IBH Welcomes New Research Chairs

Dr. Robert Reid has been appointed as the inaugural Hazel McCallion Research Chair in Learning Health Systems. In this role, Dr. Reid will grow a cutting-edge research program that will promote the rapid design and evaluation of innovative health care solutions to improve health for our community and accelerate the sharing of new and scalable learnings to improve the health system locally, provincially and nationally. In collaboration with patients, providers, scientists and community partners, Dr. Reid will build research capacity and strengthen the culture of research and innovation across THP and beyond.

Dr. Reid is an exemplary research thought leader and is internationally recognized for his work on developing and testing population-based innovations in primary care delivery, prevention services and chronic care. He is a Professor at University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and holds appointments at various national and international academic and community research centres. Dr. Reid received his medical degree from University of Alberta and completed a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology followed by a PhD in Health Policy and Management from Johns Hopkins University. He is a fellow of the American College of Preventative Medicine and has published over 140 research articles and given over 130 scientific and policy talks at internationally acclaimed research and academic centres including, Mayo Clinic and Kaiser Permanente.

The Research Chair in Learning Health Systems is named in honour of Ms. Hazel McCallion who is a visionary for not only the City of Mississauga and Region of Peel, but for all communities in how we can shape a healthier tomorrow. Ms. McCallion was the mayor of Mississauga from 1978 to 2014, as such was the longest-serving mayor in the city’s history and one of the longest-serving in Canadian history. This Research Chair was established to honour her lifelong dedication to creating a healthier community.

Dr. Reid will be assuming this new role in addition to his current roles as Chief Scientist, IBH and Senior Vice President, Science, THP.

Dr. Laura Rosella has been appointed as the inaugural Stephen Family Research Chair in Community Health. In her role, Dr. Rosella will establish an innovative research program focused on developing new approaches to inform public health decision-making using data to enhance population health and health system performance, and promote the equitable distribution of health care to improve health outcomes for the community. In partnership with patients, providers, scientists and community partners, Dr. Rosella will be instrumental in guiding efforts to advance THP’s goal of fostering a healthier and more inclusive community by addressing key determinants of health including social, cultural, economic and environmental factors.

Dr. Rosella is a world-renowned thinker in using population-level data and innovative analytic approaches to support population health and health system sustainability. She is an epidemiologist, an Associate Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at U of T where she holds a Canada Research Chair in Population Health Analytics. She holds scientific appointments at the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the Institutes for Clinical Evaluation Sciences (ICES), including as Site Director for ICES U of T. She received her PhD in Epidemiology from U of T and has published over 130 peer-reviewed publications in top journals in her field of public health, epidemiology and health policy. She has been awarded several national grants including a CIHR Foundation grant in support of her population health analytics research program and was recently awarded the Brian MacMahon Early Career Epidemiology Award by the Society for Epidemiologic Research. Dr. Rosella was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 and her research has been featured in various news outlets including The Toronto Star, CBC, CTV, The National Post, The Globe and Mail, Newsweek, and Forbes.

The Research Chair in Community Health is named in honour of the Stephen Family. Harold and Barbara Stephen are residents and champions of Mississauga. Their ongoing support to THP and the broader community has demonstrated their commitment to addressing systemic issues impacting the community including poverty and homelessness. The Stephen family strongly believes in THP’s mission of advancing a new kind of health care that is inclusive and addresses the needs of the community through population and systems-based research. This Research Chair was named to honour the Stephen Family’s ongoing philanthropic support of THP and other community-based organizations.

The Hazel McCallion and the Stephen Family Research Chairs are the result of a growing collaboration between University of Toronto (U of T) and THP and will be integral in achieving the shared goals of THP, U of T and the province to design a smarter health care system. As a joint collaboration with U of T and THP, these Research Chairs also mark an important milestone, as we continue to strengthen strong hospital-university research affiliation to develop, implement, test and scale solutions that will translate research into practice and policy to shape a new kind of health care.

Dr. Reid and Dr. Rosella join our existing Research Chairs, Dr. Walter Wodchis, Trillium Health Partners’ Research Chair of Implementation and Evaluation Science and Dr. Kerry Kuluski, Dr. Mathias Gysler Research Chair in Patient & Family Centred Care. Together with Dr. Wodchis and Dr. Kuluski, Dr. Reid and Dr. Rosella will be leading programs of research to create, implement and evaluate solutions that will improve health for our community and beyond.

These Research Chairs have been made possible through the generous support of donors and the Trillium Health Partners Foundation. We are thankful for the Foundation’s ongoing efforts to raise funds that support research and foster innovation to address real-life problems and create a new kind of health care for our changing community.