Leadership in the time of COVID-19

In March 2020, as the most significant pandemic since the Spanish influenza infected a third of the world’s population, then Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi contacted the University of Calgary requesting support as the City considered public health measures to slow the spread of the virus.

As public health leaders within the Institute coalesced around this urgent need, past O’Brien Institute Scientific Director Dr. William Ghali became chair of the University of Calgary COVID-19 Advisory and Analytics group, and Dr. Christine Friedenreich, O’Brien Institute Interim Scientific Director at the time, was named co-chair. Throughout the pandemic, the group, comprised almost entirely of O’Brien Institute members and affiliates, met with City councillors and the Calgary Emergency Management Agency to inform what type of population-wide interventions could be implemented to control the spread of COVID-19.

This group of Institute researchers also joined COVID-END, a nationally-funded initiative constituting hundreds of researchers from across Canada working to inform the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Federal Minister of Health on the pandemic and its impact on Canadians.

In late 2020, Dr. Katrina Milaney, O’Brien Institute Associate Scientific Director – Population Health, was named one of the five research leads of CanCOVID, a national network working tirelessly to inform the Canadian government’s COVID-19 response. CanCOVID members collaborate across critical COVID-19 research and development areas – from clinical trials and testing, to diagnostics and treatment – providing Ottawa a line of sight on COVID-19 science and research taking place across the country.

In this role, Milaney leads efforts to address disparities brought to light by COVID-19, including the disproportionate effects of the pandemic on vulnerable populations, such as poor and racialized groups, while also defining how the pandemic has forced more people into vulnerable, low-income positions. In another example of the leadership displayed by Institute members during the pandemic, Dr. Kirsten Fiest, O’Brien Institute Associate Scientific Director – Health Systems, published national guidelines on how hospitals should manage family visitation during emergencies involving contagious illness such as COVID-19.

Exemplary leadership during the pandemic

• O’Brien Institute members assessed how Alberta’s pandemic preparedness and response policies are transmitted to, and implemented in, hospitals and family doctors’ offices across Alberta.
• In 2020 and 2021, the Institute partnered with Children First Canada to report on the impact of the pandemic on children, and to present that report to the Government of Canada.
• Dr. Jim Kellner was named to the leadership group of the federal COVID-19 Immunity Taskforce, which catalyzes, supports, funds and harmonizes knowledge on COVID-19 immunity for federal, provincial, and territorial decision-makers.