The Public Health Agency of Canada is an agency of the Government of Canada that is responsible for public health, emergency preparedness and response, and infectious and chronic disease control and prevention.
Christopher David Naylor, is a Canadian physician, medical researcher and former president of the University of Toronto. He is ICES scientist emeritus and founding CEO. In 2016, he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
A paramedic is a healthcare professional, providing pre-hospital assessment and medical care to people with acute illnesses or injuries. In Canada, the title paramedic generally refers to those who work on land ambulances or air ambulances providing paramedic services. Paramedics are increasingly being utilized in hospitals, emergency rooms, clinics and community health care services by providing care in collaboration with registered nurses, registered/licensed practical nurses and registered respiratory therapists.
Sheela Basrur, was a Canadian physician and Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health and Assistant Deputy Minister of Public Health. She resigned from these positions late in 2006 to undergo treatment for cancer.
Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, is a Chinese-Canadian physician, who served as the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) delegating the People's Republic of China from 2006 to 2017. Chan previously served as Director of Health in the Hong Kong Government (1994–2003) and representative of the WHO Director-General for Pandemic Influenza and WHO Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases (2003–2006). In 2014, Forbes ranked her as the 30th most powerful woman in the world. In early 2018 she joined the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM), previously called industrial medicine, is a board certified medical specialty under the American Board of Preventative Medicine that specializes in the prevention and treatment of work-related illnesses and injuries.
Perry Kendall, is a Canadian Public health physician who was Provincial Health Officer (PHO) for the Canadian province of British Columbia's health ministry from 1999-2018 and was awarded the Order of British Columbia for contributions to Public health field and to harm reduction policy and practice.
Peter Goodhand is a senior executive and board member in the health research advancement community.
Kwame Julius McKenzie is a British-Canadian psychiatrist employed as the CEO of Wellesley Institute, a policy think tank based in Toronto, Ontario. McKenzie is a full professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He has worked as physician, researcher, policy advisor, journalist and broadcaster.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario was a viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Canada was announced on January 25, 2020, involving a traveller who had recently returned to Toronto from travel in China, including Wuhan. Ontario has had the largest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases among Canada's provinces and territories, but due to having the largest population, only ranks sixth adjusted per capita. Ontario surpassed one million lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases on January 24, 2022; one day before the anniversary of the first confirmed case on January 25, 2020.
Deena Hinshaw is a Canadian doctor who serves as a Deputy Provincial Health Officer for British Columbia and served as Chief Medical Officer of Health for the province of Alberta from January 28, 2019, to November 14, 2022, after being removed by Danielle Smith. She provided daily updates on the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta to the public throughout most of 2020 and into 2021, though she stopped holding regular briefings in at the end of June 2021. She also provided recommendations to Jason Kenney, the former Premier of Alberta and the Emergency Management Cabinet Committee.
The New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) is an advisory body that advises the United Kingdom Government's Chief Medical Advisor / Chief Medical Officer for England, who in turn advises the UK Department of Health and Social Care and relevant ministers regarding threats from viral respiratory tract infections. The body replaced the UK Scientific Pandemic Influenza Advisory Committee (SPI) as part of a move to expand the scope to cover the threat of other respiratory viruses, besides pandemic influenza. The inaugural meeting was held on 19 December 2014 where the terms of reference were agreed. The group has been advising the Department of Health for some years and minutes of meetings are now regularly published, backdated to 2014. As of 2020, the group has been advising specifically on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bonnie J. Fraser Henry is a Canadian epidemiologist, physician, and public servant who has been the provincial health officer at the British Columbia Ministry of Health since 2014. Henry is also a clinical associate professor at the University of British Columbia. She is a specialist in public health and preventive medicine, and is a family doctor. In her role as provincial health officer, Henry notably led the response to COVID-19 in British Columbia (BC).
Allison Joan McGeer is a Canadian infectious disease specialist in the Sinai Health System, and a professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto. She also appointed at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and a Senior Clinician Scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, and is a partner of the National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases. McGeer has led investigations into the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in Toronto and worked alongside Donald Low. During the COVID-19 pandemic, McGeer has studied how SARS-CoV-2 survives in the air and has served on several provincial committees advising aspects of the Government of Ontario's pandemic response.
The Walker Panel is also known as Ontario's Expert Panel on SARS and Infectious Disease Control. The Panel was established by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care in May 2003. On 15 December 2003 the Panel released its Initial Report, which provided a series of 53 recommendations requiring urgent action. The Final Report of the Walker Panel was released in April 2004. It contained 103 recommendations.
Richard Schabas is a retired public health physician who served as the Chief Medical Officer of Health in Ontario from 1987 to 1997. Schabas also served as the Head of Preventive Oncology at Cancer Care Ontario from 1997 to 2001 and served as chief of staff at York Central Hospital from 2002 to 2005 during the 2002-2004 SARS outbreak. In 2005, he became the public health officer of Hastings, Ontario and Prince Edward, Ontario and remained in this position until his retirement in 2016. In 2021, Schabas criticized the Ontario government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) is an Irish advisory body that advises the Chief Medical Officer and Department of Health in the area of immunisation procedures and related matters. NIAC was established within the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) in 1998. It comprises representatives from a broad range of medical and healthcare organisations with expertise in immunisation.
Dr. Shelley Deeks, MD, MHSc, FRCPC, FFAFPM, is a Canadian public health expert who is the chair of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization. Her advertised "specialities include communicable disease control, outbreak investigations, vaccine safety, epidemiology and program evaluation." She is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada and the Australian Faculty of Public Health Medicine. Deeks was the executive lead in Ontario's COVID-19 pandemic response in 2020 in her role at Public Health Ontario.
Kieran Michael Moore is a Canadian physician and public servant who serves as the current chief medical officer of health of Ontario. Prior to his appointment, he served as the medical officer of health for Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington from 2017 to 2021.
Dr. Debra Houry is an American physician. She is the Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director for Program and Science of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She previously served as the acting Principal Deputy Director (2021-2023) and the Director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (2014-2021).
