CGHR Toronto

TORONTO DIRECTORY

Venus Bona
Patrick Brown
Anna Dare
Hana Fu
Prabhat Jha
Leslie Newcombe
Peter Rodriguez
Wilson Suraweera

 

VENUS BONA – Administrator

 

PATRICK BROWN, PhD – Scientist

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.

List of publications: http://pbrown.ca/#x1-70004

  

ANNA DARE, MBChB, PhD – Postdoctoral Fellow

Anna is a CIHR postdoctoral fellow at CGHR. Originally from New Zealand, she received her medical degree from the University of Auckland and embarked on a clinical career in general surgery, before moving to the United Kingdom to undertake her PhD in surgical sciences at the University of Cambridge. Anna’s clinical and research interests centre on improving access to surgical care in low- and middle-income countries, and among indigenous populations. At CGHR her work focuses on quantifying mortality from time-critical surgical conditions in India, Mexico and the US and relating this to geographic access to surgical facilities.

 

HANA FU, MSA – GIS Technician

Hana Fu is a Geographic Information System (GIS) Technician at CGHR. She earned her master’s degree in Spatial Analysis from Ryerson University, Toronto. Her current research focuses on spatial distribution of tobacco users in India. She also works on mapping for research projects at the Centre.

 

PRABHAT JHA, MD, DPhil – Director

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.

Prabhat Jha – Video Profile (University of Toronto)
Prabhat Jha – Journal Publications
Prabhat Jha – Books & Chapters

 

LESLIE NEWCOMBE, BSc – Research Assistant

Leslie is a research assistant at CGHR. She has provided support on a variety of projects, with particular focus on the areas of child health and tobacco control. Recent work includes reviews of nationally-representative child mortality trends in India, adolescent causes of death in low- and middle-income countries, and tobacco control interventions.

 

PETER RODRIGUEZ – Senior GIS Specialist

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.

 

WILSON SURAWEERA, BSc, MSc – 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.

Wilson Suraweera – Publications

 

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