Welcome to the University of Toronto’s Institute for Pandemics

One of the world’s first academic centres dedicated exclusively to preventing, preparing for, fighting and recovering from pandemics and public health emergencies.

Forged by our experts’ experience fighting COVID-19, drawn from our deep history in public health and health systems, and ignited by the visions of DLSPH and University of Toronto, the Institute is urgently committed to help Canada and our planet.

IfP couples scientific advances with an intimate knowledge of public health, epidemiology, health systems, healthy policy, communication, and the intersectional social determinants of health — to better prepare for and respond to the complex challenges of pandemics and large-scale epidemics, and to influence change.  Universities must play a central role if we are to mitigate the human suffering, system disruption and socioeconomic devastation caused by these recurrent health crises.

Learn more about our work

Forged by our experts’ experience fighting COVID-19, drawn from our deep history in public health and health systems, and ignited by the visions of DLSPH and University of Toronto, the Institute is urgently committed to help Canada and our planet.

IfP couples scientific advances with an intimate knowledge of public health, epidemiology, health systems, healthy policy, communication, and the intersectional social determinants of health — to better prepare for and respond to the complex challenges of pandemics and large-scale epidemics, and to influence change.  Universities must play a central role if we are to mitigate the human suffering, system disruption and socioeconomic devastation caused by these recurrent health crises.

Research themes

Readiness

IfP studies the development and spread of pandemics through innovative, community-based surveillance, real-time monitoring, and advanced modelling methods; transmission modes of infectious diseases and preventive measures; and strategies to minimize risk for the next pandemic emerging at the human-animal interface.

Resilience

IfP studies system resilience, its response, and communication in pandemics and large-scale epidemics. These include roles of governance, governments, critical infrastructures and information systems; methodological evaluation of emerging evidence and integration of multiple information streams in policy-making; processes to support data driven, ethical, equitable public health responses; roles of civil society; and effective communication within and across systems, and with the public.

Recovery

IfP studies pandemic’s broader impacts on health and society, in short and longer terms; impacts from various containment measures; health impacts on vulnerable and marginalized populations, as linked to the existing material-social deprivation gradient; strategies to reduce inequities in health access and outcomes in pandemics; and the roadmap to build back better and fairer.

Equity

This transversal theme on ‘Equity’ is leading the research thrust on a multitude of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) related issues in pandemics and public health crises, including but not limited to the marginalized and vulnerable populations, racial and gender disparity, and Indigenous health, among others, in connection to Readiness, Resilience and Recovery.
Learn more about the Research Themes
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