Theresa Tam

Dr. Theresa Tam is a Chinese-Canadian public health official based in Ottawa, Ontario. She speaks Cantonese, English and French.¹⁾

Tam was born in Hong Kong in 1965 and grew up in the United Kingdom.²⁾

Tam graduated from the University of Nottingham in 1989.³⁾ 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.⁴⁾

At some point, Tam participated in and graduated from the Canadian Field Epidemiology Program.⁵⁾

Tam was licensed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario on August 18, 1999.⁶⁾

In 2010, Tam featured as herself in a documentary film titled Outbreak - Anatomy of a Plague.⁷⁾ 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 crisis (as Chief Public Health Officer).⁸⁾

In the film, Tam discusses “being able to enforce mandatory quarantines, using tracking bracelets, and only 'worry later' about questions of an overreach.”⁹⁾

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.^{10) 11)}

She served on the Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee for the WHO Health Emergencies Programme.¹²⁾ 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.¹³⁾

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.¹⁴⁾

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.^{15) 16)} 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.

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.^{17) 18)}