Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, at a World Health Assembly event to look at ways to boost public trust in vaccines.
Dr. Theresa Tam is a household name today. Her image was front and centre as the Chief Public Health Officer (CPHO) of Canada, playing an integral role in managing the public health response and communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to infectious disease management, Dr. Tam has been an ardent advocate for diabetes prevention and has worked tirelessly towards creating supportive environments that foster positive changes for people susceptible to diabetes.
Dr. Tam was born in 1965 in Hong Kong and grew up in the United Kingdom, where she attended boarding school. She would go on to earn her medical degree, becoming the first person in her boarding school’s history to do so, at the University of Nottingham. After her family moved to Alberta, Dr. Tam pursued pediatrics, completing her residency at the University of Alberta. She later completed a pediatric infectious disease residency at the University of British Columbia, and turned her attention to public health with the completion of the Public Health Agency of Canada’s (PHAC) Field Epidemiology program.
Dr. Tam’s deep dedication to public health is evident by her contributions to the field over the last 20 years. She has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles of her work and has served multiple leadership roles in the PHAC. These roles include Deputy Chief Public Health Officer (CPHO) and the Assistant Deputy Minister for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control. Her stewardship helped steer Canada’s response to the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, and the 2009 influenza H1N1 pandemic. She has also been involved on numerous WHO committees, collaborating globally on issues related to polio eradication, SARS, and influenza pandemics. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led the national public health response coordinating with provincial health officials, issuing guidance for Canadians, and being the public face of the nation’s response.
At the beginning of their tenure, every CPHO sets out the areas of health that they would like to focus on during their time in the position. When Dr. Tam was appointed the CPHO in June 2017, she chose to focus on the reduction of health disparities in six areas: 1) prevention of substance abuse (cannabinoids, opioids, alcohol), 2) eliminating tuberculosis, 3) improving child and youth health, 4) reducing STIs, 5) preventing antimicrobial resistance and 6) working on healthy built environments.
This last pillar goes hand-in-hand with Dr. Tam’s work in diabetes prevention. Dr. Tam has been heavily involved in the PHAC’s partnership with the LMC Diabetes Prevention Clinic, the largest diabetes clinic in Canada.The aim of this prevention program is to support at-risk Canadians in marginalized communities, such as members of the South Asian, Indigenous, and Black Canadian diaspora, who have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes. The program does this by providing concrete support for healthier lifestyle changes. These include personalized plans by healthcare coaches, online group support, and workshops on how to make incremental changes in diet and exercise. “It is important that we provide supportive social and physical environments to help foster and maintain positive lifestyle changes,” Dr. Tam says. “Through LMC's Diabetes Prevention Program, people at high risk of developing this disease will be given the tools and support they need to help them modify their lifestyle."
She considers work and life balance to be key to healthy living. As such, outside of her public health work, Dr. Tam makes time to run and enjoys ornithology. The weight of being the nation’s top doctor is immense but her steady and calm stewardship, navigating the country through emergencies and other public health epidemics, has had a huge impact on our daily lives.
— Written by Almas Khan