Welcome to the Emerging Pathogens & Infectious Diseases Consortium
Welcome to EPIC – the Emerging Pathogens and Infectious Diseases Consortium.
EPIC brings together researchers, clinicians, and institutions across the University of Toronto and its hospital partners to advance infectious disease research and build lasting resilience against emerging threats.
This work builds on a long legacy: EPIC partners have played an integral role in infectious disease research for a century, from work that helped control diphtheria and eradicate smallpox, to today’s front-line research in antimicrobial resistance and infection control. Our collective response to COVID-19, highly pathogenic avian influenza, and mpox makes clear there’s never been a more important time to advance that work, from emerging pathogens and antimicrobial resistance to health inequities and public trust.
Building on this momentum, EPIC marshals the advanced research infrastructure and world-renowned research and training expertise of our EPIC partners to deliver an integrated, innovative response to the infectious disease challenges facing communities today and in the future.
Seven EPIC research clusters
Antimicrobial Resistance
Protecting the effectiveness of the medicines we depend on.
Chronic Infections
Addressing the long-term burden of infections that don’t resolve.
Emerging Pathogens
Detecting and responding to new and re-emerging threats before they spread.
Health Inequities
Ensuring infectious disease research and response reach everyone, equitably.
Health Systems Resilience
Building health systems that bend, not break, under infectious threats.
Misinformation, Disinformation & Public Trust
Strengthening public trust through clear, credible information.
Sepsis & Acute Respiratory Distress
Improving detection and treatment when every minute counts.
EPIC News
Preparing for the next outbreak: Highlights from the 2026 EPIC Symposium
From left to right: Susy Hota, Elke Mühlberger, Daniel Warshafsky, Michelle Murti and Roger Paredes (Photo credit: Horst Herget). October 26, 2026 By Betty Zou On Friday, October 16, 2026, the Emerging Pathogens and Infectious Diseases Consortium hosted its fourth...
How worried should we be about plague? A U of T expert breaks it down.
A scanning electron microscope image shows Yersinia pestis bacteria (yellow cylinders) attached to structures inside a flea's gut (purple). Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). October 19, 2026 By Betty Zou In early October, a...
Introducing EPIC’s next chapter as the Emerging Pathogens and Infectious Diseases Consortium
September 28, 2026 By Megan Fleming EPIC has secured renewed five-year funding and with it, a new name, a broadened mandate, and an even closer working relationship with the Institute of Health Emergencies and Pandemics (IHEP). Launched in January 2022, EPIC was born...
