In this week's episode, Megan Lowe interviews Aaron Lewis. Aaron Lewis is a 2nd-year medical student studying at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, at Western University. He has been a practicing Registered Practical Nurse (RPN) since 2015 and went into Medicine after attaining a bachelor’s and an MSc from Wilfrid Laurier University. Originally from a rural Newfoundland fishing village, of 200 people, he moved to a rural Ontario farming community on the shore of Lake Huron at 10 years old. In his spare time, he enjoys hobby goat farming, homebrewing beer, and indulging in the culinary arts in his kitchen. Aaron advocates for better rural healthcare in his work with the Gateway Center for Excellence in Rural Health, and the Schulich rural medicine outreach club (RMOC). He also advocates for medical student wellness as the current class president of the Schulich Meds2025 class.

In this week's episode, Katherine Lu and Marian Saab interviews Dr. Shelly Bolotin. Dr. Shelly Bolotin is the Director of the Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases (CVPD), and an Associate Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, at the University of Toronto. She is also a scientist at Public Health Ontario.

Dr. Bolotin received a BSc in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University, an MSc in virology and PhD in microbiology at the University of Toronto, and an MSc in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In addition to working in Academia, Dr. Bolotin has worked in public health at the provincial and national levels, focusing on surveillance and public health emergency response.

Dr. Bolotin’s research program utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach to evaluate whether our population is adequately protected from vaccine-preventable diseases. Applying a public health lens, her studies combine epidemiological and microbiological methods to answer questions related to population immunity and vaccine effectiveness, and determine our future risk for outbreaks or epidemics.

Find out more about CVPD by joining their mailing list for information about events: https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/institutes/centre-for-vaccine-preventable-diseases/

In this week's exciting episode, Megan Lowe interviews Dr. Suzanne L. Stewart to discuss Indigenous Health during the COVID-19 pandemic and share her research on homelessness and mental health within the Indigenous community. Dr. Stewart is a member of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. She is a registered psychologist and Director of the Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto (UofT), where she is an Associate Professor in the Division of Social and Behaviour Health Sciences. She holds the TC Energy Research Chair in Indigenous Health. At UofT she is the current Advisor on Indigenous Research to Division of the Vice-President & Provost. She recently completed the Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Homelessness and Life Transitions. Research and teaching interests include Indigenous health and healing in psychology (homelessness, youth mental health, identity, and work-life development), Indigenous determinants of health, Indigenous pedagogies in higher education and health sciences, and Indigenous research ethics and methodologies. She is committed to advancing Indigenous healing issues in academics, health practice, and policy.

This week, Zeesy Powers interviews Jacqueline Buckley (she/her). Jackie is the One Health Research Coordinator at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. She has worked in South Africa on wild and domestic animal health and in South America to aid in the plight of the cotton-top tamarins. At Tufts, her main projects focused on the anthropogenic introduction of anticoagulant rodenticides to non-target species, like fishers in the state of Vermont, and using GIS to track changes in red tide in the state of Florida from 2008–2018. Jackie is excited to collaborate with the Urban Wildlife Institute, a scientific institution that complements her personal and professional goals. She believes it is crucial to inspire stakeholders and public officials to appreciate the importance of animals and our ecosystems as they relate to human health.

This week, Zeesy Powers interviews Dr. Kaylee Byers (she/her; @kaylee_byers). Dr. Byers is a One Health scientist and health communications researcher investigating innovative ways to improve the health of people, wildlife, and ecosystems. She is the Deputy Director of the British Columbia Node of the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative and a University Research Associate at Simon Fraser University. For the past decade she has been an active science communicator, co-founding the science seminar series Nerd Nite Vancouver and its spin-off podcast Nerdin’ About. When she isn’t thinking about or talking about science, you can find her paddle boarding, knitting in a hammock, or brainstorming her next pun.

This week, Stephen Park and Janine Xu interview Dr. Xiaolin Wei. Dr. Wei is a physician and public health professional with a wide array of research interests ranging from health services delivery to antimicrobial resistance. He is the founder and director of the Global Implementation Science Lab and is a professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto.

This week, Janine Xu interviews Nat Kaminski (she/her/they/them), a Harm Reduction Outreach Coordinator at Moyo Health & Community Services. They sit on various committees and coalitions such as the Canadian Association of People who Use Drugs. They are a research assistant with Dr. Carol Strike at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health working on projects related to harm reduction.

In our most recently published podcast, Zeesy Powers interviews Sanbula Zaidi and Raul Alvarez on sexually transmitted infections and stigma. Sanbul and Raul currently work as a Sexual Health Counsellor at Hassle Free Clinic in downtown Toronto.

Sanbula Zaidi has been volunteering and working within sexual and reproductive health for nearly ten years. She currently works as a Sexual Health Counsellor at Hassle Free Clinic in downtown Toronto. Her role involves prevention, treatment, counselling, education and empowered decision-making around the diverse spectrum of sexual health.

Raul has a background in Medicine and over ten years of experience in the healthcare sector. He moved to Canada from Venezuela in 2014. Raul has been working as a sexual health counsellor at the Hassle Free Clinic for the past five years, providing HIV and STI testing and counselling to men who have sex with men and other priority populations. He brings a people-first approach to everything he does in and out of work. He is passionate about supporting folks in the LGBTQ2+ community while collaborating, developing and fostering relationships with other health care providers and stakeholders.

This week, Lauren Tailor interviews Dr. Malika Sharma on how COVID-19 has further exacerbated inequities. Dr. Malika Sharma is an infectious diseases specialist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She is also an infectious diseases physician and clinician teacher at St, Michael’s Hospital and has been involved in the care of some of Toronto’s most marginalized communities, including people living with HIV and those who use IV drugs. Dr. Sharma’s area of interest include critical theory and the intersection of feminist, post-colonial and anti-racist theories with medical education. Find Dr. Sharma on Twitter @MalikaHSharma.

This week, Lauren Tailor interviews Dr. Ifeanyi Nsofor on an extremely important and relevant topic: global vaccine equity. Dr. Nsofor is a global health thought leader with more than 90 opinion pieces written (33 specifically on COVID-19). He has been interviewed by top news outlets such as BBC, Al Jazeera, Channel News Asia, Forbes etc. Ifeanyi is a graduate of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Nnamdi Azikiwe University School of Medicine. He is a leading voice in decolonization of global health, global health equity, health security, universal health coverage, digital health, and health research. For more than 22 years since graduating as a medical doctor, he has worked in government, international non-profit organizations, indigenous non-profit health organizations and the private health sector. He is involved in launching two successful health start-ups (Nigeria Health Watch and EpiAFRIC). Ifeanyi is a Senior New Voices Fellow at the Aspen Institute and Senior Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity at George Washington University. Ifeanyi is a coronavirus top 100 healthcare professional globally in 2020 by Onalytica. He is also among the top 100 most influential Africans of 2020 by NewAfrican magazine. He is a two-time TEDx Speaker. Ifeanyi is married to Omegie. They have two daughters - Yagazie and Chimamanda and a 12-year-old dog Simba. Find Dr. Nsofor on Twitter @ekemma, Instagram @healthevangelist and LinkedIn: Ifeanyi Nsofor.

This episode was conducted and edited by Lauren Tailor, a Master of Public Health student at the University of Toronto.

Infectious Info is brought to you by the Infectious Disease Working Group, a collaboration of graduate students from the University of Toronto that aims to educate the public and raise awareness about infectious disease. Through this podcast we will interview experts from the field of public health to help support the ultimate goal of making public health knowledge more accessible. During our first season of the podcast, the focus will be the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In discussing these topics with a variety of professionals with different areas of expertise, we aim to bring diverse perspectives together to promote the exchange of factual and relevant information on this topic. Follow @infectiousinfo on Instagram and Twitter for accurate up-to-date COVID-19 information.