Thomas Kerr

Contributor

Dr. Thomas Kerr, PhD, is a professor and head of the Division of Social Medicine in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He is also a Senior Scientist at the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use.

3485 Contributions
by Dr. Bettina Hamelin Michelle McLean

Canada is losing the race for clinical trials – and patients are paying the price

Canada has long punched above its weight in clinical trial activity: the rigorous, multi-stage research studies that give Canadians early access to breakthrough treatments. For years, we’ve led the G7 in clinical trials per capita – a point of national pride – but that advantage is slipping away, and fast.
by Madelyn Chu

Who will protect workers from AI algorithms?

The use of technology to monitor workers is not new. Take, for example, the use of security cameras, keystroke loggers and screen-time monitoring. Artificial intelligence (AI), however, is introducing new forms of surveillance that are more intrusive and controlling.
by Gabriela Lima de Melo Ghisi Camila Kümmel Duarte

Does the Mediterranean diet have to be Mediterranean? Rethinking heart-healthy eating in multicultural Canada

When someone in cardiac rehabilitation is told to follow a Mediterranean diet, they most likely picture olive oil, salmon, nuts and colourful salads. Maybe tomatoes, chickpeas and whole grains. For some Canadians, these foods are familiar, affordable and readily available. For others, they may bear little resemblance to the foods they grew up eating, the meals their families prepare or what is available at their local grocery store.
by Larry W. Chambers

Air Quality, Anxiety and Evidence: Rethinking the CN Milton Logistics Hub

The CN Milton Logistics Hub, a nearly finished $250-million project on about 400 acres of CN-owned land, highlights the challenge of balancing economic growth, public health and environmental protection.
by Tania Kazi Ilun Yang

Could we vaccinate against colorectal cancer? Lynch Syndrome may show us how

Imagine being told that you carry a genetic mutation that significantly increases your risk of developing cancer. For many people with Lynch syndrome, that is their reality. They may spend decades undergoing regular colonoscopies and other forms of surveillance, knowing that cancer could still develop. But what if a vaccine could change that?
by Emily Foucault

Beyond pilot projects: Why Canada needs care pathways for chronic inflammatory diseases

At a recent Economic Club of Canada event, Scaling What Works: Advancing Healthcare Excellence Across Canada, two comments stayed with me long after discussion ended.
by Devina Maya Wadhwa

The diagnosis is not the conversation

As physicians, we spend years learning how to make the right diagnosis. We memorize diagnostic criteria, interpret investigations and learn to distinguish one condition from another. Accuracy does matter. A diagnosis guides treatment, shapes prognosis and helps us communicate with our colleagues.
by Seema Marwaha

Saved from the cancer, undone by the care.

One in three patients over 70 leaves hospital less able to care for themselves than when they arrived. I am an internist. I have taught that number to my trainees. This fall, I watched it happen to my father. Hospital-associated disability is not a rare complication. It is the expected output of how we run acute care.

by Tara Moroz

Most wellness trends aren’t wrong. They’re just not always worth it

A new health trend rarely arrives quietly. It usually comes with a promise: better sleep, more energy, less inflammation, sharper focus, improved metabolism or a more “optimized” life. It sounds scientific. It feels personal. It may come with a wearable score, a testimonial, a supplement, a tracking app or one simple rule that seems easy to follow.
by Sudeshna Roy

Beyond loneliness and social isolation: Why belonging matters for public health

Loneliness and social isolation are recognized as severe public health challenges in this age of fast-changing lifestyles, technology and information.
by Tayyeba Darr

AI is not a shortcut: Canada must fix its health workforce, not bypass it

Canada is facing growing pressure to integrate Artificial Intelligence into its health system – often framed as a solution to physician shortages, long wait times and rising patient demand.
by Sara Al Sharani Mohammad Yasir Essar Mujja Alloba Gabriel E. Fabreau

Refugee youth and the right to learn: An investment that pays dividends

More than 123 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced by war, violence and climate-related disasters between 2016-2025. Now, following sweeping United States policies, many high-income countries are restricting refugee access to asylum, education and work. Against this backdrop, last September we published the Halifax Declaration arguing for a different approach: one that recognizes displaced people not as passive aid recipients, but as partners in building resilient health, education and social systems.
by Kim Hanson

Canada must reclaim its reputation as a leader in diabetes innovation

Despite a history steeped in diabetes-related breakthroughs (the discovery of insulin and a track record of performing more insulin-producing cell transplants than any other country), Canada is at risk of losing ground to global peers who are rapidly advancing clinical trials and commercialization at the national level.
by Dr. Larry Smith

Why aren’t we listening to the people who recover?

If we wanted to understand what it takes to win a Super Bowl, we definitely would be listening to what seven-time winner Tom Brady has to say. We also would listen to teams that lost. Their experiences matter, too. But it would seem strange to study who wins football championships without spending considerable time talking to the people who actually won them. To understand cancer survivorship, we listen not only to oncologists and researchers but also to people who have survived cancer and gone on to live healthy, rewarding and meaningful lives. So why is addiction recovery different?
by A group of women in Toronto who have used drugs

‘Protecting’ Ontario or putting lives in danger?

By now, just about everyone has seen or heard Doug Ford’s ad campaign claiming that the current premier seeks to Protect Ontario. It’s crystal clear that Ford’s version of “safety” only applies to a fraction of his constituents.
by Niki Soilis

Canada’s health-care workforce is growing. Teaching capacity is not

Lying in a cold operating room surrounded by the health-care team, I watched trainees gather around to observe my surgery. Their presence was anticipated, given the central role hospitals play in health‑professions education. Yet as I lay there, vulnerable and exposed, I felt less like a person and more like a teaching case.
by Muhammad Saim

What Alberta gets wrong About Medical Assistance in Dying

Few issues in medicine are as ethically complex and important as medical assistance in dying, (MAiD). Reasonable people can disagree about where eligibility should begin and end, how at-risk individuals should be protected, and what safeguards are necessary before an irreversible decision is made. But Alberta's Bill 18, the Safeguards for Last Resort Termination of Life Act, moves the conversation in the wrong direction.
by Gleb Tsipursky

Health-care AI should buy back learning time, not just documentation time

Canadian health care does not need another technology that simply changes the shape of administrative burden. It needs technology that gives clinicians and health-system professionals time back for professional development and clinical work.
by Dr. Ryan Thomas

A doctor-patient perspective: How to combat stigma against rare diseases

In medical school, students routinely examine one another to practice clinical skills before applying them in real-world settings. So, when a classmate noticed small lumps in my neck, I made sure to get it checked, thinking there must be something wrong. However, the examination and imaging did not reveal anything concerning and I moved on.
by Jai Shah Srividya N Iyer

Canada has invested heavily in youth mental health services. What will it take to make sure they are sustainable and built to scale up?

In the midst of polycrises such as the COVID pandemic, climate change, financial precarity and the rise of artificial intelligence, there has been growing global momentum for early intervention in the mental health of young people.

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