We’ve compiled this list of Canadian experts to help facilitate your coverage of the pandemic and related, emerging research. Although we’ve tried to make the list as complete as possible, we may add additional experts in the coming days and weeks. We recommend that you check back regularly.
University of Toronto experts on COVID-19 and related issues
The university maintains its own expert list on this topic.
Experts de l’Université du Québec à Montréal – COVID-19
L’Université du Québec à Montréal tient une liste d’experts qui peuvent parler au nouveau coronavirus
Carleton University experts on COVID-19
See the university’s list of experts>
University of Victoria experts
View the list of experts here>
Ontario Tech University experts
View list of experts here
Other universities’ experts on COVID-19 and related topics
McGill University – Updated list here
Health and medicine
- Anne Gatignol, Full Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Experimental Medicine
Area of expertise: Virus behaviour and counter-measures
Gatignol is an associate member of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. She teaches virology and viral pathogenesis, including emerging viruses. Her research is mainly on virus-cell interactions applied to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the Zika virus.
Email: anne.gatignol@mcgill.ca
Languages: French; English - Jonathan Kimmelman, James McGill Professor, Department of Social Studies of Medicine and Director, Biomedical Ethics Unit
Area of expertise: Ethics of vaccine development and testing
Kimmelman’s research centres on the ethical, social, and policy challenges in testing novel medical technologies in human beings (“translational clinical research”). Current projects include investigating risk, prediction, validity and knowledge value across the trajectory of drug development.
Email: jonathan.kimmelman@mcgill.ca
Language: English - Matthew Oughton, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases
Area of expertise: Understanding viruses
Oughton is a specialist in infectious diseases and medical microbiology. His research interests are focused on the use of molecular techniques to improve clinical diagnostic assays, with relevant publications on C. difficile, MRSA, influenza, and other pathogens.
Email: matthew.oughton@mcgill.ca
Language: English - Raymond Tellier, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases
Area of expertise: Understanding viruses
Tellier was part of the research team who first identified the SARS-associated coronavirus in Toronto following the outbreak in 2003, in collaboration with several groups in Toronto, Hamilton and Vancouver.
Email: raymond.tellier@muhc.mcgill.ca
Languages: English; French
Business, consumerism and workplace practices
- John Gradek, Faculty Lecturer, School of Continuing Studies
Area of expertise: Future of airlines
Gradek lectures in the diploma program in Integrated Aviation Management, and in the certificate and diploma programs of Supply Chain Management, Logistics and Operations Management. He has worked in senior roles at Air Canada.
Email: john.gradek@mcgill.ca
Languages: English; French - Jill Hanley, Associate Professor, School of Social Work
Area of expertise: Rights for migrant workers
Hanley is the Scientific Director of the Sherpa Research Institute on Migration, Health and Social Services. Her work focuses on closing the gaps between policies and practice concerning the social rights of migrant workers.
Email: jill.hanley@mcgill.ca
Languages: English; French; Spanish - Yu Ma, Associate Professor, Desautels Faculty of Management
Area of expertise: Retail shopping and marketing
Ma’s research interest includes food marketing, retailing and big data analytics.
Email: yu.ma@mcgill.ca
Language: English - Jean-Nicolas Reyt, Assistant Professor, Desautels Faculty of Management
Area of expertise: Remote Work Reyt studies mobile technology-facilitated work and other organizational factors that influence mental representations.
Email: jean-nicolas.reyt@mcgill.ca
Language: English, French
Emotional regulation and wellness
- Steven Grover, Full Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Internal Medicine
Area of expertise: Social isolation and health
Grover is a senior scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. His research focuses on the importance of exercise, healthy eating, and other lifestyle interventions to improve health, as well as on digital, e-health interventions using web-based platforms.
Email: steven.grover@mcgill.ca
Languages: English; French - Jason Harley, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery
Area of expertise: Managing anxiety
Harley is a junior scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. They are currently working to improve health and media literacy by developing educational interventions in a SSHRC-funded research project that will teach people about media literacy principles and strategies to help them regulate their emotions while consuming health-related information.
Email: jason.harley@mcgill.ca
Languages: English; French - Ross Otto, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
Area of expertise: Perception of risk
Otto studies decision-making, and more particularly, why we sometimes rely on slow, deliberative, and effortful choices, while at other times we rely on fast, habitual, and reflexive choice.
Email: ross.otto@mcgill.ca
Language: English - Samuel Veissière, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Co-director, Culture, Mind and Brain Program
Area of expertise: The psychology of panic
An interdisciplinary anthropologist and cognitive scientist, Veissière studies social dimensions of cognition, consciousness, and human well-being through a variety of projects including placebo effects and hypnosis, hyper-sociality in smartphone addiction, and social polarization.
Email: samuel.veissiere@mcgill.ca
Languages: English; French; Portuguese
Family and youth
- Jeffrey Derevensky, James McGill Professor and Chair, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Director, International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems
Area of expertise: Internet games
Derevensky is an international expert in the area of behavioural addictions and was on the World Health Organization’s committee which helped identify Internet Gaming Disorder as a recognizable disorder.
Email: jeffrey.derevensky@mcgill.ca
Language: English - Tina Montreuil, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational & Counselling Psychology
Area of expertise: Helping children and teens cope with stress
Montreuil’s research focuses on investigating the role of emotion regulation, attitudes, and beliefs and how symptoms of mental health problems might interfere with self-regulated learning in a group context and ultimately, educational achievement.
Email: tina.montreuil@mcgill.ca
Languages: English; French
University of Waterloo
- Chris Bauch, research chair in the Department of Applied Mathematics
Area of expertise: Mathematical Modeling
Bauch has done extensive research into SARS and the 2009 pandemic influenza. He is a specialist in mathematical and computer modeling of infectious disease outbreaks, vaccination, and social distancing measures.
Email: cbauch@uwaterloo.ca - Urs Hengartner, founding member of the Cryptography, Security, and Privacy research group
Area of expertise: Privacy and tracking COVID-19
Hengartner develops security and privacy solutions for mobile platforms with a focus on smartphones. Hengartner can speak to the potential to use cellphones to track the spread of the pandemic and the potential privacy concerns of doing so.
Email: urs.hengartner@uwaterloo.ca
Psychological aspects
- Christine Purdon, Professor, Department of Psychology
Purdon can speak to the fear and anxiety people are feeling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Email: christine.purdon@uwaterloo.ca - David Moscovitch, Professor, Department of Psychology
Moscovitch’s work focuses on the nature and treatment of social anxiety; he can speak to fear and anxiety around COVID-19 and effective coping strategies.
Email: dmosco@uwaterloo.ca - Dillon Browne, Professor, Department of Psychology
Browne is a clinical psychologist with expertise in family relationships, child behaviour, parenting, and mental health during times of trauma, stress, and economic strife.
Email: Dillon.browne@uwaterloo.ca - Igor Grossmann, Director of the Wisdom and Culture Lab
Area of expertise: Cultural and societal change
Grossmann can speak to emotional regulation and maintaining wisdom in times of uncertainty.
Email: igrossma@uwaterloo.ca - James Danckert, Professor, Department of Psychology
Danckert can speak to the issue of boredom in quarantine, which was a significant issue during SARS.
Email: jdancker@uwaterloo.ca - Shana MacDonald, Professor, Department of Communication Arts
MacDonald is co-founder of the Collaborative, a feminist research lab situated at the Games Institute which specializes in the relationship between technology and public discourse. MacDonald can discuss how information is flowing across a variety of social media platforms, and how this affects change and impacts the public’s worldview during times of crisis.
Email: shana.macdonald@uwaterloo.ca
Public health
- Craig Janes, Director of the School of Public Health and Health Systems
Janes can comment on many dimensions of COVID-19, especially the efficacy of social interventions such as travel restrictions, quarantines, etc.
Email: cjanes@uwaterloo.ca - Ellen MacEachen, Professor, School of Public Health and Health Systems
MacEachen can talk about workplaces and COVID-19. Especially precarious employee workers and how difficult it is for them to admit they are sick and take time off.
Email: ellen.maceachen@uwaterloo.ca - George Heckman, Professor, School of Public Health and Health Systems, and practising physician
Area of expertise: Geriatric and internal medicine
In addition to collaborating closely with Dr. Hirdes on several COVID-19 related projects, Heckman can speak to managing COVID-19 in long-term care homes and in the home care system.
Email: ggheckman@uwaterloo.ca - Kelly Grindrod, Professor, School of Pharmacy
Grindrod can comment on the necessity of protective equipment for medical professionals and has general expertise in epidemiology.
Email: kelly.grindrod@uwaterloo.ca - Peter Hall, Professor, School of Public Health and Health Systems
Hall can comment behavioral aspects of the COVID-19 spread, including social distancing.
Email: pahall@uwaterloo.ca - Shannon Majowicz, Professor, School of Public Health and Health Systems
Area of expertise: Infectious disease epidemiology
Majowicz worked with the Public Health Agency of Canada before joining the University of Waterloo. She can speak to outbreaks, the decisions of public health, individuals and organizations/institutions around how their guidance is being rolled out, and the nature of public health guidance in general.
Email: smajowicz@uwaterloo.ca - Steffanie Scott, Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Management
Scott can comment on food security and COVID-19; her work has a particular focus on the Chinese context.
Email: sdscott@uwaterloo.ca - Zahid Butt, Professor, School of Public Health and Health Systems
Butt can comment on pandemic preparedness and public health responses to COVID-19 in developed and developing countries. He can also discuss how underlying health conditions could impact individual responses to the COVID-19 infection.
Email: zahid.butt@uwaterloo.ca - Zhenzhong Si, adjunct researcher, Department of Geography & Environmental Management
Area of expertise: China’s food system and agricultural policy
Si can speak about wet markets in China in relation to the virus. He can also speak about Chinese people’s everyday experiences of the COVID-19 crisis, about how they accessed food, and about policies put in place by the Chinese government to support this.
Email: sizhenzhong@gmail.com
Biology
- Brian Dixon, Professor, Department of Biology
Area of expertise: Immunology
Dixon can speak to the immune response to viruses and the development of vaccines.
Email: bdixon@uwaterloo.ca - Jozef Nissimov, virologist, Department of Biology
Area of expertise: Virology
Nissimov can speak on the ecology of viruses, virus evolution and the molecular biology of viruses.
Email: jnissimov@uwaterloo.ca
Economic impacts
- Andrew Bauer, Canada Research Chair, and Professor, School of Accounting and Finance
Area of expertise: Taxation, governance and risk
Bauer can comment on the use of tax incentives to encourage behaviour or tax relief to lessen financial burden, including measures enacted in Canada following national or global crises.
Email: ambauer@uwaterloo.ca - James Thompson, Professor, School of Accounting and Finance
Area of expertise: Finance, banks, financial markets, and insurance Thompson can speak about banks and financial markets in general and as they pertain to COVID-19 more specifically. He can also speak about the role of insurance versus governments when it comes to bearing risk such as that presented by COVID-19.
Email: james@uwaterloo.ca - Jean-Paul Lam, Professor, Department of Economics
Lam can speak about the economy in general and the decisions of central banks around COVID-19 more specifically.
Email: jplam@uwaterloo.ca - Sue Horton, University Research Chair and Professor, School of Public Health and Health Systems
Area of expertise: Health economics
Horton can comment on economic effects of health issues, both for high-income and low- and middle-income countries, and can take a wider international lens. She recently commented on what would happen if an international leader contracted the disease.
Email: sehorton@uwaterloo.ca
Historical context
- Heather MacDougall, Associate Professor and historian
Areas of expertise: Canadian history of medicine, public health and health policy
Drawing on research comparing the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic response in Toronto to its experience with SARS in 2003, MacDougall is prepared to discuss prevention and the lessons learned from history as they apply to COVID-19.
Email: hmacdougall@uwaterloo.ca
Simon Fraser University – Updated list here
International Relations
- Leslie Armijo, Associate Professor, School for International Studies
Armijo can speak to the politics of U.S.– China relations, the financial and economic consequences of COVID-19, and the relationship between solving this pandemic crisis and the even more existential crisis of global climate change.
Email: larmijo@sfu.ca
NOTE: Armijo is available only until March 25, then not available until next semester. - Irene Pang, Assistant Professor, School for International Studies
Pang can speak to the state and societal responses to COVID-19 in China and Hong Kong.
Email: irene_pang@sfu.ca
Languages: English; Cantonese; Mandarin - Anis Rahman, Lecturer, School of Communication
Rahman can speak to race and media coverage, international communications, geopolitics and disinformation, cross-border platform regulations.
Email: abu_rahman@sfu.ca
Health
- Caroline Colijn, Canada 150 Research Chair in Mathematics for Evolution, Infection and Public Health
Colijn can speak about the COVID-19 infection, and can elaborate on forthcoming research suggesting that COVID-19 transmission can occur between 2.5 and 3 days before symptoms start appearing. This study also estimates COVID-19’s time lag between a person showing symptoms and someone they infected showing symptoms is ~4 to 4.5 days.
Email: ccolijn@sfu.ca - Fiona Brinkman, Professor, Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, and Co-Lead of the Integrated Rapid Infectious Disease Analysis Project and Consortium
Brinkman can speak to what the average person can do to self-isolate and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Email: brinkman@sfu.ca - Valorie Crooks, Canada Research Chair in Health Service Geographies
Crooks can speak to health services issues, medical care at home and abroad, and Canadian snowbirds returning from abroad or staying abroad and accessing health services.
Email: crooks@sfu.ca - Jeremy Snyder, Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences
Snyder can speak to price-gouging during the pandemic and public health ethics; for example, the ethics of self-isolation and going out in public.
Email: jcs12@sfu.ca - Andrew Wister, Director, the Gerontology Research Centre, and Professor, Department of Gerontology
Wister can speak to how older adults/seniors are more vulnerable to viral diseases, such as COVID-19.
Email: wister@sfu.ca
Education and psychology
- Tanya Broesch, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
Broesch can speak to how parents can talk to their kids about COVID-19, social learning, child development and culture.
Email: tanya_broesch@sfu.ca - Lara Aknin, Associate Professor, Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychology
Aknin can speak to prosocial behaviour, well-being, happiness and social relationships.
Email: laknin@sfu.ca - Yuthika Girme, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
Girme can speak to social support, social distancing, and relationships.
Email: ygirme@sfu.ca - Carman Neustaedter, Professor, School of Interactive Arts + Technology
Neustaedter can speak to social distancing and staying connected.
Email: carman@sfu.ca - Andrew Feenberg, Canada Research Chair in Philosophy of Technology in the School of Communication
Feenberg can speak to online community, online education.
Email: feenberg@sfu.ca
Working from home
- Lieke Ten Brummelhuis, Professor, Business Administration, Beedie School of Business
Ten Brummelhuis can speak to how to manage stress and stay focused while working remotely.
Email: ltenbrum@sfu.ca - Scott Lear, Pfizer/Heart & Stroke Foundation Chair in Cardiovascular Prevention Research, Health Sciences
Lear can speak to maintaining personal and physical health while working from home.
Email: slear1970@gmail.com
Business and economics
- Terri Griffith, Keith Beedie Chair in Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Griffith can comment on online learning, remote work and the government’s plan to mobilize industry to fight COVID-19.
Email: terri_griffith@sfu.ca - David Jacks, Professor, Department of Economics
Areas of expertise: Economic history, international trade and finance.
Jacks can speak to the impacts of COVID-19 on international trade.
Email: djacks@sfu.ca - Andrey Pavlov, Professor, Beedie School of Business
Area of expertise: Risk management for real estate investments, mortgages, and financial derivatives
Pavlov can speak to financial impacts, including stock markets and long-term economic prospects.
Email: apavlov@sfu.ca - Sarah Lubik, Director of Entrepreneurship, Beedie School of Business
Lubik can comment on how the current pandemic can challenge innovative companies to develop solutions, technology and products to address COVID-19 issues.
Email: slubik@sfu.ca - Enda Brophy, Lecturer, School of Communication
Brophy can comment on gig economy workers, labour and collective organizing in the media and communication industries, digital and communicative dimensions of debt.
Email: ebrophy@sfu.ca
Politics and misinformation
- Stewart Prest, Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Political Science
Prest can speak to political impacts and political responses to pandemic
Email: stewartp@sfu.ca - David Hannah, Associate Professor, Management and Organization Studies, Beedie School of Business
Hannah can speak about how people can cope with the onslaught of information about coronavirus and how to distinguish fact from statements that are made with a disregard for the truth.
Email: drhannah@sfu.ca - Peter Chow-White, Professor, School of Communication and the GeNA Lab
Chow-White can speak about social media use during a crisis.
Email: peter_chow-white@sfu.ca - Brian Fisher,Professor, School of Interactive Arts & Technology
Fisher can speak to visual analytics for safety and security, working with government and industry in data-based decision making, operational analysis for threats in general, advanced interactive technologies for planning and response to emergencies.
Email: bfisher@sfu.ca - Ahmed-Al Rawi, Assistant Professor, News, Social Media, and Public Communication, School of Communication
Rawi can speak to social media, news, global communication, disinformation.
Email: aalrawi@sfu.ca
University of British Columbia – Updated List here
Business and economics
- Werner Antweiler, Associate Professor and Chair in International Trade Policy, Sauder School of Business
Antweiler studies supply chain disruptions and resilience; international trade repercussions; energy and natural resources.
Email: werner.antweiler@ubc.ca - James Brander, Asia Pacific Professor in International Business and Public Policy, Sauder School of Business
Brander can speak to the economic impact of COVID-19.
Email: james.brander@sauder.ubc.ca - Kevin Milligan, Professor, Vancouver School of Economics
Milligan can speak to the impact of COVID-19 on fiscal policy, tax policy, and labour market issues.
Email: kevin.milligan@ubc.ca - Mark Thompson, Professor Emeritus in Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources, UBC Sauder School of Business
Thompson can speak to the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market.
Email: mrkthompson39@gmail.com
Education
- Marina Milner-Bolotin, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education
Milner-Bolotin can speak to the impact of indefinite school closures.
Email: marina.milner-bolotin@ubc.ca
Mathematics
- Daniel Coombs, Professor, Department of Mathematics and Institute of Applied Mathematics
Coombs specializes in mathematical models of pandemic growth and control.
Email: coombs@math.ubc.ca
Medical and public health
- Horacio Bach, Adjunct Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine
Bach has received CIHR funding to design antibodies that neutralize and block the entrance of the virus into cells.
Email: hbach@mail.ubc.ca - Katie Beleznay, Dermatologist; Clinical Instructor, Department of Dermatology and Skin Science
Beleznay can answer questions about dry skin and irritation due to increased hand-washing to prevent transmission of COVID-19.
Email: kbeleznay@gmail.com - Stephen Hoption Cann, Clinical Professor, School of Population and Public Health Hoption
Cann studies infectious diseases and the pathophysiology of fever in infectious diseases.
Email: hoption.cann@ubc.ca - Christopher Carlsten, Physician; Professor and Head of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Medicine
Carlsten studies the respiratory and immunological health effects of inhaled environmental and occupational exposures.
Email: christopher.carlsten@ubc.ca - Artem Cherkasov, Professor, Department of Urologic Sciences
Cherkasov has received CIHR funding to study COVID-19, using “deep docking” – a virtual screening protocol enabled by artificial intelligence – to identify compounds that could potentially inhibit the main enzyme critical to helping the novel coronavirus to survive.
Email: acherkasov@prostatecentre.com - Michael Curry, Emergency Room Physician; Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine
Curry can speak about emergency medicine and coronavirus.
Email: michael.curry@ubc.ca - Judy Illes, Professor of Neurology and Canada Research Chair in Neuroethics, Division of Neurology
Illes can speak to the issues of balancing the benefits and risks of reaching out to help people in need, such as people who are vulnerable (older people, exhausted and isolated people, and children), and to triage and resource allocation of medical supplies and instruments, such as ventilators, futile care, and so on.
Email: jilles@mail.ubc.ca - Eric Jan, Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine
Jan has received CIHR funding to study COVID-19 and is working to identify protein targets of SARS and MERS coronavirus proteases to block their ability to function, thereby inhibiting infection.
Email: ej@mail.ubc.ca - Jeffrey Joy, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine Joy has received CIHR funding to study the genomic evolution of the novel coronavirus.
Email: jjoy@cfenet.ubc.ca - Tom Koch, Adjunct Professor, Department of Geography
Koch studies factors that promote or inhibit the spread of disease, and how to preparing for pandemics (Globe op-ed).
Email: tomkoch@kochworks.com - Richard Lester, Physician; Associate Professor in Global Health, Division of Infectious Diseases
Lester has received Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) funding to determine the potential for a mobile virtual health care app, called WelTel, to help people who are self-isolating to prevent transmission of COVID-19.
Email: rlester@mail.ubc.ca - Mahyar Etminan, Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Area of expertise: drug safety
Etminan can speak to COVID-19 and ibuprofen (Advil) drug safety.
Email: etminanm@mail.ubc.ca - Deborah Money, Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Area of expertise: Infectious diseases
Money can speak to the risks of COVID-19 on pregnancy.
Email: Contact Kerry Blackadar to arrange interviews at kerry.blackadar@ubc.ca or 604-827-2963 - Srinivas Murthy, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics; Investigator and pediatrician at BC Children’s Hospital
Area of expertise: Pediatric infectious disease
Murthy is a WHO global research and innovation forum participant, supporting the international response to COVID-19. He has received Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) funding for a study on how best to treat COVID-19.
Email: srinivas.murthy@cw.bc.ca - James Russell, Physician; Professor, Department of Medicine; Principal Investigator at the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation (HLI) at St. Paul’s Hospital
Russell can speak to critical care, cardiovascular/cardiac condition and COVID-19 risk, and cardiac injury due to COVID-19. He has received CIHR funding to study efficacy and safety of re-purposing a class of drugs (called ARBs) commonly prescribed to treat high blood pressure to improve outcomes for patients with COVID-19.
Email: Jim.Russell@hli.ubc.ca - Roger Wong, Clinical Professor, Division of Geriatric Medicine
Wong can speak about protecting seniors from COVID-19 and supporting seniors during the outbreak.
Email: Contact Kerry Blackadar to arrange interviews at kerry.blackadar@ubc.ca or 604-827-2963
Psychology and mental health
- Anita DeLongis, Professor, Department of Psychology Delongis can speak to psychological impact, mental health, coping, social support, and empathic responding.
Email: adelongis@psych.ubc.ca
NOTE: DeLongis is available afternoons and evenings only - Yue Qian, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology
Qian is the recipient of CIHR funding to study human experiences and mental health consequences of quarantine.
Email: yue.qian@ubc.ca
NOTE: Qian has limited availability - Nancy Sin, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
Sin can speak to the connections between stress and health, coping, emotions.
Email: nsin@psych.ubc.ca - Steven Taylor, Professor and Clinical Psychologist, Department of Psychiatry
Taylor studies ealth anxiety (hypochondriasis) and is the author of The Psychology of Pandemics: Preparing for the next global outbreak of infectious disease.
Email: steven.taylor@ubc.ca
Treatment and vaccine development
- Brett Finlay, Professor, Michael Smith Laboratories
Finlay led the development of vaccines during the 2003 SARS outbreak
Email: bfinlay@msl.ubc.ca - Josef Penninger, Director, Life Sciences Institute; Professor, Department of Medical Genetics; Canada 150 Chair in Functional Genetics
Penninger identified a crucial SARS receptor that helps explain how and why SARS coronavirus infection causes lung failure. He developed a promising therapeutic agent that prevents lung failure in SARS coronavirus and acute respiratory distress syndrome in an animal model and preliminary human trials. He is the recipient of Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) funding on an international study performing a clinical trial on patients who have tested positive for COVID-19.
Email: contact Bethany Becker to arrange interviews at bethany.becker@ubc.ca
Urban issues
- Patrick Condon, Professor, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
Condon can speak to the pandemic’s potential effects on urban life and environments including housing and mass transit.
Email: patrick.condon@ubc.ca - Penny Gurstein, Professor, School of Community and Regional Planning
Gurstein can speak to the implications for people experiencing homelessness and the impacts on social equity and urban sustainability
Email: penny.gurstein@ubc.ca
Western University
Medicine and health
- Eric Arts, Canada Research Chair in HIV Pathogenesis and Viral Control and Chair and Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Areas of Expertise: Vaccine delivery methods, virulence in regards to transmission, disease progression, drug resistance and global HIV spread
Email: earts@uwo.ca - Stephen Barr, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Areas of expertise: Complex virus-host interactions, emerging viral pathogens, virus containment
Email: stephen.barr@uwo.ca - Greta Bauer, Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Areas of expertise: Biostatistics, marginalized populations and social determinants, mental health, public health and epidemiology
Email: gbauer@uwo.ca - Chil-Yong Kang, Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Areas of expertise: Molecular virology, viral-specific vaccine development against various diseases including AIDS and MERS, genetic engineering and biotechnology
Email: cykang@uwo.ca - Anita Kothari, Associate Professor, School of Health Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Areas of expertise: Public health systems and services, health policy and knowledge translation
Email: akothari@uwo.ca - Francisco Olea Popelka, Beryl Ivey Endowed Chair in One Health, Associate Professor, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Areas of expertise: One health, public health, veterinary medicine, epidemiology, domestic species, wild animals, and humans
Email: foleapop@uwo.ca - Art Poon, Associate Professor, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Areas of expertise: Virus evolution, bioinformatics, molecular evolution, machine learning, phylogenetics
Email: apoon42@uwo.ca - Maxwell Smith, Assistant Professor, School of Health Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences
Areas of expertise: Ethics and pandemics
Email: maxwell.smith@uwo.ca - Saverio Stranges, Chair and Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Areas of expertise: Epidemiology, public health
Email: saverio.stranges@uwo.ca - Ryan Troyer, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Areas of expertise: Infectious diseases, pathobiology
Email: rtroyer@uwo.ca
McMaster University
- Matthew Miller, biochemistry researcher, Institute for Infectious Disease Research
Miller explains coronaviruses and outlines what people need to do to keep themselves – and others – healthy.
Email: mmiller@mcmaster.ca - Zain Chagla, infectious disease researcher, Department of Medicine
Chagla explains the most effective way of washing your hands.
Email: chaglaz@mcmaster.ca - Dawn Bowdish, pathology and molecular medicine researcher, Institute for Infectious Disease Research
Bowdish explains the challenges of COVID-19 for older adults living in nursing homes.
Email: bowdish@mcmaster.ca - Mark Loeb, pathology and molecular researcher, Institute for Infectious Disease Research
Loeb can speak to who should – and shouldn’t – use masks during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Email: loebm@mcmaster.ca - Atif Kubursi, Professor Emeritus of Economics
Kubursi explains some of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Email: kubursi@mcmaster.ca - Samantha Price, Anthropologist, Faculty of Social Sciences
Price explains the impact of how media coverage and communications about COVID-19 affects people and populations.
Email: prices1@mcmaster.ca - Kenneth Rosenthal, Head, Viral Vaccines Division, Immunology Research Centre
Rosenthal talks about the race to find a vaccine for COVID-19.
Email: rosenthl@mcmaster.ca
