Research Themes
IfP brings together transformative researchers and educators from across disciplines and around the world to address the complex, global challenges posed by pandemics, epidemics and other PHEs. Our work centers around three themes: ‘Readiness’ to prevent and track evolving pandemics and epidemics; ‘Resilience’ of health systems and communities, and to improve public health policies and interventions; and equitable ‘Recovery’ to reduce health disparities in public health crises, and to build back stronger and more fairly.
Readiness
IfP studies the development and spread of pandemics and epidemics through innovative, community-based surveillance, real-time monitoring, and advanced modelling methods; transmission modes of diseases and preventive measures; and strategies to minimize risk for the next pandemic emerging at the human-animal interface (‘One Health’).
Theme lead: Prof. David Fisman, DLSPH; Co-lead: Prof. Jeffrey Siegel, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering.
Resilience
IfP studies system resilience, its response, and communication in pandemics and PHEs. 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.
Theme lead: Prof. Sara Allin, DLSPH; Co-leads: Prof. Brian Baigrie, Faculty of Arts and Science; and Prof. Fahad Razak, Temerty Faculty of Medicine.
Resilience
IfP studies the broader impacts of pandemics and PHEs 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.
Theme lead: Prof. Geoff Anderson, DLSPH; Co-leads: Prof. Shauna Brail (UofT Mississauga, Management & Innovation); and Prof. Simone Vigod (Temerty Faculty of Medicine)
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.