CGHR - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Regional Coordinator, Healthy Sierra Leone
Job Titles:
- Data Science Intern, University of Toronto
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Associate Director, Global Surgery
Anna's research and policy work focuses on improving access and outcomes for surgical and cancer patients both within Canada and at a global level. She draws on a range of methods and approaches to understand how health systems and countries can better respond to the health and surgical needs of their populations, spanning epidemiology, health services research, health economics, health policy and health systems domains.
Anna is an Assistant Professor (status appointment) at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, at the University of Toronto where she is also currently completing advanced fellowship training in complex surgical oncology. She has served as a Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery, an author on the Disease Control Priorities-3 Cancer Volume and is the Canadian National Lead for the GlobalSurg3 study evaluating variation in quality & outcomes following cancer surgery in 84 countries. She sits on the International Advisory Board for the Lancet Global Health.
Asha is a doctoral candidate at the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto in the Clinical Epidemiology stream. She completed her Doctor of Medicine in 2019 and Master's of Health Sciences in 2022 at the University of Toronto as well. Asha is currently a fourth year vascular surgery resident in the Surgeon Scientist Training Program. Her main research interests include examining the global burden of peripheral vascular and aortic disease internationally through the application of descriptive epidemiological, geospatial, and machine learning techniques. She also has diverse interests in health economics and policy decision-making, health outcomes for Indigenous patients with peripheral vascular disease in Northern Ontario, and advancements in aortic surgery. In her spare time, Asha loves playing volleyball, trying out new recipes, and catching up on Premier League soccer.
Research Coordinator at the Centre for Global Health Research - Unity Health Toronto. Catherine's research focuses on global public health with diverse interests in applied epidemiology, maternal, child, and environmental health. She holds a Master of Public Health from California State University, Fullerton and a Master of Science in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Western Ontario.
Cheryl Chin is a data coordinator at CGHR. Her work focuses on maintaining relational databases, troubleshooting data issues, and providing datasets to internal & external researchers. Recent projects include compilation of Canadian COVID-19 antibody & vaccination results, quality assurance dashboard development, and correction of spatial errors.
Daphne is a global health researcher, focusing on health economics in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). She has 5+ years of experience in health economics research on the prevention and control of non-commmunicable diseases. She has worked on economics of tobacco and alcohol control policies, and investments towards NCD interventioins. Daphne hold's a Masters of Science in Public Health and Health Systems from the University of Waterloo.
Job Titles:
- Research Coordinator
- Research Coordinator With the
Debapriya Chakraborty is the Research Coordinator with the Centre for Global Health Research (CGHR). She is currently reviewing the labour market outcomes of risk factors of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and helping organise the first Africa Mortality Symposium.
Prior to joining CGHR, Debapriya worked as a community health worker where she designed and delivered programming focused on food security of seniors living in community housing, prevention of COVID-19 in high risk populations in Toronto, and public health advocacy which aimed to destigmatise mental illness and accessing services geared towards improving mental health.
Debapriya is an ardent volunteer - currently an Award Leader for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Programme and previously, a Leading to Reading mentor for twelve years at the Toronto Public Library.
She has a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Sydney and completed her Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Environment and Health from the University of Toronto.
Job Titles:
- National Coordinator - Bio Studies
Gracia is a postdoctoral fellow currently working with Professor Patrick Brown (University of Toronto) and Professor Laura Cowen (University of Victoria), funded by CANSSI. Gracia completed her PhD in Statistics at the University of Waterloo, where her thesis focused on constructions of quasi-random point sets. Gracia's current research projects include working with electronic health data to enumerate homeless populations using capture-recapture, and exploring disparities in service access for marginalized groups. She is also working on quantifying the temperature and air pollution effects on mortality and health using case-crossover models. Gracia's other research interests include statistics education and pedagogy, and quasi-random number generation and quasi-Monte Carlo methods for numerical integration.
Job Titles:
- Full Stack Developer / Research Database Coordinator II
Thomas Ng is an experienced professional with over 10 years of experience in the information technology industry, specializing in geographic information systems (GIS). He holds a Master's degree in Computer Science and has worked on a wide range of projects, including client-server systems, web-based real-time applications, and mobile platforms. Thomas is highly skilled in capturing user requirements and developing feasible solutions, while also establishing and maintaining strong relationships with key stakeholders throughout the software development life-cycle.
Job Titles:
- Biostatistician
- Associate Director, Biostatistics
- Professor
Patrick Brown is a Biostatistician leading the geospatial research team at CGHR, as well as Associate Professor in the Department of Statistical Sciences at the University of Toronto. His research interest combine statistical methods for spatial and spatio-temporal data, statistical computing and software for spatial modeling, and understanding spatial variation in the declining rate of mortality worldwide.
Peter Rodriguez obtained his bachelor degree at the University of Toronto (Ecology) and his master degree at Ryerson University (Spatial Analysis). Peter's research interests include spatial epidemiology, species/vector distribution, geostatistics (kriging), spatial databases and conservation GIS.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Founding Director
- Professor
Prabhat Jha is the founding director of CGHR. He is also the Inaugural University of Toronto Endowed Professor in Disease Control, Canada Research Chair at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, co-investigator of the Disease Control Priorities Network, and expert advisor to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on HIV/AIDS control in India and to various governments around the world on disease control strategies.
Prior to founding CGHR, Prabhat headed the World Bank team responsible for developing the Second National HIV/AIDS Control Program in India. He also served as a senior scientist for the World Health Organization, where he led the work on health and poverty for the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health. Prabhat has published widely on tobacco, HIV/AIDS, premature mortality, and the health of the global poor. Two of his ground-breaking publications on tobacco control policy led to the first-ever global treaty on tobacco control, now signed by over 160 countries.
Among other projects at CGHR, Prabhat is currently leading one of the world's largest prospective studies of premature mortality called the Million Death Study.
Job Titles:
- Senior Software Developer
Job Titles:
- Fellow at the Department of Statistical Sciences
- Post - Doctoral Fellow
Sofia is a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Statistical Sciences at the University of Toronto. Her current research focuses on inference methodologies for spatio-temporal data with applications in epidemiology and environmental science.
Sonali is a PhD student in the Epidemiology Department at the University of Toronto. In 2019, she completed her Master's of Science in Global Mental Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her doctoral research seeks to quantify depression attributable all-cause and cause-specific mortality and elucidate the pathways through which a history of depression increases mortality risk due to suicide and chronic disease.
For inquiries regarding invoices, contracts, meeting requests, employment and practicum/internship placements at the Centre for Global Health Research, send an email to venus.jaraba@unityhealth.to.
Job Titles:
- Biostatistician
- Research Fellow
Wilson Suraweera is a research fellow at CGHR. Wilson's current work at CGHR includes research in adult and Child mortality with special focuses on neglected tropical diseases, injuries, burdens and avoidable deaths due to chronic and infectious diseases. He leads the management of the Million Death Study database and analyzing of study data.
Prior to joining with Professor Prabhat Jha in 2006, he served as the head of the Management Information Systems (formerly Planning and Research) department at University Grants Commission, a senior research analyst and an academic at Sri Lankan university sector. He also pioneered the establishment of the Sri Lankan Cancer Registry and served as a bio-statistician to the national Cancer Control Program. Wilson holds a master of science degree in applied statistics from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Job Titles:
- Fellow at the Centre for Global Health
Xuyang Tang is a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Global Health and Research. She completed her doctorate in Health Services Research, Policy & Administration at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities in 2018. Her research examines the role of demographics and social determinants of health in behaviors and mortality.