This September, U of T is set to open the largest public health school in Canada. The Dalla Lana School of Public Health will be geared towards researching epidemics such as avian flu, and studying health care systems, both domestic and international. The school is named after Paul Dalla Lana, who gave $20 million to fund research chairs and scholarships.
The university has recruited Canadian epidemiologist Jack Mandel back from the U.S. to head the new school. The Winnipeg native is returning from a similar position at Emory University in Atlanta.
“My goal is within five years we’re a destination university for public health […] among top schools in the world,” said Mandel.
The new school is to be housed within the Faculty of Medicine and will build upon its existing department of public health sciences, as well as collaborate with other faculties like nursing, dentistry, and law. Prevention of infectious diseases and better communication between researchers are among the school’s goals, as U of T looks to grow as an internationally competitive research university.
Paul Cantin, director of communications for the Faculty of Medicine, said the “significant increase” in the number of students and faculty studying public health is imperative for the university to be recognized as a global establishment.
The new grad school was unveiled in an April 30 press conference, soon after U of T president David Naylor announced his long-term intentions of boosting graduate studies and decreasing undergrad spots.
Naylor argued that cutting the number of undergrad students would improve the faculty-to-student ratio. “We believe we can be better at undergraduate education on the St. George campus if we just reduce the numbers,” he told the Globe & Mail.
While UTM and UTSC will see an increase in undergrad enrolment, the St. George campus will lose spots by a greater number. Graduate enrolment is set to grow at all three campuses.
