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EPIC will improve lives and ensure Canada and the world will defeat future global health challenges 

Welcome to EPIC – The Emerging and Pandemic Infections Consortium.

EPIC Partners play an integral role in infectious disease research, from work that controlled diphtheria and helped eradicate smallpox 100 years ago, to current research in antimicrobial resistance and infection control. 

Today, our collective fight against COVID-19 makes clear that there’s never been a more important time to launch EPIC – the Emerging and Pandemic Infections Consortium as a critical hub in the pan-Canadian effort to combat future pandemics.  

Building on our momentum in combatting the SARS-CoV-2 virus, EPIC will marshal the advanced research infrastructure and the world-renowned research and training expertise of the EPIC Partners to allow an integrated innovative response to infectious diseases.

 

      EPIC is a collaborative initiative among:

      • University of Toronto
      • Hospital for Sick Children 
      • Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute
      • Sunnybrook Research Institute
      • University Health Network
      • Unity Health Toronto

      These globally-leading institutions will make a difference to preventing the next pandemic. 

      Our Mission

      These are the four pillars of EPIC’s work

      Toronto Infectious Diseases Laboratories

      Toronto’s only Combined Containment Level 3 (C-CL3) facility for the study of high-risk human pathogens has been critical to understanding the viral pathogens and developing therapeutics and treatments.  Infectious diseases continue to pose a threat to Canadians’ health and prosperity. Investments in the facility are needed to arrest these threats and prepare for future pandemics.

      Training & Talent

      EPIC will offer immersive and cross-disciplinary training to a diverse cohort of talent in infectious diseases. Hundreds of researchers, clinicians and lab staff will gain access to leading-edge technologies, develop the skills to turn discovery into solutions, and connect Canada to global networks of pandemic surveillance and response.   

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      Transformative Research

      EPIC will connect multiple disciplines to address infectious diseases. Insights made possible by state-of-the-art platforms that accelerate the discovery and production of therapies will combine with the expertise of clinicians, engineers, public health experts  and scientists to translate treatments to patients and improve their outcomes.  

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      Knowledge Translation

      EPIC will play an important role as a knowledge broker. It will create a hub for potential commercialization of novel therapeutics. New researchers at EPIC will be equipped to explain bench science to decision-makers and the public, as well as to translate discoveries into made-in-Canada products and solutions  to global health challenges.   

      84 weeks

      Estimated number of weeks required to clear surgery backlogs in Ontario.

      Source

      %

      Six out of 10 deaths in lower-income countries are due to communicable diseases.

      Source

      $26B

      Amount (in Billions) that Canada’s federal government is targeting for health and biosciences exports by 2025.

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      EPIC News

      In the next pandemic, Canada will be prepared

      In the next pandemic, Canada will be prepared

      The Toronto Infectious Diseases Laboratories (TIDL), housed at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, is equipped to safely study pathogens that cause infectious disease, and was among the first labs in Canada to enable researchers to work with SaRS-CoV-2 samples.

      While similar facilities elsewhere had closed after the 2003 SARS outbreak, the U of T lab remained open – supporting a vast research community including academic, hospital and industrial research needs – and was able to make a significant contribution to understanding and addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.

      Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne visited the Toronto Infectious Diseases Labs in November 2021

      In the next pandemic, Canada will be prepared

      The Toronto Infectious Diseases Laboratories (TIDL), housed at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, is equipped to safely study pathogens that cause infectious disease, and was among the first labs in Canada to enable researchers to work with SaRS-CoV-2 samples.

      While similar facilities elsewhere had closed after the 2003 SARS outbreak, the U of T lab remained open – supporting a vast research community including academic, hospital and industrial research needs – and was able to make a significant contribution to understanding and addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.

      AI deployed in search for antiviral drugs

      Originally published on University of Toronto By Paul Fraumeni n an age of COVID-19, the phrase “business as usual” has nearly lost all meaning for Canadians who have seen their lives disrupted in myriad ways. That includes...