Health and data seminar series

Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) seminar with Brent Diverty

Better data. Better decisions. Healthier Canadians

How do we leverage national health data to achieve better health outcomes?

February 8, 2024 | 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | Enterprise Theatre, East Campus 5 (EC5), Room 111

Waterloo faculty members, staff and students are invited to the health data seminar to learn about opportunities to improve your access to health data at the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Brent Diverty, vice president, Data Strategies and Statistics, will introduce the important and rich information available at CIHI, share progress being made in Canada towards better health data, and discuss working with CIHI data as a researcher or partner.

About the speakers:

Brent Diverty is the Vice-President, Data Strategies and Statistics at the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). In this role, he oversees CIHI’s extensive data holdings, which span the continuum of health care services and contain related financial, pharmaceutical and workforce data. He also has executive responsibility for CIHI’s strategic data initiatives, including work and partnerships to advance new data acquisitions, linkages, improving access and health system use of data as well as CIHI’s data governance portfolio.

Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences(ICES) talk with Dr. David Savage and Josh Cerasuolo

December 19, 2023 | 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. | online

Join us to learn more about the research opportunities, activities, programs, partnerships, and equity-informed approaches at ICES, a collaborative Ontario-based analytics and research network specializing in population-based health research.

About the speakers:

Dr. David Savage, Site Director and Scientist at ICES North, and Josh Cerasuolo, Staff Scientist at ICES North, will present on, and answer questions about the various ways to access ICES data including becoming an ICES scientist, fellow, visiting scholar or student, collaborating with an ICES scientist, and using ICES data and analytic services.

*A slide deck for the talk is available*

Statistics Canada (StatCan) talk with Dr. Jeff Latimer

October 26, 2023 | 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | in-person

Accessing national health statistics to improve health outcomes

The Health Statistics Branch (HSB) of Statistics Canada (StatCan) is the country's trusted source of timely, accurate and relevant information about the health of Canadians. The Branch provides data and insights about the health of the population, access to care, health-related behaviours, and determinants of health. This information is based on survey and administrative data (such as from the Canadian Community Health Survey and Canadian Vital Statistics Database), as well as biospecimen samples (such as from the Canadian Health Measures Survey).

These health data can also be integrated with StatCan’s other data holdings, which cover all aspects of Canadian society and economy, including areas such as immigration, justice, education, labour, income, household spending and more. Partners can additionally bring in their own data for linkage with these holdings, or collaborate with StatCan staff, which have deep expertise across the full range of statistical activity, including in individual subject-matter areas, statistical methodology, data collection, analysis and modelling, and more.

This seminar will demonstrate the breadth of StatCan’s health data and the impact they can have on health policy and outcomes and explain how researchers can access StatCan’s health data and collaborate with the agency.

About the speaker:

Dr. Jeff Latimer is the Director General responsible for the Health Statistics Branch at Statistics Canada. He holds a PhD in Criminology and a master’s degree in Social Work, both of which focus on the intersection between health and justice. Throughout his 25-year career as a researcher and executive, Dr. Latimer has held a number of senior positions in the federal government including at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Justice Canada. Dr. Latimer is currently focused on enhancing Canada’s official health statistics in partnership with other federal departments and the provinces and territories.

*A slide deck for this talk for is available*

Temerty Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM) talk with Dr. Muhammad Mamdani

March 22, 2023 | 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. | online

Using AI to advance health care in Canada

Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to transform health care. Canada is a global leader in AI research and health care, however its research and education talent is spread across many prestigious academic institutions across Canada with limited collaboration. The Temerty Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM) has recently been established at the University of Toronto with a major goal to establish a national network focused on the advancement of AI in medicine. This presentation will review the activities of T-CAIREM and provide an overview of the national network that engages 23 universities and over 90 organizations across Canada, making this the largest network for its kind in the world. Efforts are currently focused on: 1) Education activities such as speaker series, curriculum development, trainee rounds and funded studentships, 2) Research activities such as funding opportunities for innovative and applied research in health care, 3) Infrastructure such as the creation of a ‘made for AI’ cloud-based data and analytics platform, and 4) Community engagement activities such as a collaboration forum to bridge clinicians with data scientists. Opportunities for engagement and collaboration will be presented and feedback will be requested on how to improve the reach and activity of the network. 

About the speaker:

Dr. Mamdani is vice-president of Data Science and Advanced Analytics at Unity Health Toronto and director of the University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM). Dr. Mamdani’s team bridges advanced analytics including machine learning with clinical and management decision making to improve patient outcomes and hospital efficiency. Dr. Mamdani is also Professor in the Department of Medicine of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation of the Dalla Lana Faculty of Public Health. He is also adjunct senior scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and a faculty affiliate of the Vector Institute. In 2010, Dr. Mamdani was named among Canada’s Top 40 under 40. He has published more than 500 studies in peer-reviewed medical journals. Dr. Mamdani obtained a Doctor of Pharmacy degree (PharmD) from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and completed a fellowship in pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research at the Detroit Medical Center. During his fellowship, Dr. Mamdani obtained a Master of Arts degree in Economics from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan with a concentration in econometric theory. He then completed a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University with a concentration in quantitative methods.

*A video recording of the talk is available. Watch on YouTube*