Ted Witek
Dr. Ted Witek is a Professor and Senior Fellow jointly appointed at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) at the University of Toronto. He serves as inaugural Director of Canada's first Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) program, which he has led since 2020, and was appointed full Professor in 2023. He holds a DrPH from Columbia University, an MPH from Yale University, and an MBA from Henley Management College, London, with additional executive education at INSEAD (Paris/Shanghai), Tuck/Dartmouth, and the Rotman School of Management (ICD.D,) and Columbia Business School/HITLAB (Digital Health).
Before entering academia, Ted worked nearly 25 years at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, progressing from Director of Respiratory and Immunology Clinical Research to President and CEO of the company's Portuguese (2004–2008) and Canadian (2008–2014) operations. During that time, he led the global clinical development and commercial launch of Spiriva®, one of the most widely prescribed treatments for COPD. He subsequently served as Chief Scientific Officer at Innoviva (formerly Theravance, Inc.) and continues to hold independent director and advisory roles with several life sciences companies and investment firms. He led two of the industry’s largest strategic alliances (BI/Pfizer, Innoviva/GSK).
Dr. Witek's research spans respiratory public health, obstructive airway disease, pharmaceutical drug development/commercialization, and pandemic leadership/preparedness. His earlier work on air quality and respiratory health was cited as evidence supporting air quality guidelines, and his more recent scholarship has examined the erosion of pandemic preparedness in the years preceding COVID-19. He has authored more than 100 manuscripts and book chapters and is co-author of the textbook Pharmacology and Therapeutics in Respiratory Care. He is an elected Fellow of the American Thoracic Society, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, and the American Association of Respiratory Care. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Yale University in 2024.