Administrative Assistant: Shari Gruman
Phone: 416-480-4751
Email: shari.gruman@sunnybrook.ca

Education:

• BA (Hons), 1982, Philosophy, University of Winnipeg, Canada
• MA, 1983, Philosophy, Queen's University, Canada
• MD, 1986, McMaster University, Canada
• M.Sc., 1997, Epidemiology, University of Toronto, Canada
• Fellow, 1997, Community Medicine and Public Health, University of Toronto, Canada

Appointments and Affiliations:

• Associate scientist, clinical epidemiology - brain sciences program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
• Director, Joint Centre for Bioethics, University of Toronto
• Staff physician, department of family and community medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
• Associate professor, dpartments of family and community medicine and public health sciences, University of Toronto
• Adjunct scientist, Institute of Clinical Evaluative Sciences
• Affiliate, Institute of the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, University of Toronto
• Member, Centre for Environment, University of Toronto
• Adjunct associate professor, School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University
• Associate member, Institute of Environment and Health, McMaster University
• Member, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
• Member, College of Family Physicians of Canada
• Canada Research Chair in Primary Care Research, Tier 2

Research Foci:

• The concept of evidence in health care, medical epistemology, clinical reasoning and public health ethics
• Ethics and health information
• Empirical approaches in bioethics
• Primary care research methods
• Time series applications in health services research, communicable disease, environmental epidemiology

Research Summary:

Dr. Upshur has over 200 publications spanning his diverse research interests, including more than 100 peer-reviewed publications. At the University of Toronto, he designed and taught courses for graduate, postgraduate and undergraduate curriculum in ethics, epidemiology and the philosophy of medicine. He has supervised and co-supervised over 70 graduate and postgraduate research students. He is a clinical supervisor in the postgraduate family medicine residency program, having been core supervisor for 14 postgraduate trainees.

Dr. Upshur has been active on advisory boards for the International Joint Commission, Doctors Without Borders, Scidev.net, and several medical journals. He has consulted with the World Health Organization and the Grand Challenges in Global Health. In 2008, he was named Academic Family Physician of the Year and Researcher of the Year by the department of family and community medicine, University of Toronto, and received the John Hastings Award for excellence in service from the department of public health sciences.

Selected Publications:

See current publications list at PubMed.

1. Upshur REG, Lavery JV, Tindana PO. Taking tissue seriously means taking communities seriously. BioMedCentral Medical Ethics 2007; 8: 11.
2. Jaakkimainen L, Upshur REG, Schultz SE, Maaten S, eds. Primary Care in Ontario. ICES Atlas. Toronto: Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, 2006, 250 pp.
3. Upshur REG, Faith K, Gibson JL, Thompson AK, Tracy CS, Wilson K, Singer PA. Stand On Guard for Thee: Ethical considerations in preparedness planning for pandemic influenza. A report of the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics Pandemic Influenza Working Group. November 2005, 29 pp.
4. Singh JA, Upshur R, Padayatchi N. XDR-TB in South Africa: No Time for Denial Of Complacency. PLoS Medicine 2007; 4: e50.

Related Links:

• Institute of Clinical Evaluative Sciences profile
• Primary Care Research Unit
• U of T profile - Dalla Lana School of Public Health