Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health

Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health

Provost Trevor Young

Governing Council

Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing

President Meric Gertler

University of Toronto Scarborough

Professor Linda Johnston, a renowned nursing researcher and institutional leader, has been appointed vice-president, University of Toronto, and principal, �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough for a five-year term.

The Governing Council approved the appointment at a meeting on June 27. Effective July 1, 2024, Johnston’s appointment will run until December 31, 2029, and includes a six-month administrative leave.

A professor in the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, Johnston has been serving as acting �鶹��Ƶ vice-president and principal of �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough since January 1, 2024, during which time she has won the respect and support of the campus’s leadership team and broader community.

“Professor Johnston has demonstrated a genuine passion for and dedication to �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough,” President Meric Gertler said. “She brings a depth of experience to this important role and is committed to implementing and building on the clear vision established by the �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough community under the leadership of outgoing Vice-President and Principal Wisdom Tettey.

“I’m delighted to welcome her to the vice-presidential team.”

Johnston said she has a deep appreciation for the comprehensive nature of �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough and is looking forward to continuing to work closely with the UTSC community.

“I have been tremendously impressed by the scale and rigour of �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough’s academic mission and the commitment to student success,” Johnston said.

“�鶹��Ƶ Scarborough continues to advocate for, and achieve, the goals of promoting health and wellbeing, environmental sustainability, and inclusive excellence in teaching and learning; research prominence; and community engagement.”

Johnston has also been highly engaged in the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health, which is slated to launch in 2026 and will play an important role in helping to build better and more inclusive health care in Scarborough and eastern Toronto, said Vice-President and Provost Trevor Young.

Young pointed out that, during her tenure as dean of the Faculty of Nursing from August 2014 to December 2023, Johnston fostered and promoted excellence at all levels of the faculty, which currently ranks first in Canada and fifth in the world in the QS University Rankings by Subject.

“Professor Johnston also positioned the Faculty of Nursing as a central player in Toronto’s Academic Health Science Network, created new collaborations with our partner hospitals and cultivated international partnerships with peer institutions,” Young said.

Johnston previously led the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen’s University Belfast, where she significantly enhanced teaching quality, research output and international partnerships. She is globally recognized for her contributions to nursing and patient care and holds honorary and visiting professorships at top institutions in Australia, China and Hong Kong.

She earned her PhD and bachelor of science from the University of Sydney. She completed her undergraduate nursing education in the United States and has extensive experience working in neonatal intensive care in the U.S., Australia and the Middle East.

Johnston will be taking a planned leave from July 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2024, during which time Professor Bill Gough will serve as acting vice-president, �鶹��Ƶ, and principal, �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough. He currently serves as acting vice-principal, academic and dean, at �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough.

Geoffrey Hinton tops Toronto Life's list of most influential people

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 19:42:00 +0000

Geoffrey Hinton tops Toronto Life's list of most influential people

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 11/21/2023 - 14:42

Cutline

(photo by Polina Teif)

Topic

Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health

Faculty of Arts & Science

�鶹��Ƶ

Artificial Intelligence

Computer Science

Faculty of Law

Geoffrey Hinton

Rotman School of Management

St. Michael's Hospital

Toronto Life

�鶹��Ƶ Mississauga

Subheadline

Hinton among several �鶹��Ƶ community members highlighted by the magazine

Geoffrey Hinton, a University Professor emeritus of computer science at the University of Toronto and the “godfather of AI”, has been ranked the most influential of 2023 by Toronto Life magazine.

After Hinton announced he was leaving his job at Google to warn the world about the existential threat of AI earlier this year, the magazine reports he received more than 1,000 interview requests about the future of the tech he helped create.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invited Hinton to dinner to discuss what Canada should do about AI and he fielded calls from the White House and 10 Downing Street.

“When he speaks, everyone pays attention,” writes Toronto Life, which also published an in-depth profile of Hinton.

Hinton was one of more than 15 �鶹��Ƶ alumni, faculty and community members that made the magazine’s annual list of movers and shakers.

Others include: Tiff Macklem, governor of the Bank of Canada and former dean of the Rotman School of Management; Ilya Sutskever, an alumnus and co-founder of OpenAI; Gregg Lintern, retiring Toronto chief planner and �鶹��Ƶ alumnus; Anita Anand, Treasury Board president and a professor in the Faculty of Law (on leave); James Maskalyk, an emergency doctor at St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health, and a faculty member in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine; Raquel Urtasun, CEO of self-driving truck startup Waabi and a professor of computer science; Leigh Chapman, Canada’s chief nursing officer and �鶹��Ƶ alumna; Sam Ibrahim, an entrepreneur and philanthropist who is a major supporter of �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough; and Carlo Fidani, a businessman, philanthropist and �鶹��Ƶ honorary degree-holder who has supported the Mississauga Academy of Medicine at �鶹��Ƶ Mississauga and whose Orlando Corporation has made a major investment in the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH).

Members of the �鶹��Ƶ community were also featured in the magazine’s list of rising stars, published in the same issue.

Read the full list in Toronto Life

�鶹��Ƶ breaks ground on state-of-the-art building for training health professionals in Scarborough

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 19:23:00 +0000

�鶹��Ƶ breaks ground on state-of-the-art building for training health professionals in Scarborough

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 11/06/2023 - 14:23

Cutline

A rendering of the SAMIH building's ground floor (image courtesy of Diamond Schmitt Architects and MVRDV)

Advancement Staff

Topic

Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health

David Palmer

Wisdom Tettey

Division of University Advancement

Health

Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing

Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy

Meric Gertler

Subheadline

A dynamic new facility will house the vital Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health – and help meet an urgent need for health professionals in the Eastern GTA

The University of Toronto has made history, breaking ground on a building that will house a much-needed new medical academy.

The first of its kind in Scarborough, the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH) will train physicians, nurse practitioners and other health-care professionals right in the region – to serve the region.

A recent $25-million gift from Orlando Corporation will support the construction of the building. SAMIH itself has received funding as part of the Government of Ontario’s plan to increase the number of health-care workers in the province.

“We are so grateful for the gift from the Orlando Corporation and the investment by the Ford Government, which have led us to this exciting day,” said �鶹��Ƶ President Meric Gertler. “This state-of-the-art building will enable �鶹��Ƶ to cultivate a bold new generation of health leaders who reflect the communities they serve.”

“We expect that the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health will attract many local students from Scarborough and the Eastern GTA,” said Wisdom Tettey, �鶹��Ƶ vice-president and principal of �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough. “These talented individuals will play an important role in meeting the health-care needs of under-served communities and helping to advance health equity.”

The purpose-built, five-storey building will occupy 144, 482 square feet and sit at the corner of Military Trail and Morningside Avenue – a prominent gateway to �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough, directly across from the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.

“This vibrant new hub for health education in Scarborough is critical to increasing access to health care,” said Patricia Houston, interim dean of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and interim vice-provost, relations with health-care institutions. “It will help provide equitable, integrated and compassionate care in the Eastern GTA – and, ultimately, it will help improve lives across the region.”

To support the vision for this new academy, the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and �鶹��Ƶ’s Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing will expand their training to �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough. Building on the university’s history of educating tens of thousands of health professionals – a legacy that extends back over a century – SAMIH will graduate approximately 40 physicians, approximately 60 physician assistants, 30 nurse practitioners and 40 physical therapists per year. More than 300 new health sciences students will join �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough’s campus, further strengthening SAMIH as a key hub for health education in the Eastern GTA. The newly revamped health sciences undergraduate program offers unique placement opportunities and paid co-ops, enabling students to learn in a close-knit campus setting.

This new generation of health-care professionals will help fill a serious gap, with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care having identified Scarborough as an area in high need of physicians. The shortage includes family doctors, as well as other specialists such as child and adult psychiatrists, geriatricians, nurse practitioners and emergency medical physicians.

“Our government is proud to support this historic medical school expansion,” said Premier Doug Ford. “The Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health will build on the investments we’re making to help ensure Scarborough and the Durham Region have the health care workers they need now and into the future.”

The impact on the region will be significant. Projected to open in September 2026, the building will include a clinical psychology clinic; a pharmacy clinic (Discovery Pharmacy) led by faculty and students from �鶹��Ƶ’s Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy; and clinical settings in which nurse practitioner students, under supervision, can provide direct care to the community. The building will also feature an anatomy lab for medical students, two large technology-enhanced active learning (TEAL) classrooms, a 21-bed clinical skills lab and 10 case-based learning instructional labs.

“A dynamic learning space can make all the difference in education – especially when attracting the best and brightest students,” said Anna Kennedy, chair of �鶹��Ƶ’s Governing Council. “This building is an example of one such space. We anticipate that many of the students who will fill its hallways will go on to become some of the region’s top health-care professionals.”

Construction began on the site in early fall 2023, with a ground blessing conducted by �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough’s Office of Indigenous Initiatives in October. Excavation is anticipated to start in January 2024. The project team includes the construction services company EllisDon and the architecture firms Diamond Schmitt and MVRDV.

The Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health will strengthen connections across numerous hospitals and networks. Its partners will include the Scarborough Health Network, Michael Garron Hospital, Lakeridge Health and Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences. �鶹��Ƶ will build upon existing relationships with local community partners to develop new research and teaching opportunities.

This dynamic hub will bring �鶹��Ƶ’s nurse practitioner program to the region. The program is highly sought after for its approach to providing personalized, holistic and high-quality health care to clients and patients across their lifespans.

“This incredible building will help foster a vital pipeline for nurse practitioners,” said Linda Johnston, dean of the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing. “Nurse practitioners play a critical role in the health of communities, and future graduates of the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health have the potential to make a huge difference in the lives of people in Scarborough and the Eastern GTA.”

Similarly, the Discovery Pharmacy at SAMIH will provide pharmacy services and interprofessional experiential learning opportunities for students in the Doctor of Pharmacy program. It will also help enhance connections with practising pharmacists in health networks in the surrounding area.

“As the scope of practice for pharmacists in Ontario continues to expand, finding new ways to collaborate across health professions is central to redefining health education and how we deliver health care” said Lisa Dolovich, dean of Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy.

The new building is poised to bring enormous benefits to the region. In addition to enabling the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health to meet the health-care professional shortage by creating a pool of talented graduates, the new facility will help drive innovation and economic growth.

“The Orlando Corporation’s benefaction stands as a model for visionary philanthropy,” said David Palmer, �鶹��Ƶ’s vice-president of advancement. “It’s a beacon of extraordinary generosity with the potential to inspire other transformative investments in Scarborough and the Eastern GTA.”

Historic $75-million gift from Orlando Corporation will strengthen health care and health education in Scarborough and the Eastern GTA

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 20:55:45 +0000

Historic $75-million gift from Orlando Corporation will strengthen health care and health education in Scarborough and the Eastern GTA

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 09/28/2022 - 16:55

Cutline

By supporting new facilities, this generous donation to Scarborough Health Network and �鶹��Ƶ will modernize Scarborough's hospitals, train the next generation of health-care professionals in the region and have a positive impact on community health.

Advancement Staff

Topic

Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health

Health

Meric Gertler

An unprecedented $75-million donation from Orlando Corporation aims to strengthen the ability of the Eastern GTA to provide world-class care for the community and train future health-care professionals.

With its gift, the company is investing $50 million in Scarborough Health Network’s (SHN) Birchmount Hospital, mental health needs and other urgent priorities, and $25 million in the University of Toronto’s Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH). This gift will advance the health needs of this dynamic region’s nearly 1.3 million residents.

Scarborough and the Eastern GTA is a vibrant, diverse region – but it is also rapidly growing and now faces a critical shortfall of family physicians, nurse practitioners and specialists, as well as aging health-care facilities. The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated these challenges, with the community seeing the second highest number of COVID-19 cases in the province.

“On behalf of the University of Toronto, I would like to express our profound gratitude to Orlando Corporation for this outstanding act of philanthropy,” said Meric Gertler, president of the University of Toronto. “Your leadership will make a major difference in the lives of people and communities in Scarborough and the Eastern GTA, strengthening health care and improving the quality of life for generations to come.”

“This donation is momentous for Scarborough Health Network, and is the largest gift in our history,” said SHN Foundation President and CEO Alicia Vandermeer. “We are incredibly grateful to Orlando Corporation for hearing the message of our Love, Scarborough campaign and investing in equitable health care for our diverse community. Their gift will support the Birchmount Hospital redevelopment, including expanding and innovating the emergency department, mental health care across the Network, and other urgent needs, allowing us to offer more care with fewer barriers.”

“Every resident in Scarborough and the Eastern GTA deserves to live a healthy life and to have access to excellent health care whenever they need it,” said Orlando Corporation President Blair Wolk. “The Scarborough Health Network and the University of Toronto are two institutions that can help make this goal a reality and we’re pleased to be able to support them."

The largest gift in the history of Scarborough Health Network

This $50-million gift from Orlando Corporation to Scarborough Health Network is the largest in SHN’s history and contributes to the Love, Scarborough campaign, which is focused on addressing health inequities and closing the gap between SHN’s world-class care and its aging hospital facilities. It will usher in a new era of equitable health care, helping to update and expand their hospitals to match the world-class care SHN provides. The gift will help redevelop the Birchmount Hospital to put it at the forefront of equitable, leading-edge patient care for the growing community, including the creation of the Orlando Corporation Emergency Department. It will also support the hospital’s most urgent needs, including removing barriers to mental health care, by creating the Orlando Corporation Mental Health Centre of Excellence across SHN.

Expansion of the Birchmount Hospital is the largest redevelopment in SHN history and will feature a new patient care tower. The new tower will be a dramatic expansion in Scarborough, meeting the growing demands of the community by significantly increasing the capacity for patient care. The Orlando Corporation Emergency Department will be part of SHN’s no-wait emergency department, placing a physician at the front of the house. This is a new face for Birchmount Hospital that will more than double the number of beds and ensure timely access to emergency care.

An architectural rendering of the Birchmount Hospital site, which will be home to the Orlando Corporation Emergency Department (rendering courtesy of DIALOG)

The new Orlando Corporation Mental Health Centre of Excellence at SHN will advance the health network’s mandate to focus on a recovery-oriented model of care by making possible critical improvements to infrastructure inside hospitals, which will in turn support programming needs in the community. This Centre of Excellence will position SHN as a leader in compassionate and culturally sensitive mental health care.

At an event celebrating the gift, the premier of Ontario delivered remarks thanking the Orlando Corporation for this generous gift and reiterated its importance to the people of Scarborough. Also in attendance were Jill Dunlop, Minister of Colleges and Universities, Sylvia Jones, Minister of Health and Vijay Thanigasalam, MPP for Scarborough Rouge-Park.

The Orlando donation builds on a commitment made by the Government of Ontario earlier this year to fund the expansion of medical education at the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health. The Government of Ontario committed an incredible $1.2 billion to support this redevelopment, along with other urgent priorities across SHN. Together with government partners and the backing of generous donors like Orlando Corporation, SHN will begin to transform the health experience for Scarborough and beyond.

A portion of Orlando Corporation’s $50-million gift to SHN is a pledge by Orlando to match, dollar for dollar, donations from the community. Of the generous gift, $15 million will be matched and support SHN’s areas of greatest need.

Supporting advanced health training at �鶹��Ƶ

Orlando Corporation’s $25-million donation to the University of Toronto will support the construction of a new building at �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough that will be equipped with the state-of-the-art facilities necessary for the Scarborough Academy’s advanced health training programs. In addition to increasing the number of doctors, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and physical therapists in Scarborough and the Eastern GTA, a health sciences hub of this size and quality will provide economic stimulus and professional employment in the region. This gift contributes to the university’s Defy Gravity campaign, which is the largest alumni engagement and fundraising effort in Canadian history and aims to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. To galvanize support for this vital new training hub, $10 million of the company’s $25-million gift to �鶹��Ƶ is a pledge to match donations from the community to support the construction of SAMIH.

An architectural rendering of the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (rendering courtesy of ooee studio)

The Temerty Faculty of Medicine at �鶹��Ƶ currently has four academies spread across the university’s St. George and Mississauga campuses, which leverage community relationships to address local health-care needs. The new Scarborough Academy will bring Temerty Medicine’s world-class expertise to �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough alongside that of �鶹��Ƶ’s Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing. SAMIH will work with Scarborough Health Network and four other local hospitals to train health professionals within the region.

SAMIH is expected to attract students from Scarborough and the Eastern GTA, including individuals who reflect the region’s diverse community, and will provide local professional clinical experience that will encourage them to establish their careers in the area.

The academy will leverage the university’s partnerships in the Eastern GTA as well as its long history of excellence in medical education and research, with its nursing and medical faculties both ranked among the top in the world. SAMIH will also feature a nurse-practitioner-led clinic as part of its training program – the only one of its kind in Canada. Led by the Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, the clinic will enable students to provide direct care while under supervision.

Building momentum for these important projects

The new Scarborough Academy will help the university realize its vision for up to 1,520 students per year in the life sciences, medicine, nursing and other health professional programs. SAMIH has also received funding as part of the government of Ontario’s plan to increase the number of doctors in the province, with support for 30 new medical school seats by 2025 and 45 new postgraduate speciality positions by 2027. The government has also confirmed a commitment of $19.8 million per year at steady state in operating costs for the academy. It is a key supporter of numerous priorities at Scarborough Health Network as well, and is making considerable investments in Centenary Hospital, General Hospital and the Birchmount redevelopment project.

Orlando Corporation is Canada’s largest privately owned industrial real estate developer. Founded 70 years ago, the company has given generously to numerous causes, particularly institutions dedicated to health care and health-sciences research. They have championed the health and well-being of people across the GTA, contributing immensely to the region’s global leadership in health care and the biomedical sciences.

The company’s gift will build significant momentum and inspire additional support for these important projects at �鶹��Ƶ and SHN, which are set to have a widespread impact on community health in Scarborough and the Eastern GTA.

To learn more about �鶹��Ƶ and SHN’s ambitious campaigns, visit defygravitycampaign.utoronto.ca and lovescarborough.ca.

Watch a report about the gift at CityNews

�鶹��Ƶ Scarborough and Scarborough Health Network deepen ties to advance health care in eastern GTA

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 13:23:59 +0000

�鶹��Ƶ Scarborough and Scarborough Health Network deepen ties to advance health care in eastern GTA

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 08/12/2022 - 09:23

Cutline

�鶹��Ƶ Scarborough and Scarborough Health Network are collaborating on an upcoming academy of medicine, along with other projects

Alexa Battler

Topic

Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health

When medical students complete their residencies, they’re not just getting real-world experience – they help keep doctors on their toes.

“Students ask great questions. They push us to know the evidence and remember things that perhaps we have long forgotten or took for granted,” says respirologist Sacha Bhinder, interim corporate chief of medicine at Scarborough Health Network and a lecturer in the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

“When we see that across the entire spectrum of health disciplines, it improves the knowledge base of the staff, physicians and allied health colleagues.”

That’s among the reasons �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough and Scarborough Health Network (SHN), a network of three hospitals and health-care sites across the eastern GTA, are collaborating on projects that seek to revitalize health care in Scarborough, strengthen medical research and training, and have a widespread positive impact on community health.

As part of that ongoing effort, SHN and �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough will co-host Shaping the Future of Care 2022, a conference bringing together academics, health-care professionals and community members in the eastern GTA. The two-day conference, which takes place on Nov. 25 and 26 at �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough’s Highland Hall, will cover information on the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH), ideas and innovations in health-care, and updates on work to establish Scarborough as a leader in health-care research and education. Specific topics include lessons from the pandemic, innovations in education, continuing medical education and medical science updates, integrated health, mental health and community health.

A rendering of the atrium in the upcoming Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH) at �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough.

SHN has long been an affiliated teaching site for �鶹��Ƶ’s department of family and community medicine and hosts residencies for medical students. �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough’s Highland Hall was also the location of a COVID-19 assessment centre and several vaccine pop-up clinics operated by SHN. The institutions are continuing to strengthen ties as Scarborough’s health-care system struggles to meet the region’s needs.

“This collaboration is an important opportunity at a crucial time for Scarborough,” says Irena Creed, vice-principal, research and innovation at �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough. “Developing stronger ties between the university and the hospital will help us come together to address some of the most pressing challenges facing the health-care system.”

Recent news about shortages of health-care professionals highlights the stress currently on the system, which SAMIH will help address. Supported by the SHN, the academy will graduate up to 30 physicians, 30 physician assistants and 30 nurse practitioners, as well as 40 physical therapists and 300 life sciences undergraduates every year. Many of those students may choose to complete their residencies in SHN hospitals and health-care sites.

“SAMIH will allow those who live in Scarborough to learn in Scarborough, to receive their degree and training in Scarborough, to practice in and support the very community that they represent. This will organically build a foundation of expertise in medical education and practice across health disciplines,” Bhinder says.

Bhinder adds that the collaboration will allow more students to interact with the diverse range of patients in Scarborough, adding that “it's a valuable collection of resources coming to a community that is hungry for those resources.”

The deepening relationship between �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough and SHN is also part of a larger goal: to create a health district in Scarborough, similar to downtown Toronto’s hospital district or Waterloo’s tech district. Such an area would rely on strong connections between institutions such as universities, health-care providers and community groups.

“A health district means institutions work closely together to understand and address the specific needs of the community, across teaching, research and innovations in health-care,” says Creed.

The need for a health district was an emerging theme at a day-long �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough event in March, which also saw advocates, researchers and health-care experts from the eastern GTA advocate for community-based solutions.

“Scarborough has always had a strong legacy of thought-leadership in healthcare,” says David Graham, SHN’s interim president and CEO. “That history is now getting recognized with an incredible conference that will mark this time of positive change and help propel us into a bright future as a hub for healthcare study and applied research.”

�鶹��Ƶ President Meric Gertler highlights university’s role in attracting and retaining talent at workforce summit

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 21:04:41 +0000

�鶹��Ƶ President Meric Gertler highlights university’s role in attracting and retaining talent at workforce summit

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 03/31/2022 - 17:04

Cutline

(Photo by Daria Perevezentsev)

Geoffrey Vendeville

Topic

Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health

Entrepreneurship

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Meric Gertler

Startups

The University of Toronto and other post-secondary institutions play a key role in fueling Canada’s economic prosperity and supporting a research and innovation ecosystem that prepares workers for the jobs of the future, �鶹��Ƶ President Meric Gertler said during a workforce summit this week.

He made the remarks at an event titled “Workforce Summit 2.0: Closing the Talent Gap” that was hosted by the Toronto Region Board of Trade.

The summit, which took place in-person and virtually, brought together senior leaders from business, academia and government – including Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Monte McNaughton, Ontario’s minister of labour, training and skills development – to discuss how to leverage strong local talent pools and tap into global talent to contribute to the success of the GTA’s economy.

Meric Gertler (photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

“Our knowledge economy is quietly the talk of North America,” President Gertler said, referring to a recent New York Times article that described Toronto’s meteoric rise as a tech hub.

Toronto now ranks third in North America – behind only Silicon Valley and New York City – when it comes to the number of tech workers, and its growth has outpaced all cities in the United States, according to data cited by the newspaper.

To take one recent example: Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. said Tuesday – the same day as the Toronto Region Board of Trade event – that it will launch an engineering hub in Toronto that’s expected to create up to 2,500 jobs over the next five years.

Premier Ford, who attended Meta’s announcement, said the company’s expansion in Toronto demonstrated the strength of the province’s workforce.

“There is no better place than Ontario to build the digital economy of tomorrow,” he said at the summit.

President Gertler, meanwhile, told summit attendees that universities are important talent pipelines that help draw tech giants – the likes of Meta, Uber and Google – to the region and that the presence of these “anchor companies” spurs further innovation and prosperity.

He cited Professor Raquel Urtasun’s self-driving technology start-up Waabi as a recent example. Urtasun, who previously headed Uber’s self-driving research and development lab in Toronto, launched Waabi in June of last year after the Uber division was sold to Aurora. The start-up raised more than $100 million in initial financing.

Cohere, another much-vaunted start-up that aims to embed natural language processing capabilities in business tools like chat bots, was co-founded by �鶹��Ƶ alumni who worked with �鶹��Ƶ University Professor Emeritus and deep learning pioneer Geoffrey Hinton at Google.

“Once here, these anchor companies have a profound impact on the evolution of the regional economy, often in surprising and unexpected ways that defy the conventional wisdom,” President Gertler said.

He also noted that Toronto is a major centre of health education, training and innovation, with the recent launch of the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH) at �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough marking the latest addition to the ecosystem.

“This partnership among the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, the Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing and local hospitals will leverage the exceptional talents of students in the eastern GTA to meet the urgent need for physicians and other health-care professionals in the area, and grow the pipeline of life science graduates,” he said.

With 95,000 students at �鶹��Ƶ, and more than half of its domestic undergraduates coming from households of modest means, President Gertler emphasized that universities not only contribute to regional prosperity, but also to social mobility and cohesion. �鶹��Ƶ plays a key role in ensuring that Toronto’s talent pipeline remains diverse and inclusive, and that the benefits of technology-led growth are widely shared, he said.

“Of course, excellence and inclusion are mutually reinforcing. Welcoming a diverse array of creative and talented people has been a vital part of successful regional clusters around the world, from London to Singapore to Silicon Valley,” he said.

“And we need to support both home-grown success stories and inbound investment from abroad to drive local prosperity. We need to ramp up both our production of well-educated graduates and immigration – both/and, not either/or.”

McNaughton, Ontario’s minister of labour, training and skills development, underlined the opportunity costs associated with a lack of skilled workers in certain sectors of the economy – particularly clean-tech and biotech.

“Unfilled jobs cost Ontario billions of dollars in lost productivity every single year. Worse, they can force companies to close or relocate, affecting local jobs and families,” he said.

Christopher Yip (photo by Roberta Baker)

During a panel discussion focused on strengthening talent pipelines, Christopher Yip, dean of �鶹��Ƶ’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, discussed initiatives that help students get on-the-job experience and an exposure to different fields. They include �鶹��Ƶ Engineering’s Professional Experience Year Co-Op Program, which he said has helped undergraduate students get a foot in the door at desirable employers such as Apple, Procter & Gamble and Tesla through 12- to 16-month placements.

“Right now, we’re seeing 92 per cent of our first years are now registered to do a Professional Experience Year,” Yip said.

He added that he’s also noticed more engineering graduates are interested in non-traditional career paths.

“What we’re seeing right now is our students, especially in engineering – they don’t want to be pushed into silos,” he said. “They want to get such a broad-based education, they want to get opportunities, work on multi-disciplinary teams and they want work opportunities that reflect that.”

To that end, �鶹��Ƶ Engineering offers a range of minors and certificates that give students the opportunity to explore other subjects, including music. Yip underlined his point by giving a shout-out to the Skule Stage Band, who he recently posted about on Instagram.

Yip said the university needs to work collaboratively with partners in other sectors to ensure the prosperity of the city and the province.

“From the university’s perspective, one of the key challenges and key opportunities for us is actually having the realization that we all work together in a full continuum,” he said.

“What’s really important is the diversity of ways that individuals, companies and government can all work with the university to build partnerships … to build and grow what’s important for Ontario.”

‘A historic moment’: Event marks official launch of Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 17:48:06 +0000

‘A historic moment’: Event marks official launch of Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 03/23/2022 - 13:48

Cutline

From left to right: Vijay Thanigasalam, Jill Dunlop, Wisdom Tettey, Raymond Cho, Prabmeet Sarkaria and Aris Babikian at the launch event for the new academy of medicine at �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough (photo by Ruilin Yuan)

Don Campbell

Topic

Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health

Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing

Wisdom Tettey