This award recognizes faculty members who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to student learning, pedagogical engagement and teaching innovation.

Aerial view of UTSC on a sunny day.

Congratulations to IHEP members @zshakeri.bsky.social (Dalla Lana School of Public Health) and Michael Liut @utm.utoronto.ca on receiving the Cheryl Regehr Early Career Teaching Award (2025–26).

🔗 Read more: memos.provost.utoronto.ca/2025-26-reci...

💡 Why do we need spaces for collaboration in health security?

@joyfitzgibbon.bsky.social (Trinity College) explains the value of knowledge networks in health security, bringing diverse voices together to share best practices.

📺 Watch the full webinar: bit.ly/3LvAvau

Person speaking to a Doctor through a virtual call on a laptop. Patient is sitting looking at the screen.

🏥 Why did Ontario & BC take such different paths on virtual doctor’s visits after the pandemic?

A recent study by IHEP members Sara Allin @ihpmeuoft.bsky.social & Rachelle Ashcroft @uoft-fifsw.bsky.social compares the two provinces.

📄 Read the article: bit.ly/41XlbYU

How did pandemic stress affect mothers and young children?

New IHEP-funded research examines whether maternal mental health links COVID-19 exposure to child neurodevelopment.

📘 Read more: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Dark blue graphic promoting the U of T Institute of Health Emergencies & Pandemics mailing list, with an envelope icon, “Stay connected with the Institute,” a “Subscribe Now” button, and the URL pandemics.utoronto.ca/mailing-list/.

📬 Stay connected with the Institute! Sign up for our listserv to receive newsletters, event announcements, and updates.

Join here: bit.ly/4qfQx7C

SSPH+ | Machine Learning Used in Communicable Disease Control: A Scoping Review ObjectivesCommunicable diseases continue to threaten global health, with COVID-19 as a recent example. Rapid data analysis using machine learning (ML) is cru...

🤖💡How is AI helping detect & manage infectious diseases?

IHEP researchers found that AI is being used across illnesses like COVID‑19, HIV, malaria & TB, but most projects still don’t check for bias, which is key for fair & trustworthy public health tools.

Read more: bit.ly/4sikT9E

#WorldHealthDay

🔍 What’s missing in health security?

Victoria Haldane (@ihpmeuoft.bsky.social) explains why strategic foresight, anticipating future threats & understanding their impact on health systems & equity, is essential for preparedness.

📺 Watch the full webinar: bit.ly/3LvAvau

2026 Vohra Miller Lectures in Critical Public Health Issues The 2026 Vohra Miller Lecture, titled “Who Gets Care When Systems Are Under Strain? Equity and Primary Care in Public Health Emergencies, ” examined how inequities shape access to primary care during…

📺️ The recording of Who Gets Care When Systems Are Under Strain? Equity and Primary Care in Public Health Emergencies, the 2026 Vohra Miller Lectures in Critical Public Health Issues, is available to watch.

🔗 Recording available here: bit.ly/4dvEakx

#PublicHealth #Equity

Graphic from the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Emergencies & Pandemics announcing that Catalyst Seminar Series recordings are available, with the URL, pandemics.utoronto.ca, on a blue abstract background

📺️ Catch up on the recent Catalyst Seminars.

Recordings from our latest sessions, featuring research and discussions on health emergencies and pandemic preparedness, are available to watch anytime.

🔗 See the playlist here: bit.ly/3P78Oq2

Effective public health emergency planning must reflect the realities of daily life.

Nouma Hammash on why inclusive, intersectional approaches are essential to preparedness, from the Collective Futures Roundtable.

🔗 Read more: bit.ly/4cra80q

Through partnerships with Park People and @cisp-icps.bsky.social she is co‑developing a national NatureRx agenda that centres community voices, especially those facing social barriers and marginalization.

#NaturePrescribing #HealthResilience #PublicHealthInnovation

Prescribing Connection: Strengthening Communities for Health Crises | Institute of Health Emergencies and Pandemics What if nature was part of your prescription? At the University of Toronto, Dr. Nadha Hassen is investigating how community-led nature prescribing, connecting people to nature-based activities like…

🌿 Can nature prescriptions build resilience into public health systems?

Nadha Hassen, IHEP Postdoctoral Fellow & author of our social prescribing guide, explores how community‑led nature prescribing can support public health & prepare communities for future emergencies.

Read more: bit.ly/47NJYRS

Graphic promoting a new resource titled “Strengthening Health System Resilience in Canada,” showing three tablet screens with report pages, the card includes University of Toronto and Institute of Health Emergencies & Pandemics logos, and a “Download Now” button with the URL pandemics.utoronto.ca.

Social prescribing connects people with community activities, supports, and nature‑based programs that address the social and structural factors influencing health. It helps meet needs early on, easing pressure on healthcare services and supporting people more holistically.

How can community connection and resources help build a more resilient health system? | Institute of Health Emergencies and Pandemics We’ve released a new guide on social prescribing titled Strengthening Health System Resilience in Canada: Connecting health care to community, nature, and belonging. Social prescribing helps people…

On #SocialPrescribingDay, we’re highlighting our guide on how community connection, nature, and non‑medical supports can help strengthen Canada’s health system.

📘 Read the full guide:
bit.ly/3MYJNga

2026 Vohra Miller Lectures in Critical Public Health Issues The 2026 Vohra Miller Lecture, titled “Who Gets Care When Systems Are Under Strain? Equity and Primary Care in Public Health Emergencies, ” examined how inequities shape access to primary care during public health emergencies. Audrey Laporte, Acting Dean of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, opened the event. The lecture was hosted and moderated by Prof. Arjumand Siddiqi, Canada Research Chair in Population Health Equity. Pnaelists included: 🔹 Dr. Chavon Niles, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto 🔹 Hon. Kamal Khera, P.C., former federal Cabinet minister 🔹 Liza Arnason, Founder & Chair, ASE Community Foundation for Black Canadians with Disabilities The event was hosted by the Institute of Health Emergencies and Pandemics in collaboration with the DLSPH Office of Advancement. Find out more about us - search 'Institute of Health Emergencies and Pandemics', or visit: https://pandemics.utoronto.ca/

🎥 Thank you to everyone who joined us for the 2026 Vohra Miller Lecture.

If you couldn’t attend or want to revisit the conversation, the recording is now available.

Watch the event here: bit.ly/3NNz4p6

Dark blue graphic promoting the U of T Institute of Health Emergencies & Pandemics mailing list, with an envelope icon, “Stay connected with the Institute,” a “Subscribe Now” button, and the URL pandemics.utoronto.ca/mailing-list/.

📬 Stay connected with the Institute! Sign up for our listserv to receive newsletters, event announcements, and updates.

Join here: bit.ly/4qfQx7C

Schools are shared indoor spaces, making clean air essential to reduce the spread of respiratory viruses. 🏫

In this video, IHEP Member Sarah Haines (@civmin.bsky.social) shares practical guidance on steps schools can take to improve the air quality.

Watch the video ▶️

#PublicHealth #Health

2026 Vohra Miller Lectures in Critical Public Health Issues The 2026 Vohra Miller Lecture, titled “Who Gets Care When Systems Are Under Strain? Equity and Primary Care in Public Health Emergencies, ” examined how inequities shape access to primary care during…

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the 2026 Vohra Miller Lecture!

If you couldn’t attend, or want to revisit the conversation, the recording is now available. 🎥

Thanks as well to our panelists Chavon Niles, @kamalkheralib.bsky.social, and Liza Arnason.

🔗 Watch here:

A diverse group of people garden together around a raised flower bed. The group includes a wheelchair user, a person with a cane, and others of different ages. Three speech bubbles read: “If it’s about us, we should be there from the start,” “Lived experience is labour,” and “Say what you mean and do what you said.” The scene highlights inclusion, community, and accountability.

“If it’s about us, we should be there from the start.”

The new Collective Futures GTA Zine shares community wisdom on care, inequity, and building better emergency systems.

🔗 Read the GTA edition on our site: bit.ly/4b4sKRC

📘 Our 2025 Annual Report is live.

This year, the Institute of Health Emergencies & Pandemics expanded interdisciplinary research, deepened community partnerships, & advanced preparedness across Canada.

🔗 Explore our impact and stories from the past year: bit.ly/4urDh2s

Catalyst Seminar Series A dynamic seminar series showcasing groundbreaking research funded by the Institute for Pandemics' (IfP) Catalyst and Research Development Grants. Since 2023...

📺️ Catch up on recent Catalyst Seminars.

Recordings from our latest sessions, featuring research and discussions on health emergencies and pandemic preparedness, are available to watch anytime.

🔗 Watch now:

A brightly lit data centre corridor with rows of server racks on both sides. Blue, glowing digital data blocks appear to float through the space.

Open data can turn hidden gaps in health care into visible insights.

As AI changes how we access and interpret information, what’s next for open data in health?

🔗 Read the article: bit.ly/3N9b9Af

Effective emergency preparedness means planning with communities, not reacting after the fact.

Dr. Michelle Murti (Toronto Public Health) shares more on proactive, risk‑based public health planning at the Collective Futures Roundtable.

🔗 Read more: bit.ly/4cra80q

Illustrated scenes of neighbours supporting each other, sharing food, helping with learning, and offering care when services disappeared

“Community carried us when systems did not.”

The Collective Futures GTA Zine turns local insights into illustrated storytelling and offers a community‑led vision for emergency systems that work for everyone.

Explore the Zine and learn more: bit.ly/4b4sKRC

Dark blue graphic promoting the U of T Institute of Health Emergencies & Pandemics mailing list, with an envelope icon, “Stay connected with the Institute,” a “Subscribe Now” button, and the URL pandemics.utoronto.ca/mailing-list/.

📬 Stay connected with the Institute! Sign up for our listserv to receive newsletters, event announcements, and updates.

🔗 Join here: bit.ly/4qfQx7C

📘 Our 2025 Annual Report is now live.

This year, the Institute of Health Emergencies & Pandemics expanded interdisciplinary research, deepened community partnerships, & advanced preparedness across Canada.

🔗 Explore the report: bit.ly/4urDh2s

An illustrated cover shows a meeting room with a long table surrounded by blue chairs. A clipboard and pen rest on the table. Behind the table is a large window looking out onto a city scene with brick buildings, trees, and a streetlamp under a blue sky. The interior wall is red brick. Text at the top reads: “Collective Futures — Toronto Roundtable: Public Health Emergencies, Community Knowledge, and the Futures We Need.” Text at the bottom reads: “Toronto, Ontario, Canada — November 2025.”

An illustrated person wearing a purple headscarf and a blazer stands in front of large, dark vertical shapes labeled “Hate,” “Assumptions” and “Discrimination.” Small illustrated virus icons float around the scene. Above the figure, text reads: “The enemy became inequity.” and “We were facing two pandemics.”

An illustration shows a diverse group of people standing together, including individuals holding papers, carrying groceries, or holding an infant. In the foreground, two people shake hands while others stand around them. A speech bubble at the bottom reads: “People reminded us: ‘We are whole human beings. Don’t reduce us to one lived experience.’

📘 We are delighted to launch the Collective Futures GTA Zine.

Created by Professor Chavon Niles PI and lead of the Access Lab, @utoronto.ca, the zine offers a community‑led vision of what it takes to build emergency systems that truly work for everyone.

🔗 Learn more: bit.ly/4b4sKRC

A brightly lit data centre corridor with rows of server racks on both sides. Blue, glowing digital data blocks appear to float through the space.

Open data can turn hidden gaps in health care into visible insights.

As AI changes how we access and interpret information, what’s next for open data in health?

🔗 Read the article: bit.ly/3N9b9Af

#OpenDataDay #PublicHealth

Event card with blurred background of a hospital waiting room, the Dalla Lana and IHEP logos. The title of the event is written: Who gets care when systems are under strain? Equity and Primary Care in Public Health Emergencies, Thurs March 12, 2026, and includes further details of the event.

We are looking forward to seeing you next week on March 12 at the 2026 Vohra Miller Lecture! We'll be exploring how inequities shape access to primary care during public health emergencies.

🔗 Register: bit.ly/4br5M9m