Zahid A. Butt

Research interests 

Current research, traditional methods and interventions for infectious disease prevention and control are not sufficient, especially in the context of marginalization, interactions between infections, bio-behavioral factors and social disparities. These methods and research could benefit from new insights derived from the study of syndemics*. My research interests focus on syndemics* of infectious diseases like HIV, hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections and COVID-19. My research aims to evaluate the determinants of syndemics, extend the syndemic framework to non-communicable diseases and cancers, and design and evaluate prevention strategies to address syndemics.

The goal of my research is to address complex public health issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic with the ultimate goal of helping public health agencies, health researchers, and HQP across Canada understand complex public health issues, develop and apply methods, and implement public health interventions and policies based on generated evidence. As a Canada Research Chair in Interdisciplinary Research for Pandemic Preparedness, my research focuses on using innovative interdisciplinary approaches with the long-term goal of enhancing pandemic preparedness by applying a syndemic framework using COVID-19 as proof of concept, using digital data to address misinformation and augment disease surveillance, and examining and measuring interactions between diseases, disease syndemics and social and structural factors using disease mapping and spatial modelling.

My other areas of interest include the development and application of methods for analysis of big data, global health, and spatial epidemiologic methods and their application to public health practice. In addition to the above, I have worked internationally in academia and the development sector (World Health Organization and UNICEF).

*Syndemics is a term used to describe a framework to understand disease and health conditions that cluster within specific populations, and are exacerbated by underlying socio-economic, environmental and political conditions.

Graduate supervision and student opportunities

I am currently accepting applications from graduate students with research interests related to:

• Infectious disease epidemiology
• Pandemic preparedness and response
• Spatial epidemiology
• Digital epidemiology
• Global health
• Big data analytics (including artificial intelligence and machine learning methods)

Graduate studies application details 

Teaching interests

• Epidemiology
• Pandemic preparedness
• Public health
• Public health informatics
• Global health
• Research methods

Education

MBBS, Dhaka University, Bangladesh

MSc Epidemiology & Biostatistics, The Aga Khan University, Pakistan

PhD Epidemiology, Michigan State University

PDF, University of British Columbia - BC Centre for Disease Control

Selected publications

See Google Scholar for a list of publications.

Saqib K, Goel V, Dubin JA, VanderDoes J, Butt ZA. Exploring the syndemic impact of COVID-19 and mental health on health services utilisation among adult Ontario population. Public Health. 2024 Aug 20;236:70-77.

GBD 2021 Forecasting Collaborators. Burden of disease scenarios for 204 countries and territories, 2022-2050: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. Lancet. 2024 May 18;403(10440):2204-2256.

GBD 2021 Tuberculosis Collaborators. Global, regional, and national age-specific progress towards the 2020 milestones of the WHO End TB Strategy: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. Lancet Infect Dis. 2024 Jul;24(7):698-725.

Tsao SF, Chen H, Butt ZA. Validating part of the social media infodemic listening conceptual framework using structural equation modelling. EClinicalMedicine. 2024 Mar 14;70:102544.

Yang Y, Tsao SF, Basri MA, Chen HH, Butt ZA. Digital Disease Surveillance for Emerging Infectious Diseases: An Early Warning System Using the Internet and Social Media Data for COVID-19 Forecasting in Canada. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2023 May 18;302:861-865.

Nazia N, Law J, Butt ZA. Modelling the spatiotemporal spread of COVID-19 outbreaks and prioritization of the risk areas in Toronto, Canada. Health Place. 2023 Mar;80:102988.

Butt ZA, Mak S, Gesink D, Gilbert M, Wong J, Yu A, Wong S, Alvarez M, Chong M, Buxton J, Tyndall M, Krajden M, Janjua NZ. Applying core theory and spatial analysis to identify Hepatitis C Virus infection 'core areas' in British Columbia, Canada. J Viral Hepat. 2018 Nov 17.

Butt ZA, Shrestha N, Gesink D, Murti M, Buxton JA, Gilbert M, Balshaw RF, Wong S, Kuo M, Wong J, Yu A, Alvarez M, Samji H, Roth D, Consolacion T, Hull MW, Ogilvie G, Tyndall MW, Krajden M, Janjua NZ. Effect of opioid-substitution therapy and mental health counseling on HIV risk among hepatitis C-infected individuals. Clin Epidemiol. 2018 Aug 31;10:1127-1145.

Butt ZA, Shrestha N, Wong S, Kuo M, Gesink D, Gilbert M, Wong J, Yu A, Alvarez M, Samji H, Buxton JA, Johnston JC, Cook VJ, Roth D, Consolacion T, Murti M, Hottes TS, Ogilvie G, Balshaw R, Tyndall MW, Krajden M, Janjua NZ; BC Hepatitis Testers Cohort. A syndemic approach to assess the effect of substance use and social disparities on the evolution of HIV/HCV infections in British Columbia. PLOS One. 2017 Aug 22;12(8):e0183609.

Selected professional activities and networks

• Associate Editor, BMC Public Health 
• Member, Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER)
• Member, International Society for Infectious Disease (ISID)
• Member, Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver (CASL)
• Member, International Population Data Linkage Network (IPDLN)
• Associate Member, Centre for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL), University of British Columbia