Associate or Full Professor – Term Research Chair in Anti-Racism and Health Equity

Date Posted: 10/30/2024

Closing Date: 12/31/2024, 11:59PM ET

Req ID: 40347

Job Category: Faculty – Clinical

Faculty/Division: Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Department: Dept of Medicine

Hospital Affiliation: Unity Health Toronto – St. Michael’s

Campus: St. George (Downtown Toronto)

Description:

Racism is a key driver of inequitable health outcomes for Canadians. Racialized people access the health system at a lower rate, from primary care to specialized acute care. Racialized people also generally have a worse experience than their white counterparts in healthcare institutions, including hospitals, where many do not feel safe and tend to receive lower quality of care. Inequitable health care contributes to racialized members of our society having a lower life expectancy and worse quality of life.

Eliminating racism and reducing health inequities requires a combination of innovative solutions, challenging the status quo of our systems, and dismantling of structures of oppression/privilege. These changes will need to address the social determinants of health at multiple levels: transforming clinical care for individuals and families, bringing population health thinking into how health organizations function, collaborating with other sectors to intervene at the community level on factors like the built environment and access to care, and influencing policy to tackle systemic racism. This area of work exists at the interface between healthcare, public health, and public policy.

At Unity Health Toronto, the soon to be launched Centre for Anti-Racism and Health Equity’s vision is a world with no health inequities caused by historical or ongoing racism. The Centre will build upon and expand the demonstrated commitment of St. Michael’s Hospital and Unity Health Toronto to health equity and position our hospital as a living lab where care, research, education and training, people and partnerships function in tandem to dismantle barriers to healthcare for racialized people.

While health disparities have been extensively documented in countries with racially diverse populations, there is paucity of research about determinants of health disparities and the effectiveness of interventions designed to reduce these disparities. Furthermore there is also an acute need for more research on how to successfully implement and scale strategies and interventions to improve health outcomes for racialized groups in Canada. Consequently, researchers, policy makers, and health care providers experience significant challenges and barriers to developing strategies to mitigate the effect of discrimination and bias on health outcomes in racialized communities.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

The Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and Unity Health Toronto – St. Michael’s Hospital are seeking applications for the BMO Chair in Anti-Racism and Health Equity at the St. Michael’s Hospital site of Unity Health Toronto. The successful candidate must be eligible to hold a Scientist research appointment at Unity Health Toronto, and be eligible to hold an Associate or Full Professor academic appointment at the University of Toronto. This Chair is a five-year term, with the opportunity to renew once, provided funding is available. The tentative start date of this appointment is April 1, 2025 (negotiable).

The Chair holder is expected to lead a world-class program of impactful research and innovation that is focused on addressing anti-Black racism/racism and the influence of social determinants of health. Success of this program will be measured by its effectiveness in contributing meaningfully to improving the health and well-being of people belonging to systemically marginalized groups and providing significant contribution to Unity Health’s goals towards being a leader in health equity. The research program of the Chair should also impact health systems across Canada and internationally, through extensive knowledge translation and dissemination activities. The Chair will work closely with the Director of Anti-Racism, Equity and Social Accountability in the hospital, to ensure that work is implemented across Unity Health through the Centre for Anti-Racism and Health Equity. The Chair will have the opportunity to join St. Michael’s Hospital’s MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, Canada’s largest research centre focused on health equity and the social determinants of health. MAP develops and implements real-world, evidence-driven program and policy solutions that disrupt cycles of socioeconomic exclusion and poor health.

Qualities of the ideal candidate include:

• MD, PhD or equivalent, with graduate training in a relevant field (e.g. public health, health policy, health services research).
• Academic rank of Associate Professor (or eligible for appointment at this level) or higher at a recognized research institution
• A record of excellence in scientific productivity, which would likely include a strong publication record and impactful knowledge translation activities. We recognize the importance of research focused on action to address inequities and community partnerships, which may lead to fewer academic publications but higher impact of the research.
• A history of success with obtaining external peer-reviewed funding over the past 5 years, as both Nominated Principal Investigator (NPI) and co-PI. Funding can be from local, provincial, federal or private funding sources, but funding from the Canadian Tri-Agencies (CIHR/SSHRC/NSERC) or equivalent (eg. NIH) would be preferred.
• Experience in supervising and mentoring graduate students, post-doc fellows and other trainees
• Demonstrated knowledge and lived experience of health challenges facing Black, Indigenous, and racialized Canadians.
• Demonstrated experience with the design and evaluation of interventions to address anti-Black racism/ racism, taking into account the social determinants of health at multiple levels.
• An established track record of research leadership, including in establishing collaborative and impactful interdisciplinary teams, including knowledge users, health professionals and community partners.
• Established relationships and partnerships with racialized communities and non-profit/ community-based organizations.
• Proven ability to work with healthcare organizations.
• Excellent ability to communicate with various academic, policymaker and public audiences.

The key accountabilities of the Chair holder will include:

• Develop and sustain a world-class program of high-impact research that is focused on eliminating anti-Black racism/racism and reducing inequities to improve the health and wellbeing of our patients, populations, and communities.
• Co-lead the Centre for Anti-Racism and Health Equity with a Director, whereby the Director will oversee aspects of the work that are directly tied to hospital operations, and the Chair holder will lead research efforts. Together they will co-develop goals, objectives and evaluation plans to ensure implementation of research and impact on our patients and communities.
• Initiate strong research collaborations that include local, national and international partners.
• Engage with local, national and international policymakers through knowledge translation and dissemination activities.
• Build research capacity at Unity Health Toronto, including through supporting graduate students, mentoring junior investigators and engaging other members of the health care team in research.
• Engage patients and communities in research aligned with Unity Health Toronto efforts
• Provide annual lectures and presentations on their research both within Unity Health and at relevant local, national, and international forums/conferences.
• Work with the Hospital Foundations to support their fundraising efforts in this area.

The Chair will provide $200,000/year for 5 years, which will be used to offset the salary support of the incumbent. Any remaining funds may be used to support the academic activities of the incumbent, which may include research operations and education events.

Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, a 2-page outline of their academic program (including research productivity, training activities and academic prominence), and contact information for 3 referees, as indicated below. Applications are also asked to apply via the Unity Health Careers site: https://unityhealth.to/get-involved/work-at-unity-health/employment-opportunities/

Applications must be sent via email by December 31, 2024 to:

Dr. Ori D. Rotstein, MD

Vice President, Research & Innovation,

Unity Health Toronto

Ori.Rotstein@unityhealth.to and copied to:

Elizabeth Huggins, Faculty Office Specialist

Elizabeth.Huggins@unityhealth.to

CAUTION: This ad is “posted only” to the U of T affiliated hospital job board. Please see the information directly above for the application instructions; applications submitted via the “Apply Now” button on this page will NOT be considered for this position.

The St. Michael’s Hospital research enterprise strives to achieve equity and fairness within our community.

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