Our second annual EPIC Symposium is back on October 17th, at the Toronto Reference Library. This full day event brings together Toronto’s infectious diseases research community and some of the world’s foremost experts to meet, network and discuss important topics related to infectious diseases and global health. The symposium features talks by nationally and internationally renowned infectious diseases researchers from both within our community and the global community.
Our keynote speakers include:
- Inger Damon (Emory University, USA). Dr. Damon is the retired director of the Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology (DHCPP) at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and a leading expert on orthopoxviruses, including Mpox and smallpox.
- Senjuti Saha (Child Health Research Foundation (CHRF), Bangladesh). Dr. Saha is the deputy executive director of CHRF, and her work includes discovering the role of chikungunya virus in causing pediatric meningitis.
- Kanta Subarrao (Université Laval, Canada). Dr. Subbarao is a Canada Excellence Research Chair for Biology and Control of Zoonotic and Pandemic Respiratory Viruses at Laval University. Previously, she was the chief of the Emerging Respiratory Viruses Section of the NIAID Laboratory of Infectious Diseases at NIH. She is a virologist who’s worked on vaccine development for emerging viruses, such as influenza viruses, and coronaviruses.
Join us and the three keynote speakers for an insightful panel discussion, chaired by Don Sheppard with the Public Health Agency of Canada, where they will discuss strategies to engage globally while developing effective responses to infectious threats.
The symposium features talks given by EPIC faculty including:
- Andrew Pinto (St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto). Dr. Pinto is a clinical researcher and, director of Upstream Lab, MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions.
- Nicole Weckman (University of Toronto, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering). Dr. Weckman is a Paul Cadario Chair in Global Engineering, and her research focuses on developing the next-generation of point-of-care technologies for diagnosing diseases and monitoring outbreaks of drug-resistant infections.
- Michael Norris (University of Toronto, Temerty Faculty of Medicine). Dr. Norris is an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry, and his research focuses on the structure and molecular assembly of deadly RNA viruses such as paramyxoviruses.
In addition to the keynote and faculty talks, selected trainees will present their achievements in the lightning round. New this year, trainees will interact with the keynote speakers and panel chair over lunch. We have only a few spots left. If you would like reserve a spot at the table, register using this link.
Lastly, we have a networking session open to all the attendees at the end of the symposium.
For the program agenda at a glance, please click on the link: 2024 EPIC Symposium agenda
The event is free to attend for anyone who has a primary affiliation at one of EPIC’s partner institutes (The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Unity Health Toronto, University Health Network and University of Toronto). Register now to reserve your spot!