WHOCC - Who We Are

Director

Jillian Kohler
Professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto

Dr. Kohler’s research focuses on fair access to essential medicines with a particular focus on good governance and intellectual property rights. She pioneered the methodology on good governance in the pharmaceutical system for the World Bank, which was subsequently adopted by the WHO and has been applied in over 35 countries globally.

 

Fellows

Suzanne Cadarette
Associate Professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto

Dr. Cadarette’s primary research interests are in pharmacoepidemiology, health services research and pharmacy practice; with focus in the areas of osteoporosis and fracture prevention. 

Erica Di Ruggiero
Director, Office of Global Public Health Education & Training, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Dr. Ruggiero’s research examines how evidence affects global policy agendas related to employment, other determinants, and health equity in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. Dr. Ruggiero also studies population health interventions (policies, programs), using novel conceptual and methodological tools to conduct international comparative policy research on global social and health inequities.

Lisa Forman
Associate Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Dr. Forman’s research focuses on the right to health in international human rights law, Sustainable Development Goals, universal health coverage, trade-related intellectual property rights and access to medicines globally, HIV/AIDS treatment, and South African constitutional law related to health. 

Marc-Andre Gagnon
Associate Professor, School of Public Policy and Administration, Carleton University

Dr. Gagnon’s empirical research focuses on the political economy of the pharmaceutical sector: business models, innovation policies, corporate influence over medical practices, health and drug insurance regimes. 

Paul Grootendorst (Executive Committee)
Associate Professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto

Paul Grootendorst’s research interest is in the effects of changes in the financing of health care and remuneration of health care providers on the behaviour of consumers and producers in the health care system, with special interest in pharmaceutical insurance/subsidy policy. 

Quinn Grundy
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto and Honorary Senior Lecturer, School of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney

Dr. Grundy’s research explores the commercial determinants of health and their impact on the delivery of health services, health evidence, and consumer health information.

Trudo Lemmens
Professor and Scholl Chair in Health Law and Policy, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto and Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Dr. Lemmens’ research focuses on the interaction between law, governance tools, and ethical norms and values in the context of health care, biomedical research, pharmaceutical and other health product development, and knowledge production.

Joel Lexchin (Executive Committee)
Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

Dr. Lexchin has authored/co-authored and published over 200 peer-reviewed papers on a wide range of topics over the last 30 years, including: drug regulation, pharmacosurveillance, drug promotion, research and development, access to medications in developing countries and physician prescribing behaviour. He has consulted on these and other issues to the Ontario provincial government, parts of the Canadian federal government, the government of New Zealand, the Australian National Prescribing Service and the World Health Organization.

Anita McGahan
University Professor, George E. Connell Chair of Organizations & Society, Rotman School of Management, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Faculty of Medicine, and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Dr. McGahan’s research is focused on private entrepreneurship in the public interest, especially in pharmaceuticals.   An area of particular interest is in global health and the diffusion of knowledge across international boundaries.  She is recognized for her work on industry change, sustainable competitive advantage, and the establishment of new fields.   

Tim Mackey (Executive Committee)
Director, Global Health Policy Institute and Associate Professor, UC San Diego, School of Medicine, Director, Healthcare Research and Policy – UCSD Extension

Dr. Mackey’s work focuses on a broad array of multidisciplinary topics in domestic and global public health. This includes cross-cutting research in disciplines of public health, medicine, international relations, public policy, law, innovation, substance abuse, eHealth, crime, and global governance. He has extensive professional experience including consulting for the World Health Organization, the US Department of State and others.

Kathy Moscou (Executive Committee)
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, Brock University

Kathy Moscou holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Global Health from the University of Toronto, Master of Public Health in International Health, and Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy at the University of Washington.  She is a licensed pharmacist in Ontario, Canada and Washington State, USA. Her research of pharmacogovernance investigates the relationship between global institutions, state actors, and national health policy for postmarket drug safety (pharmacovigilance). Her research also focuses on comparative health policy and models of governance that address equity in drug safety and fosters healthy communities.

Katrina Perehudoff
Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Faculty of Law, University of Amsterdam

Katrina Perehudoff, MSc LLM PhD, is a health scientist and legal scholar with over a decade of experience in pharmaceutical policy. She manages the Strategic Institutional Partnership between Ghent University and the University of Toronto, and completed post doctoral training at the International Centre for Reproductive Health- a WHO Collaborating Centre for Research on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Ghent University (Belgium), and at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

Nav Persaud
Scientist, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Toronto, ON

Dr. Persaud’s research focuses on enhancing the ability of primary care to address health inequities through the development and application of high quality evidence. 

Sheryl Spithoff
Assistant professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto; Staff physician, Women's College Hospital

Dr. Sheryl Spithoff is a clinician investigator at Women’s College Hospital and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. Her areas of research include access to care for people who use substances and the impact of commercial interests on health and the healthcare system. She has grants from the Social Science and Humanities Council of Canada and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada to explore the commercialization of health data in Canada. 

Mina Tadrous
Assistant Professor Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto; Scientist at Women’s College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care; Investigator with the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network; and Adjunct Scientist at ICES

Dr. Tadrous is an assistant professor at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto, a scientist at Women’s College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care (WIHV), pharmacoepidemiologist and pharmacist. He is also an investigator with the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network (ODPRN) and ICES adjunct scientist. Mina’s research interests lie in developing real-world evidence to inform pharmaceutical policy and the post-marketing surveillance of medications. He has a keen interest in leveraging big data to answer important healthcare questions. One major component of Mina’s work has been to better describe and monitor the global drug supply chain using available data.

Alison Thompson
Associate Professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto

Alison Thompson is an Associate Professor in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and Dalla Lana School of Public Health and a member of the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics. Her background is in philosophy (BA Hons and MA) and sociology of health (PhD).  Her interdisciplinary research is located at the intersection of philosophy and critical sociology, within the field of public health ethics. Her program focuses on social and ethical issues to do with the use of pharmaceuticals, particularly those used to treat infectious diseases. This includes looking at the ethical issues that arise in the context of the use of pharmaceuticals in the real-world context, as opposed to in the context of clinical trials. She has developed an ethical framework for policy decision-making in the context of post-market drug safety and effectiveness policy, and worked developing a notion of drug “effectiveness” for public health that includes social and ethical considerations.

Taryn Vian
Professor and Statewide MPH Director, University of San Francisco

Dr. Vian has conducted health sector corruption risk assessments in 9 countries working with WHO, UNDP, USAID and the Council of Europe. She advised the WHO on how to assist Member States in introducing anti-corruption, transparency, and accountability approaches to strengthening health systems. She is Guest Editor of the Special Issue of the journal Global Health Action on ACTA and Health (January 2020), and has authored over 125 articles, book chapters and other publications on transparency, governance, and health systems. Dr. Vian has a PhD in Public Policy and Global Health from Boston University, MS in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, and BA in Philosophy from Colgate University.

WHO Responsible Officer

Dierdre Dimancesco
Department of Health Policy and Standards, Division of Medicines, Vaccines and Health Products