Social Determinants of High Cost Health Services Utilization: Impact on Health Planning

Presented by Dr. Vivek Goel, Vice President Research and Innovation, University of Toronto

Dr. Vivek Goel was appointed Vice President, Research and Innovation of the University of Toronto in December, 2014. Dr. Goel is a distinguished scholar with an extensive background in teaching, research and university administration. He obtained his medical degree from McGill University and completed post-graduate medical training in Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Goel has also obtained an M.Sc. in Community Health from U of T and an M.Sc. in Biostatistics from Harvard University’s School of Public Health. His research has focused on health services evaluation. He was a founding scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), where he continues as an Adjunct Senior Scientist.

Dr. Goel joined the University of Toronto in 1991 as Assistant Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics. He was chair of the Department of Health Administration in the Faculty of Medicine from 1999 until 2001, then served as Vice-Provost, Faculty and subsequently was the University’s Vice President and Provost from 2004 until 2008. He was founding President and CEO of Public Health Ontario from 2008 until 2014, where he was highly successful in building an academic public health services agency that provided scientific and technical advice to front-line practitioners. Prior to rejoining U of T he served as Chief Academic Strategist with Coursera, a global platform that connects universities and learners with online courses.

Background about the Health Policy Rounds

The purpose is to foster discussion between like-minded individuals with an interest in health policy as an area of study – one that requires content knowledge about issues and developments in health policy and health systems, and engagement with a diverse scholarly literature in policy studies (e.g., political science, public administration, organizational behaviour, sociology, etc.).

We welcome and encourage students to present their research or projects! Or if you have suggestions for scholars we may approach for future sessions, please let us know. Please e-mail: julia.ho@mail.utoronto.ca if you are interested in presenting or have any questions.