====== Theresa Tam ======

{{ ::theresatam.jpeg?200|}}

Dr. **Theresa Tam** is a Chinese-Canadian [[public health]] official based in [[canada:ontario:Ottawa]], [[canada:Ontario]]. She speaks Cantonese, English and French.((//Tam, Wing Sze Theresa - Doctor Details.// (1999, August 18). College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. https://archive.ph/U1RSg))

===== Background =====

Tam was born in [[china:Hong Kong]] in 1965 and grew up in the [[United Kingdom]].((McBride, J. (2019, August 23). //The Canadian Leading The Fight Against Vaccine Skeptics.// Chatelaine. https://archive.ph/Y52Hw))

==== Education ====

Tam graduated from the [[University of Nottingham]] in 1989.((//Tam, Wing Sze Theresa - Doctor Details.// (1999, August 18). College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. https://archive.ph/U1RSg)) She received specialty certifications from the [[Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada]] (RCPSC) after completing residencies in pediatrics in 1996 at the [[University of Alberta]], and [[infectious diseases]] in 1997 at the [[University of British Columbia]].((//Dr Theresa Tam, BMBS (UK), FRCPC.// (2020, June 2). Wayback Machine; World Health Organization. https://web.archive.org/web/20200602224929/https://www.who.int/about/who_reform/emergency-capacities/oversight-committee/theresa-tam/en/))

At some point, Tam participated in and graduated from the [[Canadian Field Epidemiology Program]].((//Chief Public Health Officer of Canada.// (2020, April 14). Government of Canada. https://archive.is/dkXMK))

===== Career and Affiliations =====

Tam was licensed by the [[College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario]] on August 18, 1999.((//Tam, Wing Sze Theresa - Doctor Details.// (1999, August 18). College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. https://archive.ph/U1RSg))

==== Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response ====

In 2010, Tam featured as herself in a documentary film titled //[[Outbreak - Anatomy of a Plague]]//.((TheCovidReport. (2020, November 29). //OUTBREAK: ANATOMY OF A PLAGUE - 2010 National Film Board of Canada Documentary - Pandemic Fearporn.// BitChute. https://www.bitchute.com/video/ZbrGQBcgsGy8/)) At the time, she was the head of Canada’s [[Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response]].

Tam served as the top Canadian public health official in the documentary, mirroring her role in the [[COVID-19 pandemic|COVID-19 crisis]] (as Chief Public Health Officer).((Ricard, A. (2020, May 11). //Dr. Theresa Tam and COVID-19 - Westcoast Women in Engineering, Science and Technology.// Simon Fraser University. https://www.sfu.ca/wwest/WWEST_blog/dr--theresa-tam-and-covid-19.html))

In the film, Tam discusses “being able to enforce mandatory quarantines, using tracking bracelets, and only 'worry later' about questions of an overreach.”((Ronnie. (2020, April 27). //CV #13: Corona Planned-emic; Lobbying; Deleted Resources; CL Listings; Theresa Tam, Canada’s “Hoaxer Zero.”// Canuck Law. https://canucklaw.ca/cv-13-corona-plandemic-lobbying-deleted-resources-cl-listings-theresa-tam-canadas-hoaxer-zero/))
==== World Health Organization ====

Tam has served as an international expert on a number of [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) committees and has participated in multiple international missions related to [[SARS]], [[MERS]], [[Ebola]], [[pandemic influenza]] and [[polio]] eradication.((//Dr Theresa Tam, BMBS (UK), FRCPC.// (2020, June 2). Wayback Machine; World Health Organization. https://web.archive.org/web/20200602224929/https://www.who.int/about/who_reform/emergency-capacities/oversight-committee/theresa-tam/en/)) ((Brown, C. (2017). //WHO veteran heads up Canadian public health.// Canadian Medical Association Journal, 189(10), E418–E419. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.1095394))

She served on the Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee for the [[WHO Health Emergencies Programme]].((//Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee for the WHO Health Emergencies Programme [IOAC].// World Health Organization. Retrieved April 30, 2022, from https://archive.ph/6Snuq)) Author [[Ronnie Lempert]] of [[Canuck Law]] describes this as an "obvious conflict of interest" due to her role as a leader of the [[Public Health Agency of Canada]].((Lampert, R. P. A. (2020, April 30). //CV #13(B): More On Who Theresa Tam Really Is.// Canuck Law. https://archive.ph/CG2KY))

One of Tam's fellow committee members, [[Geeta Rao Gupta]], was previously a senior fellow at the [[Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]], and is affiliated with [[UNICEF]] and the [[United Nations Foundation]].((//Dr Geeta Rao Gupta.// (2020, April 30). World Health Organization. Retrieved April 30, 2022, from https://archive.ph/9Z6R3))

==== Public Health Agency of Canada ====

Tam is the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, and second-in-command at the [[Public Health Agency of Canada]]. She was appointed to this role on June 26, 2017, after occupying it on an interim basis following the retirement of her predecessor Dr. [[Gregory Taylor]] in December 2016.((//Chief Public Health Officer of Canada.// (2020, April 14). Government of Canada. https://archive.is/dkXMK)) ((Brown, C. (2017). //WHO veteran heads up Canadian public health.// Canadian Medical Association Journal, 189(10), E418–E419. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.1095394)) She was appointed by the [[Privy Council Office]].

She has expressed support for bolstering the ability of the [[National Microbiology Laboratory]]'s vaccine development platform to create vaccines against other pathogens in addition to [[Ebola]].

==== Canadian Association for Public Health ====

Tam is associated with the [[Canadian Association for Public Health]], a not-for-profit organization centred around [[health equity]] and the social determinants of health in Canada and worldwide.((//Canadian Association for Global Health (CAGH).// CanWaCH. Retrieved April 30, 2022, from https://archive.ph/WDL7j)) ((//Theresa Tam.// Canadian Association for Global Health. Retrieved April 30, 2022, from https://archive.ph/Vin2g))