Projects
Browse our project database
Adaptive Platform Trial of Treatments for Respiratory Infections in Community Settings (TreatResp)
In Progress
TreatResp will evaluate the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of therapeutics for respiratory pathogens in non-hospitalized patients and build off lessons...
Prediction of Exacerbation of Asthma in Children using Machine Learning models (PEACH-ML)
In Progress
The research aims to evaluate the utility of environmental data, not typically included in predictive models, in enhancing asthma exacerbation prediction models, and t...
Primary Care Supply and Demand in Ontario
In Progress
Primary care is the first point of contact with the health system, providing comprehensive care across the lifespan. High-quality care depends on the “Four C’s”: first...
Patient experiences of social prescribing among older adults in Toronto, Ontario: A photovoice project
In Progress
Social isolation and loneliness affect up to half of adults over 60 and can lead to health implications. These issues are shaped by factors like income, housing, and f...
Health inequities are increasing in Canada, despite (near) universal access to essential health services. These inequities are mostly due to the social determinants of...
Integrating and managing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) within primary care systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is a pressing global health challenge...
The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of distance between where a patient lives and the location of their family physician in Ontario, after which acce...
Advocacy is a professional responsibility for physicians, yet relatively little is known academically about how doctors can advocate effectively, especially as it rela...
Substance use disorders and substance use result in high rates of healthcare utilization and hospital presentations. There is a care gap and evidence-based care for su...
Road to equitable recovery: Examining the impact of COVID-19 on low-income, racialized and/or individuals unable to shelter at home and assessing policy response aimed...
Innovative strategies for early detection of acute respiratory infections: co-design of a tailored surveillance system with primary care providers and emergency depart...
Canadians are facing a serious crisis in access to primary care, with 1 in 5 lacking a primary care provider. The federal, provincial and territorial governments have ...
Visit PREPARED website Pandemics such as SARS, COVID-19, H1N1 and the mpox outbreak have shown that Canada needs to enhance preparedness for future health emergencies...
COVID-19 showed the importance of fast and effective ways to study potential treatments. Traditional randomized controlled trials (RCT), while often methodologicall...
Assessing the Implementation of Point-of-Care Multiplex Viral Testing in Primary Care (AIM-Viral)
In Progress
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of rapid and accurate viral testing at the point of care to both guide patient care and support surveillance. AIM-...
The project is trying to understand how best to collect important personal information about our hard-to-reach populations, who are those living in low-income neighbou...
Globally, countries are struggling with healthcare workforce shortages, particularly in primary care. Strong primary care promotes health equity by addressing gaps in ...
Our health is determined in large part by factors outside of the health care system. Known as the social determinants of health, these are the conditions in which we l...
Healthcare leaders in Ontario and across Canada have shown a growing interest in the collection and use of patient-reported measures within primary care and integrated...
Data collection on disability can potentially be utilized to identify patient needs and barriers to care, and inform how healthcare organizations design and deliver se...
Precarious employment has numerous negative consequences for workers’ health, which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. To support the efforts to organize ...
This study will conduct a scoping review to summarize evidence on outpatient healthcare-based social care interventions that aim to support children ages 0-13 and/or t...
For Public Health Units (PHU) to respond to the health needs of the population informed by evidence, there is a need to better understand the barriers and enablers to ...
Housing conditions: Evaluation, Advocacy and Research in Toronto community Housing (HEARTH Study)
Complete
The HEARTH study aims to evaluate an intervention that aims to address housing conditions in Toronto. Through an innovative approach of engaging individuals impacted b...
One in five children in Canada lives in poverty, and the number is projected to rise for at least the next five years. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, health inequities a...
The Anita project examines the working conditions and access to health care of women domestic workers (DWs) in Peru as it emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. It will ...
The ANITA Project FindingsThere is substantial evidence that our daily living and working conditions, including housing, social support, healthcare access, and race, impact our health outcomes....
Project Dignify: Supporting seniors living with mental illness who experience homelessness
In Progress
Our study will evaluate Project Dignify, a new case management program at St. Michael’s Hospital that aims to provide older adults experiencing homelessness and mental...
COVID-19 has demonstrated the urgent need to detect and monitor emergent respiratory illnesses of epidemic or pandemic potential. In part 1, we will develop and evalua...
Racism is a persistent problem in the Canadian healthcare system, with experiences of prejudice and discrimination contributing to poor outcomes and distrust in health...
Canadian Adaptive Platform Trial of Treatments for COVID in Community Settings (CanTreatCOVID) Study
Complete
While public health measures and vaccines have reduced the spread of SARS-CoV-2, most scientists predict this virus will become endemic and new variants will continue ...
In 2018, Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), in collaboration with Pan-Canadian Public Health Network (PHN), Statistics Canada, and the Canadian Institute for Healt...
The project aims to collect sociodemographic and SDOH data from 6 urban cities (8 areas in total) across 4 provinces using an implementation science framework. The mul...
The Quadruple Aim serves as a guide on how to optimize healthcare system performance. While it consists of goals for healthcare systems, public health shares the goal ...
High quality primary care is the cornerstone of strong health systems. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered primary care across Canada. Most offices and cli...
This project came about as the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the urgency to renew and reinforce public infrastructure in Canada and the world. The first phase will includ...
Social determinants are factors that play a key role in our health and well-being. These determinants are also important for health care teams to be aware of, so they ...
Hospitalizations related to ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSC) are common, costly, to some degree preventable with high-quality primary care, and are thus use...
The Income Security Health Promotion (ISHP) service is a novel intervention at St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team to address poverty as a key social de...
Over the last several years, novel algorithmic techniques to process natural language powered by advances in machine learning have been developed. In numerous industri...
Primary care can play a crucial role in preventing the progression of pre-existing conditions by targeting comprehensive care at individuals at high risk of poor outco...
Dr. Andrew Pinto and the Upstream Lab have conducted various research focused on integrating health and social care, population health management and using data to ena...
Sustainable Financing to Transform Canada’s Public Health Systems: a comparative case study
Complete
Canada’s Public Health systems have long been characterized by the “Boom & Bust” cycle of crisis-induced investments followed by sustained budget cuts. As a result...
Over the past two decades, paramedics have been performing functions within local health systems beyond their traditional role of emergency transport. Examples include...
This project is a systematic review looking at interventions in healthcare settings to reduce social isolation. The purpose of this research is to aggregate data on in...
This research will build on a previously conducted systematic review that aggregated information on successful interventions to address social isolation. This research...
Over the last two decades, a growing proportion of primary health care organizations have implemented electronic medical records (EMR). This data holds the potential t...
Our working and living conditions contribute to the majority of poor health outcomes. Data collection on sociodemographic and social needs (e.g., social support, housi...
It is now well recognized that Machine Learning (ML) models can contain significant biases which impact the health and wellbeing of marginalized communities. Numerous ...
The SPARK study is a CIHR-funded national study that was birthed out of the lack of data on social determinants of health in primary care settings in Canada. Healthcar...
ScrEening for OCcUpational HazaRds and Precarious Employment in Toronto (SECURE): A Validation Study
Complete
Precarious work is a growing phenomenon in Canada and it negatively affects health. Employment status and working conditions have long been recognized as key social de...
Key movements in modern health care towards quality improvement, value-based health care, and integrating health and social care, all rely on routinely collecting and ...
The Police Funding study has two parts: the first is a longitudinal budget analysis of the 20 largest municipalities in Canada. This analysis aimed to compare police f...
People experiencing homelessness have a heightened need for heart disease management given their unstable living environment and challenges in accessing care. We must ...
Work, health, and living with HIV
Complete
Employment is a key social determinant of health. When people are engaged in decent work, it provides an adequate income, helps individuals develop their social connec...
EMployment and PrecariOus Work in Toronto’s Health Sector: Evaluation and Research (EMPOWER)
Complete
Precarious work is a growing phenomenon in Canada’s health sector despite evidence showing correlation between adverse health outcomes and precarious employment. A gro...
Anchor institutions are large, place-based entities, with significant economic and social capital that is leveraged to address social needs and ultimately create share...
The overall objective of this study is to develop a prediction tool that processes primary care electronic medical record (EMR) data, and when implemented, helps prima...
AI & Patient Engagement
Complete
Patients are often identified as key stakeholders in the design of artificial intelligence (AI) healthcare applications. However, the extent and method of patient enga...