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Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

The Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH) is a Canadian post-secondary institution at the University of Toronto. It was founded in its first form in 1927 as the University of Toronto School of Hygiene, and was home for 50 years to Connaught Laboratories, a manufacturer of vaccines, insulin, and many other pharmaceutical products.

DLSPH is part of a trifecta of academic institutions that make up the core of the modern North American public health establishment, alongside the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

History

In 1927, the Rockefeller Foundation gave a large donation (either $1.5 million or $650,000) to the University of Toronto to found the University of Toronto School of Hygiene.[1] It began operations in the FitzGerald Building, which had long housed Connaught Laboratories, founded by Dr. John Gerald FitzGerald.[2]

In 2008, Paul Dalla Lana provided a $20 million donation to relaunch the University of Toronto’s public health program as the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.[3]

COVID-19

On February 24, 2020, DLSPH hosted an event with the Bethune Medical Development Association of Canada with signage reading “Combat Against Covid-19 in the World.”[4] Those in attendance included Isaac Bogoch, Allison McGeer, Xiaolin Wei and Mingyao Liu, "who discussed efforts to combat COVID-19 in China and internationally."[5]

The Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST) was formed under the DLSPH in July 2020.[6]

Organization

Notable graduates of the DLSPH include:

Personnel

Name Position Notes
Adalsteinn Brown Dean[15] Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME), Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Institute for Pandemics
Kevin Antoine Brown Assistant Professor[16] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Public Health Ontario (PHO), Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES)
Sarah Buchan Associate Professor, Epidemiology Division[17] Public Health Ontario (PHO), Institute for Pandemics, Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST)
Natasha Crowcroft Professor, Clinical Public Health and Epidemiology Divisions[18] Public Health Ontario (PHO), Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN)
Shelley Deeks Associate Professor, Clinical Public Health and Epidemiology Divisions[19] Centre for Global Health, National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN), COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF), Vaccine Innovation Prioritisation Strategy (VIPS), Public Health Ontario (PHO)
Vinita Dubey Adjunct Professor[20] Toronto Public Health, Children's COVID-19 Vaccine Table
David Fisman Professor, Epidemiology Division[21] Institute for Pandemics, Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST)
Michael Gardam Assistant Professor[22] Public Health Ontario (PHO), University Health Network (UHN), Temerty Faculty of Medicine
Jessica Hopkins Adjunct Lecturer[23] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Public Health Ontario (PHO), Technical Advisory Committee for COVID-19
Akwatu Khenti Associate Professor, Social and Behavioural Health Sciences Division[24] Centre for Global Health, Black Scientists' Task Force on Vaccine Equity, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
Michael Kidd Professor, Clinical Public Health Division[25] Therapeutic Guidelines, WHO Collaborating Centre on Family Medicine and Primary Care
Jeff Kwong Professor, Clinical Public Health and Epidemiology Divisions[26] Vaccine Surveillance Reference Group (VSRG), Public Health Ontario (PHO), Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES)
Bradley Langford Assistant Professor[27] Public Health Ontario (PHO), Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Hotel Dieu Shaver Health and Rehabilitation Centre
Robyn Lee Assistant Professor, Epidemiology Division[28] Ontario's COVID-19 Genomics Rapid Response Coalition, McGill International TB Centre
Pamela Leece Assistant Professor[29] Public Health Ontario (PHO), Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Women's College Hospital
Lennon Li Assistant Professor, Biostatistics Division[30] Public Health Ontario (PHO), Statistical Society of Canada, Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN)
Allison McGeer Professor, Epidemiology Division[31] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), Ontario's COVID-19 Genomics Rapid Response Coalition, COVID-19 Expert Panel
John McLaughlin Professor Emeritus[32] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Public Health Ontario (PHO), Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow's Health (CanPath)
Sharmistha Mishra Associate Professor, Epidemiology Division[33] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), St. Michael's Hospital
Nancy Ondrusek Assistant Professor, Clinical Public Health Division[34] Public Health Ontario (PHO), Ontario COVID-19 Bioethics Table
Laura Rosella Associate Professor[35] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Royal Society of Canada (RSC)
Brian Schwartz Associate Professor[36] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Public Health Ontario (PHO)
Robert Steiner Director, Dalla Lana Fellowship in Global Journalism[37] Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Bell Globemedia, Liberal Party of Canada
Ashleigh Tuite Assistant Professor of Epidemiology[38] COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group
Ross Upshur Head, Division of Clinical Public Health[39] Ontario COVID-19 Bioethics Table, Bridgepoint Collaboratory for Research and Innovation, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute
Jennifer Walker Assistant Professor, Epidemiology Division[40] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES)
Xiaolin Wei Professor, Clinical Public Health Division[41] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
Sarah Wilson Associate Professor, Clinical Public Health and Epidemiology Divisions[42] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), Vaccine Surveillance Reference Group (VSRG)
Tom Wong Assistant Professor, Epidemiology Division[43] National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB)

Subsidiaries

  • Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases (CVPD)[44]
  • Institute for Pandemics[45]
  • Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME)[46]
  • Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST)[47][48]
  • Population Health Analytics Laboratory[49]
  • University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB)[50]
  • Waakebiness Institute for Indigenous Health[51]

Partners

DLSPH is a member of the Evidence Synthesis Network (ESN),[52] and a partner of:

Activities

DLSPH has provided funding to the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA).[57]

Further reading

  1. Bodnar, N. (2014, May 2). Origin story: how the Dalla Lana School of Public Health began. University of Toronto News. https://web.archive.org/web/20160514143930/https://www.utoronto.ca/news/origin-story-how-dalla-lana-school-public-health-began ↩︎

  2. Burrows, M. (2019, May 16). Canada’s Greatest Impact Donation. All About Estates. https://www.allaboutestates.ca/canadas-greatest-impact-donation/ ↩︎

  3. Paul Dalla Lana commits second $20-million gift to the University of Toronto’s Boundless Campaign. (2018, February 1). University of Toronto News. https://web.archive.org/web/20180202142614/https://www.utoronto.ca/news/paul-dalla-lana-commits-second-20-million-gift-university-toronto-s-boundless-campaign ↩︎

  4. Education. (2022). Bethune Medical Development Association of Canada. https://web.archive.org/web/20221108014420/https://www.bmdac.ca/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=6&Itemid=31 ↩︎

  5. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. (2020, February 25). “Last night, the Bethune Medical Development Association of Canada hosted a media event at DLSPH. It featured five U of T experts who discussed efforts to combat COVID-19 in China and internationally…” [Post]. 登录 Facebook. https://web.archive.org/web/20221108062444/https://zh-cn.facebook.com/DallaLanaSchoolOfPublicHealth/posts/last-night-the-bethune-medical-development-association-of-canada-hosted-a-media-/2777310078984442/ ↩︎

  6. Fox, C. (2022, March 31). Science table to be folded into arms-length government agency. CP24. https://web.archive.org/web/20220331214450/https://www.cp24.com/news/science-table-to-be-folded-into-arms-length-government-agency-1.5843357 ↩︎

  7. Isha Berry [@ishaberry2]. (2022, March 24). "Excited to be a newly minted Dr Isha Berry! Thank you to my committee ( @DFisman @AmyGreerKalisz Shuan Morris & Punam Mangtani) collaborators ( @MahbuburDr ), and the many other that supported me on this journey @UofT_dlsph ! It has been a real privilege completing this PhD!" [Tweet]. Twitter. http://archive.vn/2022.05.10-052132/https://twitter.com/ishaberry2/status/1507070746203504640 ↩︎

  8. About Us. Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. Retrieved April 28, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250428015537/https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/about/#bobos-pavlos ↩︎

  9. Nicolas S. Bodmer. LinkedIn. Retrieved April 27, 2025, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-s-bodmer-5b299813b/ ↩︎

  10. Erik L. Friesen [profile]. Twitter. Retrieved May 7, 2022, from https://archive.vn/Tamzn ↩︎

  11. Education | Camille Lemieux. LinkedIn. Retrieved June 9, 2022, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/camille-lemieux-8b5638112/details/education/ ↩︎

  12. Dalla Lana School of Public Health [@uoft_dlsph]. (2022, June 17). “Congratulations to graduates Michelle Amri and Antonina Maltsev who were honoured at today’s graduation reception. To the Class of 2022, congratulations! You did it! Don’t forget us like we won’t forget you!A big thanks to the organizers, the graduate office, for a wonderful event! #weareDLSPHAlumni #uoftgrad22” [Post]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/uoft_dlsph/p/Ce6zu67OY9p/?img_index=2 ↩︎

  13. Lempert, R. (2021, April 14). The University Of Toronto, Ontario Science Table Monopoly On “Public Health” In Ontario. Canuck Law. https://canucklaw.ca/the-university-of-toronto-ontario-science-table-monopoly-on-public-health-in-ontario/ ↩︎

  14. Ashini Weerasinghe. LinkedIn. Retrieved May 24, 2022, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashini-weerasinghe-688044105/ ↩︎

  15. Adalsteinn (Steini) Brown. Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. Retrieved April 21, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250421183938/https://ihpme.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/adalsteinn-steini-brown/ ↩︎

  16. About Us. Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613214617/https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/about/#brown-kevin-antoine ↩︎

  17. Buchan, Sarah A. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved April 1, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250401081055/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/buchan-sarah/ ↩︎

  18. Crowcroft, Natasha Sarah. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved February 10, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240210182917/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/crowcroft-natasha-sarah/ ↩︎

  19. Shelley L Deeks. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved November 9, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20241109184004/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/deeks-shelley-l/ ↩︎

  20. Dubey, Vinita. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved April 8, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250408015749/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/dubey-vinita/ ↩︎

  21. Fisman, David N. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved April 28, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250428005309/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/fisman-david-n/ ↩︎

  22. An Analysis of Canada’s Vulnerability to Emerging Infectious Disease Threats via the Global Airline Transportation Network. (2009). The Centre for Research on Inner City Health; St. Michael’s Hospital. https://paulojraposo.github.io/assets/biodiasporareport2009_lowres.pdf ↩︎

  23. Dr. Jessica Hopkins. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved May 28, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240528172543/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/About/Research/Our-Researchers/Jessica-Hopkins ↩︎

  24. Khenti, Akwatu. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved February 18, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250218100724/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/khenti-akwatu/ ↩︎

  25. Kidd, Michael. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved April 28, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250428021506/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/kidd-michael/ ↩︎

  26. Kwong, Jeff. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved April 27, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250427235125/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/kwong-jeff-c/ ↩︎

  27. Bradley Langford. LinkedIn. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/bjlangford/ ↩︎

  28. Robyn Lee. McGill International TB Centre. Retrieved April 27, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250427230700/https://www.mcgill.ca/tb/investigators/robyn-lee ↩︎

  29. Leece, Pamela. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved April 27, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250427233019/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/leece-pamela/ ↩︎

  30. Li, Lennon. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613201854/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/li-lennon/ ↩︎

  31. McGeer, Allison. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved April 27, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250427024611/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/mcgeer-allison/ ↩︎

  32. John R. McLaughlin. ResearchGate. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613215850/https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John-Mclaughlin-36 ↩︎

  33. Mishra, Sharmistha. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved March 31, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250331233242/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/mishra-sharmistha/ ↩︎

  34. Ondrusek, Nancy. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved April 27, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250427234023/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/ondrusek-nancy/ ↩︎

  35. Laura Rosella. Population Health Analytics Laboratory. Retrieved July 5, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230705200035/https://pophealthanalytics.com/laura-rosella/ ↩︎

  36. Schwartz, Brian. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from http://archive.vn/2022.01.25-082601/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/schwartz-brian/ ↩︎

  37. Robert Steiner. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved June 26, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220626112112/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/journalism/profile/steiner-robert/ ↩︎

  38. Digital Contact tracing while Preserving Privacy: The MyTrace.ca Project. University of Toronto Department of Physics. Retrieved July 5, 2023, from http://archive.vn/2023.07.05-193440/https://www.physics.utoronto.ca/research/quantum-optics/qoamo-seminars/digital-contact-tracing-while-preserving-privacy-the-mytraceca-project/ ↩︎

  39. Ross Upshur. University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20221011155543/https://jcb.utoronto.ca/people/faculty-affiliates/ross-upshur/ ↩︎

  40. Walker, Jennifer D. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved September 27, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240927162049/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/walker-jennifer-d/ ↩︎

  41. Wei, Xiaolin. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved January 8, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250108111055/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/wei-xiaolin/ ↩︎

  42. Wilson, Sarah. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved April 28, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250428014938/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/wilson-sarah/ ↩︎

  43. Wong, Thomas. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved October 8, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20241008040243/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/wong-thomas/ ↩︎

  44. Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases (CVPD). Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved March 29, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250329214937/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/institutes/centre-for-vaccine-preventable-diseases/ ↩︎

  45. Partners. Institute for Pandemics. Retrieved April 5, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250405060605/https://pandemics.utoronto.ca/support/ ↩︎

  46. Home. Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. Retrieved April 5, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250405212644/https://ihpme.utoronto.ca/ ↩︎

  47. Public Health Ontario to take over expert table of COVID-19 pandemic advisors. (2022, March 31). CBC News; The Canadian Press. https://web.archive.org/web/20220403233917/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-science-advisory-table-covid-19-1.6404372 ↩︎

  48. Burman, D. (2021, November 23). EXPLAINER: Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table - Who they are and what they do. CityNews Toronto. https://web.archive.org/web/20211124070639/https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/11/23/explainer-ontario-covid-19-science-advisory-table/ ↩︎

  49. About. Population Health Analytics Laboratory. Retrieved April 27, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250427231117/https://pophealthanalytics.com/about/ ↩︎

  50. About the JCB. University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics. Retrieved April 27, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250427234953/https://jcb.utoronto.ca/about/the-jcb/ ↩︎

  51. Waakebiness Institute for Indigenous Health. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved April 1, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250401001241/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/institutes/wiih/ ↩︎

  52. Evidence & Knowledge for COVID-19 Response. Evidence Synthesis Network. Retrieved May 9, 2022, from http://archive.today/2021.03.14-063900/https://esnetwork.ca/ ↩︎

  53. Home. Health Nexus. Retrieved February 11, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250211053838/https://healthnexus.ca/ ↩︎

  54. Partners & Members. North American Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. Retrieved January 24, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240124110923/https://naohealthobservatory.ca/partners-members/ ↩︎

  55. Home. ONCoV. Retrieved September 10, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220910203044/https://www.oncov.ca/ ↩︎

  56. Program Partner Organizations. Public Health Training for Equitable Systems Change. Retrieved April 28, 2025, from https://web.archive.org/web/20250428015908/https://www.phesc.ca/program-logo-gallery 2 ↩︎

  57. 2016 Annual Report. Canadian Public Health Association. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from https://www.cpha.ca/sites/default/files/assets/annual-reports/2016_ar_e.pdf ↩︎