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
From our bodies to the air and muskox in the Arctic, microbes are everywhere: A recap of the 2026 U of T Microbiology & Infectious Disease Research Days
Clockwise from top left: Trainee flash talk presenters, Sarah Haines, Dylan Kain, trainees discussing a poster and Susan Kutz delivering her keynote presentation. 12 June 2026 By Aideen Teeling On May 27th and 28th, the Emerging & Pandemic Infections...
First in her family, forging her own path in research
Kuganya Nirmalarajah at her convocation ceremony 9 June 2026 By Eva Schaessens This story was originally published on the Institute of Health Emergencies and Pandemics (IHEP) website. This June, thousands of University of Toronto (U of T) students will cross the...
“A particularly difficult Ebola outbreak”: U of T expert on the current outbreak, global preparedness and Canada’s readiness to respond
Ebola virus particles (red) budding from an infected host cell. (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) 2 June 2026 By Betty Zou On May 17, 2026, the World Health Organization declared the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo a...
