CIHR Applied Public Health Chair Awarded to HPME Faculty
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Public and Population Health and the Public Health Agency of Canada have awarded Dr. Carolyn Dewa (Associate Professor, HPME) a prestigious Applied Public Health Chair.

This five-year award for Dr. Dewa’s project, “Developing effective interventions for mental illness and mental health in the working population," will support her high-quality policy and program intervention research, which has national relevance to public health. Dr. Dewa is a senior scientist in the Health Systems Research and Consulting Unit at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

HPME Plays Lead Role in New Research Network
HPME is playing a leading role in the new Health System Performance Research Network (HSPRN). Funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the Network will develop scientific methods for measuring health system performance from a policy and provider perspective. HSPRN builds on the earlier work of the Hospital Report Research Collaborative and is based at the Universities of Toronto and Waterloo. It is led by Louise Lemieux-Charles (Chair, HPME), Ian McKillop (University of Waterloo) and Walter P. Wodchis (Assistant Professor, HPME).

In addition to developing quantitative tools, the Network will seek ways to improve the quality of the underlying data sources and to increase accountability through communication of performance.

Former HPME Chair Appointed to Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion
University of Toronto Provost Vivek Goel has been appointed the first President and Chief Executive Officer for the new Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion. Dr. Goel was Chair of HPME from 1998-2001. The Agency will link researchers, practitioners and front-line health care workers, providing specialized scientific and technical advice and on-the-ground support. It will tackle areas such as infectious disease, infection control and prevention, health promotion, chronic disease and injury prevention and environmental health.

HPME Launching Master of Health Informatics Program
Today’s health care providers have access to more data than ever before. But effectively managing and using that clinical and administrative information has become a major challenge. HPME’s new Master of Health Informatics (MHI) is an innovative professional degree that provides graduates with the expertise in clinical, information and communication technologies required to lead organizational and health system change.

The MHI program will be enrolling students for Fall 2008, pending approval from the Ontario Council on Graduate Studies (OCGS). More information on the new program is available on the HPME website.

HPME Student Receives CIHR Rising Star Award
Dr. Paul Kurdyak, a PhD candidate in Clinical Epidemiology in the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, has received the IHSPR Rising Star Award from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR). The Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR) award was awarded for his paper entitled “The Effect of Antidepressant Warnings on Prescribing Trends in Ontario, Canada”.The award recognizes excellence in Canadian research and/or knowledge translation carried out by graduate students and post-doctoral fellows in all fields and disciplines related to health services and policy research.

HPME Faculty Short Listed for Lancet Paper of the Year
Therese Stukel (Professor, HPME) and David Alter (Associate Professor, HPME) were short listed for Lancet’s 2007 Paper of the Year award. Their article, “Analysis of Observational Studies in the Presence of Treatment Selection Bias,” published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), was nominated by Lancet's International Advisory Board for having the greatest potential contribution to clinical research.

Events

Event Focuses on Aging at Home
The provincial government is investing an unprecedented $700 million over the next three years to provide supports to seniors and their caregivers to live healthy and independent lives in their own homes and communities. On Wednesday, May 21, the Society of Graduates of the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation hosts an expert panel to discuss Ontario’s “Aging at Home Strategy” and its implementation by Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs). The event takes place from 8 am to 1 pm at the Design Exchange in downtown Toronto. All are welcome.

Further information and Registration

Leading Health Economist Gives Keynote at HPME Research Day
HPME Research Day 2008 features keynote speaker Dr. Tony Culyer, an internationally renowned health economist and Ontario Research Chair in Health Policy and System Design. A member of HPME faculty, Dr. Culyer is a former Vice-Chair and current board member of Britain’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). He will speak on NICE’s experience of integrating evidence into policy decisions and its recent work with the Citizen’s Council. Research Day takes place Wednesday, May 7. All are welcome.