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Brian Schwartz
Dr. Brian Schwartz MD, MScCH, is a Canadian emergency and public health physician. He is employed as an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.
Education
Schwartz obtained his medical degree and Master of Science in Community Health from the University of Toronto in 2012.
Affiliations
Canadian Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Task Group
Schwartz has been a member of the Canadian Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Task Group since its inception. The group also includes Bonnie Henry, the Provincial Health Officer for the Province of British Columbia.1)
College of Family Physicians of Canada
He received his certification in emergency medicine from and is a Fellow of the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table
Schwartz is Co-chair of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table.2) The Science Table is paid for by Schwartz's employers at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Public Health Ontario.
He “provides executive leadership for PHO’s public health science and population health programs including environmental and occupational health, health promotion, chronic disease and injury prevention, and research and ethics services. Previous portfolios include health protection, emergency preparedness, communicable diseases and infection prevention and control.”
Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care
Schwartz served as Scientific Advisor to the Emergency Management Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Heath and Long Term Care from 2004 to 2011.
Public Health Ontario
Schwartz is the Vice-President of Public Health Ontario, which co-funds the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. He was Public Health Ontario’s inaugural Chief of Emergency Management Support.
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Before entering public health Dr. Schwartz practiced emergency medicine for over 30 years in community and academic settings. He held the position of Director of the Sunnybrook Centre for Prehospital Care from 1996 to 2009, under the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.3)
University of Toronto
Schwartz is employed as an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.
Previous Pandemics
Schwartz played a leadership role in Ontario during two previous pandemic crises. He served as Vice-chair of the Ontario SARS Scientific Advisory Committee in 2003 and was Chair of the Scientific Response Team for the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.4)
Pandemic preparedness documents, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), include “Public health emergency preparedness: a framework to promote resilience”.
He co-authored a May 2016 study finding that insufficient evidence existed to determine whether N95 masks were superior to surgical masks in protecting healthcare workers against acute respiratory infections.5)
1)
Henry, B on behalf of the Canadian Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Task Group. (2019). Canadian pandemic influenza preparedness: Public health measures strategy. Canada Communicable Disease Report, 45(6), 159–163. https://doi.org/10.14745/ccdr.v45i06a03
2)
About Us. Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/about/#schwartz-brian
3)
Sunnybrook Center for Prehospital Medicine. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://www.prehospitalmedicine.ca/
4)
Zoutman, D., & Schwartz, B. (2003). The Ontario SARS The Ontario SARS Scientific Advisory. Government of Ontario. http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/e_records/sars/hearings/03Wed.pdf/Wed_12_45_The_Ontario_SARS_Scientific_Advisory_Committee.pdf
5)
Smith, J. D., MacDougall, C. C., Johnstone, J., Copes, R. A., Schwartz, B., & Garber, G. E. (2016). Effectiveness of N95 respirators versus surgical masks in protecting health care workers from acute respiratory infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 188(8), 567–574. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.150835