Sarah Buchan

Dr. Sarah Buchan is a Canadian epidemiologist and specialist in vaccine-preventable diseases based in Toronto, Ontario.

• PhD, Epidemiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
• MSc, Global Health and Development, University College London
• BScH, Biology, Queen's University

Buchan is a scientist at Public Health Ontario (PHO) in Health Protection where she conducts applied public health research related to the epidemiology of vaccine-preventable and other infectious diseases.¹⁾ She has been supporting PHO’s COVID-19 Incident Management System since February 2020, with a focus on addressing questions to support the provincial response and inform decision-making. She has also contributed to analyses related to COVID-19 burden, transmission, variants of concern, immunization, and vaccine effectiveness.²⁾

Buchan is an assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Institute for Pandemics at the University of Toronto.^{3) 4)}

Buchan is an adjunct scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES).⁵⁾

Buchan is a member of the Modelling Consensus Table of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table.⁶⁾

Buchan's work around 2016 was supported by a Canadian Immunization Research Network Trainee Award, including a study of influenza vaccines and vaccine hesitancy.⁷⁾

• Immunization
• Infectious diseases
• Pediatric health
• Health services research

In 2018, Buchan co-authored a paper on RSV funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through their Achieving Public Health Impact through Research program.⁸⁾

She's also received funding from SickKids.⁹⁾

Buchan received a $202,725 grant from ICESs in 2018 for a project titled “Influenza vaccines, statins, and laboratory-confirmed influenza outcomes in older adults: can vaccines and statins reduce the burden of influenza?”¹⁰⁾

Buchan published a study examining adverse events related to COVID-19 vaccines, funded by the Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN), Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).¹¹⁾

Previously, she co-authored a study titled “Effectiveness of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 covid-19 vaccines against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe covid-19 outcomes in Ontario, Canada: test negative design study”.¹²⁾ This also received funding from the CIRN, PHAC and CIHR, as well as the Vaccine Surveillance Reference group and the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, and the Ontario Health Data Platform.

She also contributed to a study on treatments for COVID-19, funded by the COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund from the Ottawa Hospital.¹³⁾