A key theme of the division for clinical practice, research and education is Global Health. Faculty members participate as clinician-educators in low-and middle-income countries, as well as conduct randomized trials in countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Faculty in the division provide expert advise and collaborate with entities such as Public Health Ontario, the Public Health Agency of Canada as well as the WHO. Social medicine is another important theme, with faculty members participating in the prevention of illness and maintenance of the health of people without stable housing. Physicians in our division developed an initiative to better understand health service utilization and barriers to effective therapy for injection drug users. A number of our physicians have a clinical and research focus on HIV, including prevention (pre-exposure prophylaxis), as well as diagnostics and therapeutics. Infections in cancer and stem cell transplant patients are another clinical focus. There are investigators in infection prevention and control, where the focus is on antibiotic stewardship, C. difficile colonization and the prevention of surgical site infections in cardiac surgery patients.

The division continues to develop strength in connecting fundamental research and epidemiological studies, bringing benefits across Canada, as well as internationally. Our goal is to increase the breadth and depth of our research and increase the integration of trainees in these areas, which ultimately will lead to further significant advances in the field of infectious diseases.