Pandemic Preparedness
Dr. Vivek Goel
President and CEO, Agency for Health Protection and Promotion
Dr. Vivek Goel is a respected public health physician and health services researcher. He brings extensive experience in health care evaluation and research, administrative skills and training and above all, his passion for the future of the Agency for Health Protection and Promotion. He holds a medical degree from McGill University, with specialty training in community medicine, a Master’s degree in Health Administration from the University of Toronto and a Master’s degree in Biostatistics from the Harvard School of Public Health.
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Dr. Michael Gardam
Director, Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control, Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion
Dr. Gardam has been medical director of the tuberculosis clinic at the Toronto Western Hospital since 2000, and of the Infection Prevention and Control Unit at the University Health Network since 2001. Recently he assumed a director role at the newly formed Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion. He is an assistant professor of medicine and faculty at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. He is Physician Director of the Community and Hospital Infection Control Association Canada (CHICA) and is the national lead of the MRSA initiative for Safer Healthcare Now!
Dr. Natasha Crowcroft
Director of Surveillance and Epidemiology
Dr. Crowcroft is a public health physician with substantial experience as a UK national expert in vaccine preventable diseases, and as a consultant to the World Health Organization. She has a broad background in clinical medicine, microbiology, and field epidemiology, and an extensive portfolio of research, training, policy and public health service. In her previous role with the UK Health Protection Agency, Dr. Crowcroft’s expertise in generating information from research and surveillance of infectious diseases was applied to vaccination policy development and evaluation as well as outbreak detection and response
Dr. Brian Schwartz
Director of Emergency Management Support for the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion.
In this role, he leads development of OAHPP’s strategy, design, policies, procedures and response to health emergencies and exigent circumstances, including hazardous materials, catastrophic events and outbreaks. The OAHPP supplements and supports the Province in its emergency planning and response by providing improved access to a broader range of scientific and technical specialization. Since joining the Agency, Dr. Schwartz has implemented an Incident Management System designed for circumstances like the recent pandemic alert, and during the last two weeks he has led the Provincial Scientific Response Team.
Dr. Schwartz has practiced Emergency Medicine for over 30 years in both community and academic settings. In 1992, he joined Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre as a staff Emergency Physician and since 1994, has served as Medical Director for both land and flight paramedics in its Base Hospital program. Most recently, as Senior Director of the Sunnybrook-Osler Centre for Prehospital Care, he presided over the expansion of the Base Hospital Program to include the Regions of Peel, Halton, Simcoe, and District of Muskoka in addition to Toronto.
Dr. Jonathan Gubbay, Medical Microbiologist, Public Health Laboratory - Toronto, OAHPP