Dalla Lana School of Public Health
Training Program Annual Report
Year 2012-13
1. Title, Director/PI
A Strategic Training Program in Public Health Policy: Determinants, Analysis, and Impacts
Nominated PI – Dr. Robert Schwartz
Co PI – Dr. Joanna Cohen
2. Other faculty involved
Co-Investigators: Dr. Roberta Ferrence, Dr. Vivek Goel, Dr. Michael Goodstadt, Dr. Bartholomew
Harvey, Dr. Suzanne Jackson, Dr. Prahbat Jha, Dr. Ian Johnson, Dr. Pamela Kaufman, Dr. Jennifer
Keelan, Dr. David Korn, Dr. David McKeown, Dr. John McLaughlin, Dr. Cameron Mustard, Dr. Ted
Myers, Dr. Blake Poland, Dr. Jurgen Rehm, Dr. Fran Scott, Dr. Terrance Sullivan, Dr. Ross Upshur
Mentors: Dr. Adalsteinn Brown, Dr. Ray Copes, Dr. Heather Manson
3. Source(s) of funding (specify grant name, funding agency, period of funding, total dollars)
Strategic Training Initiative in Health Research, Canadian Institute of Health Research
April 2009 – March 2015, $1,790,000 ($325,000 annually)
4. Specific aims (and any changes from previous reports, as appropriate)
The primary objectives of this training grant are four-fold: (1) To build capacity in public health
policy research and practice, using best practices in training and mentoring; (2) To provide
trainees and mentors with an environment and resources that support learning across
disciplines (e.g., epidemiology, health policy, economics, community medicine, public policy and
administration, political science, nutrition, sociology, evaluation and monitoring, knowledge
exchange, ethics and law) and substantive areas (e.g., structural and socio-behavioural risk
factor interventions, environmental health, healthy growth and development), with value
placed on ethics (with a focus on public health ethics, including research ethics for public health
studies), knowledge translation and exchange, and professional development that will cultivate
the skills necessary for trainees to be effective and productive in their careers; (3) To foster
collaborative research across mentors and with trainees; and (4) To contribute to more effective
public health policy through collaborations with government and voluntary-sector public health
policy leaders and agents of change.
5. Progress (e.g., Studies & Results; Students recruited and who completed training)
To date we have recruited 71 students to the Fellowship program (40 Masters students, 22
PhDs, and 9 post docs) which represent 15 University of Toronto departments and affiliated
hospitals and government agencies.
In academic year 2012-13, we launched our inaugural year of the Collaborative Program in
Public Health Policy with 22 students fulfilling the program requirements in this first year.
We hosted 6 Public Health Policy Rounds, 8 Lunch and Learns, and 3 Public Health Policy
Institutes.
Six public health policy research projects were undertaken in the area of: Criminalization of HIV
Non-Disclosure: Imagining a Public Health Response; Breaking Down Silos: Exploring
Partnerships in Food Policy; Towards a Comprehensive Alcohol Policy Strategy in Ontario;
Mandatory Influenza Vaccination of Health Care Workers in Ontario: Policy Options; What's the
Problem Represented to Be?": Our Experience Using WPR to Analyze Social Assistance for
People with Disabilities in Ontario; and Cycling Policy in Ontario
6. Significance and Impact
Our Program is unique in establishing a community of public health policy researchers, students,
policymakers and practitioners. We have succeeded in bringing together people and
organizations to improve understanding of how, when and why public health policies are made
and changed and to establish a cadre of trainees who are taking this knowledge to the field and
who have sought further academic training. The Research and Training Pods take a particularly
innovative approach. Fellows apply theoretical approaches and tools learned in core courses to
real-world situations together with partners in public health organizations. The Pod experience
has the added benefit of exposing representatives of public health organizations to theoretical
and practical approaches. Our Public Health Policy Associates component is a second innovation
that brings practice-based knowledge into the classroom and into Pod and Institute experiences
and also serves to provide Associates with new theoretical knowledge.
7. Plans for the next year
The next year of the Program will continue to incorporate learning from previous years to
continuously improve the training experience. We have multiple processes in place for
continuous feedback resulting in improvements in many areas of our program including; the
current Pod structure, format of the Lunch and Learn program component, and timing and
frequency of the training Institutes.
Over the next year, we will enrich the experiences which our trainees bring to the policy and
research work worlds and we will further expand the reach of our public health policy learning
beyond University of Toronto based Fellows.
We will further develop the work of the pods and offer incentives to pod groups to collaborate
with mentors in carrying on with their work to publish manuscripts and to develop collaborative
research grant proposals. This will serve to both provide hands-on training in manuscript and
proposal preparation, and to contribute to knowledge about public health policy. In this way, we
will create longer-term relationships among Fellows and mentors.
We will be designing an evaluation of the education components of our program in order to
continue to be innovative in public health policy education and to ensure that we are
contributing to research about public health policy education for possible application in other
parts of Canada.
We will engage in several projects to broaden the circle of beneficiaries of our Program:
We will further develop the Associates program. Working closely with public health partner
organizations we will develop general and tailored ways for them to involve representatives in
various parts of our training program. This will bring our training directly to public health
organizations and further enrich the training experience of Fellows providing them with
opportunities to work alongside people with a great deal of practice-based knowledge.
We will be reaching out to researchers across Canada to partner with us in holding a major
public health policy event at the 2013 CASPHR conference. This will serve for two-way
knowledge exchange about what we have implemented, accomplished and learned and what
we can learn from others who are engaged in public health policy research and training.
In accordance with our original timeline, we will be conducting our first Public Forum this year in
the area of food policy.
Over year, we anticipate that we will train an additional 20 graduate students. We will host 8
Public Health Policy Rounds, open to the greater public health community in Toronto, and
podcast to interested researchers and practitioners throughout Canada and beyond. An
additional 6 public health policy research projects will be undertaken through the work of the
Pods, which will have the potential to inform current real-life policy issues. We will continue to
expose fellows to the work of current policy makers through the guest speaker series of 8
proposed Lunch and Learn meetings. We will hold 3 intensive Institute training days for fellows,
mentors and numerous community partners. We will continue to enhance the knowledge
exchange components of our program through the Public Health Policy Associates program.
8. Publications
Black, K. (forthcoming) Parent-student, student-parent: A tale of two roles. In E. Berger & C.
DeRoche (Eds.) The parent-track: Timing, balance and choice within academia.
Black, K. (2013). Designing a people-focused approach to behaviour change: Using community
based social marketing to support a nascent Transition Town initiative. Global Journal of
Community Psychology Practice, 4(1).
Black, K. (2013). Navigate This! Youth Contest: A case study of social advertising and social
media marketing in action. Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice, 4(1).
Wilson, M., Husbands, W., Makoroka, L., Rueda, S., Greenspan, N., Eady, A., Dolan, L., Kennedy,
R., Cattaneo, J., Rourke, S. (2012). Counseling, case management and health promotion for
people living with HIV/AIDS: An overview of systematic reviews. AIDS and Behavior 2012
Tsybina, I. Kingsnorth, S., Maxwell, J, Bayley, M. Lindsay, S. McKeever, P. Colantonio, A.
Hamdani, Y Healy, H. & Macarthur, C. (2012) Longitudainl Evaluation of Transition Services (LETS
study): Protocal for Outcome Evaluation, BMC Pediatrics. 12(15), doi: 10.1186/1471-2431-12-51.
Gibson, BE, Mistry, B, Smith, B, Yoshida, KK, Abbott, D, Lindsay, S & Hamdani, Y.
(accepted). The Integrated Use of Audio Diaries, Photography and Interviews in
Research with Disabled Young Men. International Journal of Qualitative Methods.
Gibson, BE, Mistry, B, Smith, B, Yoshida, KK, Abbott, D, Lindsay, S & Hamdani, Y.
(accepted). Becoming Men: Gender, Disability, and Transitioning to Adulthood.
Health.
Gibson, B, Teachman, G & Hamdani, Y. (2013). Rethinking ‘normal development’ in
children’s rehabilitation. Invited book chapter in Rethinking Rehabilitation. Edited
collection (Elsevier). K. MacPherson, A. Leplege, B. Gibson & P. Kersten (Eds.)
Malachowski, C & Kirsch, B. (2013). Workplace anti-stigma progress: A scoping study. Psychiatric
Services (In Press)
Babayan, A., Malas, M., & Schwartz, R. (2012). Evaluation of the 2011-2012 Registered
Nurses’ Association of Ontario Nursing Best Practice Smoking Cessation Provincial
Initiative. Toronto: Ontario Tobacco Research Unit.
Malas, M., O’Connor, S., Di Sante, E., & Schwartz, R. Packaging cigars: Surveillance of
current trends (a Chatter Box project). Toronto, ON: Ontario Tobacco Research Unit.
O’Connor, S., Malas, M., & Di Sante, E. (2012). The changing landscape of cigarette
packaging. In O’Connor, S., Di Sante, E., Schwartz, R., Cohen, J., Philipneri, A., Lavack, A.,
D. Hammond, Surveillance of domestic cigarette packages: The construction of strength,
lifestyle, and other functions (a Chatter Box project). Toronto, ON: Ontario Tobacco
Research Unit.
O’Connor, S., Malas, M., & Di Sante, E. (2012). Where oh where are the health warnings? In
O’Connor, S., Di Sante, E., Schwartz, R., Cohen, J., Philipneri, A., Lavack, A., … & D.
Hammond, Surveillance of domestic cigarette packages: The construction of strength,
lifestyle, and other functions (a Chatter Box project). Toronto, ON: Ontario Tobacco
Research Unit.
Adelson, N & Olding, M. (2013 ) Narrating Aboriginality Online: Digital Storytelling, Identity and
Healing on the Internet. Journal of Community Informatics. Vol. 9 (1).
Singhal S, Gupta P C, Dikshit R, Jha P. Increased risk of coronary heart disease in female
smokers, Lancet: 2012; 379(9818):802
Singhal S, Correa R, Quiñonez C. The impact of dental treatment on employment outcomes: a
systematic review. Health Policy 2012 Oct 20. pii: S0168-8510(12)00280-1. doi:
10.1016/j.healthpol.2012.09.016.
Singhal S, Quiñonez C, The impact of dental treatment on employment outcomes: a systematic
review. International Dental Journal 2012;Vol62 issue 1, P055
Singhal S, Quiñonez C, Jha P. Changes in social inequality in smoking-attributable upper aerodigestive tract cancer mortality among Canadian males between 1986 and 2001. Archives of
Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery 2012; P564
Smith MJ, Bensimon CM, Perez D, Sahni S, Upshur REG. Restrictive Measures in an Influenza
Pandemic: A Qualitative Study of Public Perspectives. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 2012;
103(5): 348-352.
Bensimon CM, Smith MJ, Pisartchik D, Sahni S, Upshur REG. The Duty to Care in an Influenza
Pandemic: A Qualitative Study of Canadian Public Perspectives. Social Science & Medicine, 2012;
75(12): 2425-2430.
Rodríguez-Arias D, Ortega-Deballon I, Smith MJ, Youngner S. Casting Light and Doubt on the
New York Uncontrolled DCDD Protocol. The Hastings Center Report, January-February 2013;
43(1): 27-30.
Ortega-Deballon I, Vailhen DR, Smith MJ. Uncontrolled Donation after Circulatory Determination
of Death Protocols: Ethical Challenges and Suggestions for Improvement. Annals of Emergency
Medicine, 2013; 61(2): 255.
Bernard CB, Smith MJ, Wagner F. Unanticipated Vulnerability: Adding to the Marginalization of
the Least Visible in Pandemic Planning. In Global Perspectives on Public Health Ethics: A
Casebook. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accepted and in press.
Viens AM, Smith MJ. Mass Evacuation. In Global Perspectives on Public Health Ethics: A
Casebook. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accepted and in press.
Smith MJ, Viens AM. Critical Care Triage during a Pandemic. In Global Perspectives on Public
Health Ethics: A Casebook. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accepted and in press.
Silva DS, Smith MJ, Upshur REG. Disadvantaging the Disadvantaged: When Public Health Policies
and Practices Negatively Affect Marginalized Populations. Canadian Journal of Public Health,
2013; submitted.
Smith MJ. The Moral Foundations of Preparing for and Responding to Infectious Diseases: A
Public Health Ethics Case-Comparison of Seasonal and Pandemic Influenza. Comparative
Program on Health and Society Working Paper Series.
Available: http://munkschool.utoronto.ca/cphs/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Smith-11-12.pdf.
Smith MJ. Student Corner: Investigating the Moral Foundations of Public Health Emergency
Preparedness and Response. Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Population and
Public Health, POP News Newsletter. Winter 2013; 2(5). Available: http://www.cihrirsc.gc.ca/e/46868.html.
Langat P, Pisartchik D, Silva D, Bernard C, Olsen K, Smith MJ, Sahni S, Upshur REG. Is There a
Duty to Share? Ethics of Sharing Research Data in the Context of Public Health Emergencies.
In Emergency Research Ethics, Volume IV, ed. A.M. Viens. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Company.
January 2013. (reprint of doi:10.1093/phe/phr005)
Smith MJ. Publication Bias in Public Health Emergency Response. In Epidemics, Pandemics, and
Public Health Crises: Ethical Issues in Research, Surveillance, and Patient Care. World Health
Organization. Forthcoming.
Smith MJ. Data Ownership and Sharing during Public Health Emergencies. In Epidemics,
Pandemics, and Public Health Crises: Ethical Issues in Research, Surveillance, and Patient Care.
World Health Organization. Forthcoming.
Price A, Malas M, Smith MJ, Bytautas J. Towards a Comprehensive Alcohol Policy Strategy in
Ontario: A Descriptive Analysis of Ontario’s Alcohol Policy Structure Using the National Alcohol
Strategy. A report prepared for Public Health Ontario. In progress.
Rosella L, Wilson K, Crowcroft N, Chu A, Upshur R, Willison D, Deeks S, Schwartz S, Tustin J,
Sider, D. Pandemic H1N1 in Canada and the use of evidence in developing public health policies
– A policy analysis (2013). Social Science & Medicine, 83.
Wong CL, Arcand J, Qi Y, Lou W, Mendoza J, Spencer HM & L’Abbe MR. Consumer
Attitudes and understanding of low sodium claims on food: An analysis of healthy and
hypertensive individuals. Am J Clin Nutr – In Press (Accepted Feb 14, 2013).
Nunez MF, Mollard RC, Luhovyy BL, Nunez MF, Wong CL, and Anderson GH. Acute Sodium
Ingestion Has No Effect on Short-term Food and Water Intakes, Subjective Appetite, Thirst and
Glycemic Response in Healthy Young Men. Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism – In
Press (Accepted Jan 24, 2013).
Schermel A, Emrich T, Arcand J, Wong CL, L’Abbe MR. Nutrition Marketing on Processed Food
Packages in Canada: 2010 Food Label Information Program. Applied Physiology, Nutrition and
Metabolism – In Press (Accepted Jan 16, 2013).
Randhawa S, Kakuda Y, Wong CL and Yeung DL. Microbial Safety, Nutritive Value and Residual
Pesticide Levels are Comparable among Commercial, Laboratory and Homemade Baby Food
Samples – A Pilot Study. Open Nutrition Journal, 2012, 6, 89-96