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Profiles

Public Health Ontario

Public Health Ontario (PHO) is an agency of the Government of Ontario responsible for public health guidance in the province. It is a subsidiary agency of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

History

PHO was an exhibitor at the Canadian Immunization Conference 2016, which took place from December 6-8, 2016, at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa, Ontario.[1]

PHO provided funding for a study on narcolepsy as an adverse event following immunization with Pandemrix, an H1N1 vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline, published in August 2018.[2]

COVID-19

Kieran Moore became Chief Medical Officer of Health in June 2021.[3] At Moore's request, PHO established the Ontario Immunization Advisory Committee (OIAC) to provide "evidence-based advice... on vaccines and immunization matters including vaccine program implementation in Ontario, priority populations, clinical guidance and vaccine safety and effectiveness."[4]

On August 17, 2021, Moore issued a directive requiring hospitals and healthcare facilities to develop a policy around COVID-19 vaccination effective September 7, 2021.[5] This was officially known as Directive 6 (or the "Vaccine Directive") issued under section 77.7 of Ontario's Health Protection and Promotion Act.[6] As written, Directive 6 enabled employers to adopt accommodation policies for staff who chose not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, but many chose not to do so.[7]

In late September 2021, Public Health Ontario adjusted its guidance to suggest youth aged 18-24 receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine instead of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine product due to elevated risk of myocarditis. However, individuals in that group could still receive the Moderna shot so long as they gave "informed consent."[8]

As of March 14, 2022, Directive 6 was no longer in effect.[9]

Organization

PHO has been a tenant at MaRS Discovery District.[10]

Personnel

Name Position Notes
Kieran Moore Chief Medical Officer of Health[3:1] Queen's University, Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network, KFL&A Public Health Informatics
Samantha Akingbola Researcher[11] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Toronto Public Health
Vanessa Allen Chief of Microbiology and Laboratory Science (former)[12] University of Toronto Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Provincial COVID-19 Diagnostic Network
Shelly Bolotin Scientist, Health Protection[13] Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN)
Kevin Antoine Brown Scientist, Infection Prevention and Control[14] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Dalla Lana School of Public Health
Sarah Buchan Scientist, Health Protection[15] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), Canadian Association for Immunization Research and Evaluation (CAIRE)
Cynthia Chen Senior Health Data Analyst[16] Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN)
William Ciccotelli Member, Provincial Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee on Infection Prevention and Control (PIDAC-IPC)[17] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST)
Natasha Crowcroft Chief Science Officer[18] Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN)
Shelley Deeks Chief Health Protection Officer[19] National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN), Vaccine Innovation Prioritisation Strategy (VIPS)
Gerald Evans Consultant Infection Prevention and Control Physician[20] COVID-19 Therapeutics Interim Working Group, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST)
Nahuel Fittipaldi Scientist, Public Health Ontario Laboratory[21] Ontario's COVID-19 Genomics Rapid Response Coalition (ONCoV)
Jonathan Gubbay Medical Microbiologist[22] National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCCID), Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN), SickKids
Jessica Hopkins Chief Health Protection and Emergency Preparedness Officer[23] Ontario Immunization Advisory Committee (OIAC), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Technical Advisory Committee for COVID-19
Frances Jamieson Director of the TB and Mycobacteriology Laboratory[24] University of Toronto Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN)
Caitlin Johnson Epidemiologist[25] Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN), Regional Municipality of York
Jeff Kwong Scientist[26] Vaccine Surveillance Reference Group (VSRG), Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Bradley Langford Pharmacist Specialist, Antimicrobial Stewardship Program[27] Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Hotel Dieu Shaver Health and Rehabilitation Centre
Pamela Leece Public Health Physician - Health Promotion, Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention[28] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Women's College Hospital
Lennon Li Biostatistical Specialist[29] Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Statistical Society of Canada, Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN)
Alex Marchand-Austin Manager of Lab Surveillance and Data Management[30] Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN), Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)
John McLaughlin Chief Science Officer (former)[31] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow's Health (CanPath)
Michelle Murti Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health[32] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Fraser Health Authority
Nancy Ondrusek Director of Research and Ethics[33] Ontario COVID-19 Bioethics Table, Dalla Lana School of Public Health
Samir Patel Chief, Microbiology and Laboratory Science[34] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), University of Toronto Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology
Brian Schwartz Vice President[35] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Canadian Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Task Group, Ontario SARS Scientific Advisory Committee
Premy Selvakumar Administrative Assistant[36] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST)
Kathy Torkos Administrative Assistant, Environmental and Occupational Health Program[37] Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST)
Bryna Warshawsky Medical Director, Communicable Diseases, Emergency Preparedness and Response Department[38] Canadian Vaccination Evidence Resource and Exchange Centre (CANVax), Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN), Middlesex-London Health Unit
Ashini Weerasinghe Epidemiologist[39] Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST)
Sarah Wilson Medical Epidemiologist, Health Protection[40] Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN), Training Programs in Epidemiology and Public Health Interventions Network (TEPHINET), Immunization Canada, Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases, National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI)

Partners

Public Health Ontario is a member organization of the Evidence Synthesis Network (ESN),[41] Immunize Canada,[42] the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA),[43] Ontario's COVID-19 Genomics Rapid Response Coalition (ONCoV),[44] Public Health Training for Equitable Systems Change (PHESC)[45] and Vaccine Safety Net (VSN).[46]

PHO's partners include:

  • BORN Ontario[47]
  • Canadian College of Health Leaders (CCHL)[48]
  • Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network[49]
  • CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network[50]
  • KFL&A Public Health Informatics[51]
  • Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW)[52]

PHO has additionally provided funding to:

Publications

Report of Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI)

Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFIs) for COVID-19 in Ontario

  1. CIC 2016 Final Program. Canadian Immunization Conference. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220420010352/https://www.cpha.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/conferences/2021/cic16-final-program-en.pdf ↩︎

  2. Weibel, D., Sturkenboom, M., Black, S., de Ridder, M., Dodd, C., Bonhoeffer, J., Vanrolleghem, A., van der Maas, N., Lammers, G. J., Overeem, S., Gentile, A., Giglio, N., Castellano, V., Kwong, J. C., Murray, B. J., Cauch-Dudek, K., Juhasz, D., Campitelli, M., Datta, A. N., & Kallweit, U. (2018). Narcolepsy and adjuvanted pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 vaccines – Multi-country assessment. Vaccine, 36(41), 6202–6211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.08.008 ↩︎

  3. Hilkene, A., & Jensen, D. (2021, May 30). Ontario To Appoint New Chief Medical Officer of Health. Government of Ontario. https://web.archive.org/web/20210530133915/https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1000224/ontario-to-appoint-new-chief-medical-officer-of-health ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. Ontario Immunization Advisory Committee (OIAC). Public Health Ontario. Retrieved October 15, 2021, from https://web.archive.org/web/20211015041743/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/about/our-organization/external-advisory-committees/oiac ↩︎

  5. Ontario Makes COVID-19 Vaccination Policies Mandatory for High-Risk Settings. (2021, August 17). Government of Ontario. https://web.archive.org/web/20210817171447/https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1000750/ontario-makes-covid-19-vaccination-policies-mandatory-for-high-risk-settings ↩︎

  6. Newell, S., Reid, A. E., Trattner, P., Watts, M., Putyra, M., Arella, A., & Cohen, S. (2021, November 3). Ontario Superior Court of Justice dissolves injunction to stay terminations under hospital’s mandatory vaccination policy. Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. http://archive.today/2024.06.13-191327/https://www.osler.com/en/resources/regulations/2021/ontario-superior-court-of-justice-dissolves-injunction-to-stay-terminations-under-hospital-s-mandato ↩︎

  7. Sturgess, L., Natsheh, S., Forte, M., & Andersson, D. (2022). A Citizens’ Hearing: Examining Canada’s Covid Response (pp. 56-57). Canadian Covid Care Alliance. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/sk3d5 ↩︎

  8. Casaletto, L. (2021, September 30). Ontario recommending Pfizer over Moderna vaccine for young adults. CityNews Toronto. https://web.archive.org/web/20220716051319/https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/09/29/ontario-moderna-vaccine-side-effect/ ↩︎

  9. Gooding, A. (2022, September 9). Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccine Policy. Home and Community Care Support Services. http://archive.today/2024.06.13-193226/https://healthcareathome.ca/mandatory-covid-19-vaccine-policy/ ↩︎

  10. Treurnicht, I., & Nixon, G. (2014, December 9). 2012 MaRS Annual Report. Issuu; MaRS. https://issuu.com/derekaubichon/docs/mar-anr6786_2012_annual_report_elec/1 ↩︎

  11. van Ingen, T., Akingbola, S., Brown, K. A., Daneman, N., Buchan, S. A., & Smith, B. T. (2021). Neighbourhood-level risk factors of COVID-19 incidence and mortality. medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.27.21250618 ↩︎

  12. Vanessa G Allen. University of Toronto Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613224423/https://lmp.utoronto.ca/faculty/vanessa-g-allen ↩︎

  13. Dr. Shelly Bolotin. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved February 29, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240229161310/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/About/Research/Our-Researchers/Shelly-Bolotin ↩︎

  14. 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 ↩︎

  15. Dr. Sarah Buchan. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved May 12, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.05.12-073231/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/about/research/our-researchers/sarah-buchan ↩︎

  16. Cynthia (Yiqun) Chen. LinkedIn. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-yiqun-chen/ ↩︎

  17. Provincial Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee on Infection Prevention and Control (PIDAC-IPC). Public Health Ontario. Retrieved May 2, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.05.02-054851/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/about/our-organization/external-advisory-committees/pidac-ipc ↩︎

  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. Briefing with Public Health Ontario. (2020, September 28). Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission. https://web.archive.org/web/20210810150355/http://www.ltccommission-commissionsld.ca/transcripts/pdf/GovOntario_PHO_Briefing_with_Public_Health.pdf ↩︎

  20. Seasonal Influenza 2020-2021 Recommendations in the Context of COVID-19. (2020, August 25). National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases. https://web.archive.org/web/20240613211559/https://nccid.ca/webcast/seasonal-influenza-2020-2021-recommendations-in-the-context-of-covid-19/ ↩︎

  21. Dr. Nahuel Fittipaldi. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613223140/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/About/Research/Our-Researchers/Nahuel-Fittipaldi ↩︎

  22. Dr. Jonathan Gubbay. National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases. Retrieved February 23, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240223161615/https://nccid.ca/partner/jonathan-gubbay/ ↩︎

  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. Frances Jamieson. University of Toronto Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from http://archive.today/2024.06.13-201424/https://lmp.utoronto.ca/faculty/frances-jamieson ↩︎

  25. Caitlin Johnson. LinkedIn. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlin-johnson-8b341b48/ ↩︎

  26. Dr. Jeff Kwong. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved February 5, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240205204943/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/About/Research/Our-Researchers/Jeff-Kwong ↩︎

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

  28. Dr. Pamela Leece. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613215600/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/about/research/our-researchers/pamela-leece ↩︎

  29. 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/ ↩︎

  30. Profile: Alex Marchand-Austin. (2018, January 12). Public Health Ontario. https://web.archive.org/web/20231209031003/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/About/News/2018/Profile-Alex-Marchand-Austin ↩︎

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

  32. Moore, K. (2024, April 2). Balancing Act: Focus on Tobacco/Vaping Products, Cannabis, Alcohol, and Opioids An All-of-Society Approach to Substance Use and Harms - 2023 Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer of Health of Ontario to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Government of Ontario. https://web.archive.org/web/20240613221533/https://www.ontario.ca/files/2024-04/moh-cmoh-annual-report-2023-en-2024-04-02.pdf ↩︎

  33. Leadership Team. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613214225/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/About/Our-Organization/Leadership-Team ↩︎

  34. Dr. Samir Patel. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613222436/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/About/Research/Our-Researchers/Samir-Patel ↩︎

  35. Dr. Brian Schwartz. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.01.25-082238/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/about/research/our-researchers/brian-schwartz ↩︎

  36. Selvakumar, P. (2021, February 3). Declaration of Interest. Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. https://web.archive.org/web/20210830140024/https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Declaration-of-Interest_Behavioural-Science-Working-Group_Premy-Selvakumar.pdf ↩︎

  37. Contact Directory Results - Kathy Torkos. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved May 25, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.05.25-150845/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/contact/contact-search%23kathy torkos ↩︎

  38. Bryna Warshawsky. CANVax. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613202331/https://www.canvax.ca/bryna-warshawsky ↩︎

  39. Brunton, N., Russell, K., Booth, G., Hobin, E., Mcgavock, J., Klaprat, N., Swanson, A., Pancoe, D., & Manley, E. (2019). Abstract #61 (0346_0513_000075). Child Health Research Days Manitoba. https://web.archive.org/web/20220525054556/https://chrdmb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2019-09-13-Final-Abstracts-61.pdf ↩︎

  40. Dr. Sarah Wilson. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.04.20-062955/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/about/research/our-researchers/sarah-wilson ↩︎

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

  42. Member Organizations. Immunize Canada. Retrieved December 2, 2021, from http://archive.today/2021.12.02-060043/https://immunize.ca/member-organizations ↩︎

  43. OHA Members. Ontario Hospital Association. Retrieved January 23, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.01.24-010645/https://www.oha.com/membership/oha-members ↩︎

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

  45. Home 1 | PHESC. Public Health Training for Equitable Systems Change. Retrieved May 10, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.05.11-032548/http://www.phesc.ca/ ↩︎

  46. Vaccine Safety. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613224045/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/Health-Topics/Immunization/Vaccine-Safety ↩︎

  47. Partnerships. (2022, September 13). BORN Ontario. https://web.archive.org/web/20221018172920/https://www.bornontario.ca/en/about-born/partnerships.aspx ↩︎

  48. Healthcare Organizations using LEADS. Canadian College of Health Leaders. Retrieved April 17, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230417064121/https://cchl-ccls.ca/leads-network/healthcare-organizations-using-leads/ ↩︎

  49. Our Partners. Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network. Retrieved November 24, 2021, from http://archive.today/2021.11.24-211620/https://www.clydrn.ca/about-the-network/our-partners/ ↩︎

  50. Partners. CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network. Retrieved February 2, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230202063247/https://www.hivnet.ubc.ca/partners/ ↩︎

  51. Partners. KFL&A Public Health Informatics. Retrieved January 12, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220112190709/https://www.kflaphi.ca/partners/ ↩︎

  52. Partners. Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers. Retrieved June 9, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.06.09-080538/https://www.ohcow.on.ca/partners/ ↩︎

  53. 2018 Annual Report. Canadian Public Health Association. Retrieved June 4, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230604220449/https://cpha.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/about/reports/2018-annual-report-web-e.pdf ↩︎