Left to Right – Laura Rosella, Emily Seto, Leah Cowen. (Photography by David Pike, courtesy of Dalla Lana School of Public Health)
The Event
This Wednesday, under the chandeliered glow of Hart House’s Great Hall, U of T’s Vice-President of Research and Innovation, Vivek Goel, alongside Dalla Lana School of Public Health Interim Dean, Adalsteinn Brown, and Faculty of Medicine Dean, Trevor Young, hosted a celebration of U of T’s history of health-science innovation. The event centered around a panel-discussion concerning the current situation of health researchers and system innovators, and the fluctuating gap between research and impact in health-care accessibility.
Three U of T professors comprised the all-female panel, each an expert in their sub-field of health science: molecular geneticist Leah Cowen, health informatician Emily Seto, and epidemiologist Laura Rosella. Together, these three represented U of T Medicine, the Institute of Health Policy, and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
The Discussion
Prior to Q&A, each expert delivered a brief presentation highlighting the history of U of T’s dedication to public health, and key areas of research moving forward in their respective streams. Talks ranged from warnings about the catastrophic disadvantages of antibiotic reliance, to the over-abundance of health-tracking apps, and lastly the striking reality that in today’s Canada, postal code influences life expectancy more significantly than genetic code.
Setting the Course
The evening was minorly retrospective, and majorly prospective, with the Q&As posing questions about the present and future, both inside and outside of the university. In the closing remarks of her presentation, Dr. Rosella reminded attendees that the future of health innovation lies in increased data linkage and effective collaboration with health system decision makers—a sentiment that all attendant parties agreed upon.
This ceremony clarified that while 2017 may be a year of important anniversaries—the Connaught Laboratories’ 100th, the School of Hygiene’s 90th, the Department of Hospital Administration’s 70th—U of T is not gazing long at what lies in its rear-view mirror.