP). (Funded 2022-2028)
• Rosella L.C. (Co-PI) Shaw, J (Co-PI), Abejirinde I, Gibson J, Guha S, Lipscombe L.  Developing the Responsible Artificial Intelligence for Health Systems (RAIHS) framework to ethically deploy Type 2 Diabetes Prediction Models. Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Solution Networks. (Funded 2023)
• Rosella L.C. (NPA) Helliwell, J, Kim, R. Malti, T, Mah S. A National Data Platform to Inform Community Wellbeing and Flourishing Across Canada. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Grant (Funded 2022)
• Rosella L.C. (NPA) Agrawal A., Chan T., Goldenberg A., Goldfarb A., Sanner S., Stukel Beyond prediction: Building a global network to unlock the potential of advanced analytics and population risk tools to address complex health system challenges. Connaught Global Challenge Award. (Funded 2018-2020)
• Rosella L.C. (NPA), Manuel, D.M, Grant, L., Wong, A. Planning tools to inform interventions to reduce avoidable hospitalization and premature mortality in Canadian cities. Canadian Institutes of Health Research Operating Grant: Data Analysis Using Existing Databases and Cohorts. (Funded 2019-2021)
• Rosella, L.C. (PI) Population health analytics in action: Improving impact, sustainability & equity of the health care system. Foundation Scheme: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Funded: 2016-2021)
• Rosella, L.C. (NPA), Henry, D., (Co-PI), Bornbaum, C., Donnelly, P., Frank, J., Gershon, A., Guttman, A., Jha, P., Urquia, M., Manuel, D., Mowat, D., Schull, M., Tepper, J., Tu, J., Turnbull, J., Urquia, M., Veillard, J., Walker, J., Wodchis, W. Using comprehensive multi-linked mortality files to evaluate health system functioning and inform health system planning in Ontario. Operating Grant: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Funded: 2015-2018)
• Rosella, L.C. (NPA), Fransoo, R., Mowat,D., Hayes, A., Booth, G., Peirson, L., Bornbaum, C., Stukel, T., O’Reilly, D. Supporting decision making for the prevention of chronic disease and reduction of high health care utilization.  Operating Grant: Canadian Institutes of Health Research  – PHSI  (Funded 2015- 2018)
• Rosella, L.C. (PI), Bornstein, S., Harper, S., Booth, G., Manuel, D.G.,O’Reilly, D., Stukel, T.S., Wodchis, W., Maximizing population benefit by applying population risk tools: A new direction for diabetes prevention in Canada. Operating Grant: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Funded: 2014-2015)
• Rosella, L.C. (PI),  Harper, S.,Booth, G., Manuel, D.G.,O’Reilly, D., Stukel, T.S., Maximizing population benefit by applying population risk tools: A new direction for diabetes prevention in Canada. Operating Grant: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Funded: 2014-2015)
• Rosella, L. C (PI), Mowat, D. (KU-PI), Bruce, S., Caetano, P. (KU), Fransoo, R., Johnson, I., Manuel, D.G, Martens, P.,  Gardner, C. (KU), Supporting diabetes population health risk tools in practice: Partnerships to guide adaption, implementation and evaluation. Operating Grant: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Funded: 2013-2015)
• Rosella, L. C (PI), Manuel, D.G., Booth, G., Wodchis, W., O’Reilly, D., Harper, S., Stukel, T.S., Quantifying future risk and burden of type 2 diabetes in Canada: tools to inform the prevention of obesity and diabetes. Operating Grant: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Funded: 2013-2014)
• Rosella, L.C. (PI), Wodchis, W., Manson, H., Goel, V.G. High-users of Ontario’s health care system: A comprehensive look at the characteristics and upstream determinants of high cost users in Ontario. (Funded: 2013-2014)

Representative Publications

Selected recent publications (** Trainees under my supervision)

• Rosella L.C., Kornas K, Huang A, Bornbaum C, Henry, D, Wodchis W. Accumulation of chronic conditions at the time of death increased in Ontario from 1994 To 2013. Health Affairs. 2018; 37(3): 464-472.
• Rosella L.C., Fu L, Buajitti E, Goel V. Death and Chronic Disease Risk Associated With Poor Life Satisfaction: A Population-Based Cohort Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2019;188(2):323-331.
• Rosella L.C., Agrawal A, Gans J, Goldfarb A, Sennik S, Stein J. Large-scale implementation of rapid antigen testing system for COVID-19 in workplaces. Science Advances. 2022;8(8).
• **Ravaut M, Sadeghi H, Leung KK, Volkovs M, Kornas K, Harish V, Watson T, Lewis GF, Weisman A, Poutanen T, Rosella L.C. Predicting adverse outcomes due to diabetes complications with machine learning using administrative health data. NPJ Digital Medicine. 2021;(4) 1:1-12.
• Buajitti E and Rosella L.C. Neighbourhood socioeconomic improvement, residential mobility and premature death: a population-based cohort study and inverse probability of treatment weighting analysis. International Journal of Epidemiology. 2023 Apr 19;52(2):489-500
• Rosella L.C., Kornas K, Negatu, E, Zhou, L. Variations in All-Cause Mortality, Premature Mortality and Cause-Specific Mortality Among Persons with Diabetes in Ontario, Canada. BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care.  2023;11:e003378
• **Ng, R.,  Sutradhar, R., Zao, Zhan, Wodchis, W., Rosella, L.C. International Journal of Epidemiology. 2019 Accepted for Publication.
• Rosella L.C., Fu L., Goel V. Mortality and chronic disease risk associated with poor life satisfaction: A population-based cohort study. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2019; 188(2):323-331.
• Rosella L.C., Kornas K., Watson T., Bornbaum C., Henry D. Population risk and burden of health behavioural related all-cause, premature, and amenable deaths in Ontario, Canada. Annals of Epidemiology. 2019; 32(49): 56e3.
• Goel V., Rosella L.C., Fub L., Alberga A. The relationship between life satisfaction and health care utilization: a longitudinal study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 2018; 55 (2),  142–150.
• Rosella L.C. Deep learning approaches applied to routinely collected health data: future directions. International Journal of Epidemiology. 2022;51(3): 931–933.
• **Khan, A.M., Urquia, M., Kornas, K., Henry, D., Cheng, S.Y., Bornbaum, C., Rosella, L.C. Socioeconomic gradients in all-cause, premature and avoidable mortality using among immigrants and long-term residents using linked deaths records in Ontario, Canada. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. 2017. 71:625–632.
• **Yi SE, Harish V, Gutierrez J, Ravaut M, Kornas K, Watson T, Poutanen T, Ghassemi M, Volkovs M, Rosella, L.C. Predicting hospitalisations related to ambulatory care sensitive conditions with machine learning for population health planning. BMJ open. 2022;12(4): e051403.
• Rosella L.C., Kornas K., Yao Z., Bornbaum C., Fransoo R. Stukel, T.A. Predicting high health care resource utilization in a single payer public health care system: Development and validation of the High Resource User Population Risk Tool (HRUPoRT). Medical Care.
• Rosella L.C., Calzavara A., Frank J., Fitzpatrick T., Donnelly P. Henry D. The narrowing mortality gap between men and women over two decades: A registry based study in Ontario, Canada.  BMJ Open. 2016; 6(11): e012564.
• Rosella L.C., Bowman C., Pach B., Morgan S., Fitzpatrick T., Goel V. The development and validation of a meta-tool for quality appraisal of public health evidence: Meta Quality Appraisal Tool (MetaQAT). Public Health. 2016 Jul;136:57-65.
• Manuel D.G.M., Perez R., Sanmartin C., Taljaard M., Hennessy D., Wilson K., Tanuseputro P., Manson H., Bennett C., Tuna M., Rosella L.C. Measuring burden of unhealthy behaviours using a multivariable predictive approach: life expectancy lost in Canada from smoking, alcohol, physical inactivity. PLoS Medicine. 2016; 13(8): e1002082.
• Rosella, L.C. Lebenbaum, M, Fitzpatrick, T., O’Rielly, D., Wang, J., Booth, G.L., Wodchis, W. The impact of diabetes on health care costs in a population-based cohort: A cost analysis. Diabetic Medicine. 2016; 33(3): 395-403.
• Rosella, L.C., Lebenbaum, M., Fitzpatrick, T., Zuk, A., Booth, G.L. The prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes in Canada (2007-2011): Diabetes screening according to fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c screening criteria. Diabetes Care. 2015; 38(7): 1299-1305.
•  **Michalski C, Diemert L, Helliwell JF, Goel V, Rosella L.C. Relationship between sense of community belonging and self-rated health across life stages. SSM- Population Health. 2020(12) 100676.
• Fitpatrick, T., Rosella, L.C., Calzavara, A., Petch, J., Pinto, A., Manson, W., Goel, V., Wodchis, W. Looking beyond income and education: Socioeconomic gradients among future high cost users of healthcare. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2015; 49(2) 161-171.
• Rosella, L.C., FItzpatrick, T., Calzavara, A., Manson, H., Wodchis, W., Goel, V. High-users of Ontario’s health care system: Applying a population perspective to the determinants of high cost use. BMC Health Services Research. 2014; 14: 532.
• Rosella, L.C., Lebenbaum, M., Wang, J., Li, Y., Manuel, D., Risk distribution and its influence on the population targets for diabetes prevention. Preventive Medicine. 2014; 58: 17-21.
• Rosella, L.C. ,Peirson L, Bornbaum C, et al. Supporting collaborative use of the Diabetes Population Risk Tool (DPoRT) in health-related practice: a multiple care study research protocol. Implementation Science. 2014; 9:35
• Rosella L.C. , Rivera L, Lebenbaum M. Implications of Clinical Targets for Diabetes Prevention. Annals of Epidemiology 2013; 23(9):587-588.
• Rosella L.C. , Lebenbaum LM. Applying A Population Risk Tool to Identify Impaired Fasting Glucose in the U.S. Population. Annals of Epidemiology 2013; 23(9):593.
• Rosella, L.C., Manuel, D.G, Burchill, C., Stukel, T.A. A population based risk algorithm for the development of diabetes: Development and validation of the Diabetes Population Risk Tool (DPoRT). Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 2011; 65(11): 613-20.
• Rosella, L.C., Corey, P., Stukel, T.A., Mustard, C., Hux, J., Manuel, D.G. The influence of measurement error on calibration, discrimination, and overall estimation of a risk prediction model. Population Health Metrics. 2012, 10:20
• Rosella, L.C., Corey, P., Stukel, T.A., Mustard, C., Hux, J., Roos, L., Manuel, D.G. The role of ethnicity in predicting diabetes risk at the population level. Ethnicity and Health. 2012, 17 (4): 419-437
• Manuel, D.M., Rosella, L.C., Hennessy, D., Sanmartin, C., Wilson, K. Predictive risk algorithms in a population setting: an overview. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. (In Press)
• Rosella, L.C., Groenwold, R.H.H., Crowcroft, N.S. Assessing the impact of confounding (measured and unmeasured) in a case control study to examine the increased risk of pandemic A/H1N1 associated with receipt of the 2008-9 seasonal influenza vaccine. Vaccine 2011;29(49):9194-200
• Rosella L.C.,  Wilson K., Crowcroft N.S., Chu A., Upshur R., Willison D., Deeks S.L., Schwartz B, Tustin J, Sider D, Goel V. Pandemic H1N1 in Canada and the use of evidence in developing public health policies-a policy analysis. Social Science and Medicine 2013 83:1-9.
• Kwong J.C., Campitelli M.A., Rosella L.C. Obesity and respiratory hospitalizations during influenza season in Ontario, Canada, a cohort study. Clinical Infectious Diseases 2011; 53: 413-42.
• Campitelli M.A., Rosella L.C., Stukel T.A., Kwong J.C. Influenza vaccination and all-cause mortality in community-dwelling elderly in Ontario, Canada, a cohort study Vaccine 2010; Dec 16; 29(2):240-6.
• Wilson SE, Rosella L.C., Lipscombe LL, et al. The effectiveness and efficiency of diabetes screening in Ontario, Canada: a population-based cohort study BMC Public Health 2010;10.
• Manuel D.G., Rosella L.C., Stukel T.A. Importance of accurately identifying disease in studies using electronic health records. British Medical Journal 2010;341.
• Skowronski D.M., De Serres G., Crowcroft N.S., Janjua N.Z., Boulianne N, Hottes T.S., Rosella L.C., Dickinson J.A., Gilca R, et al.. Association between the 2008-09 seasonal influenza vaccine and pandemic H1N1 illness during Spring-Summer 2009: four observational studies from Canada. PLoS Medicine 2010; Apr 6;7(4):e1000258.
•  Guller, U., Rosella, L., Karanicolas, P.J., Adamina, M., Hahnloser, D. Laproscopic sigmoid resection: Population-based trend analysis of 2,813 patients. British Journal of Surgery 2010; 97:79-85.