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
U of T’s Karen Maxwell named Peter Gilgan Canada Gairdner Momentum Award Laureate
Karen Maxwell (Photo by Erin Howe) 1 April 2026 By Erin Howe This story was originally published on the Temerty Faculty of Medicine News website. University of Toronto Professor and member of the Emerging & Pandemic Infections Consortium Karen Maxwell has been...
Gerry, Fred, Steve and a snowstorm tackle antimicrobial resistance: Contest winners explain superbugs to 6-year-olds
From Left: Cianne Coutinho, Md Ramim Tanver Rahman, Blair Reid and Paige Vowels 31 March 2026 By Aideen Teeling From googly-eyed germs and Minecraft heroes to bacteria braving antibiotic snowstorms, university students across Canada got creative in explaining a...
“Right people, right place, right time”: How an EPIC collaboration shaped the mpox research response in Canada
Evidence of cytopathic effect in Vero cells after incubation for 6 days following infection with mpox virus (Courtesy of Rob Kozak). 31 March 2026 By Aideen Teeling Darrell Tan remembers diagnosing the first-ever case of mpox in Ontario in May 2022. Based on reports...
