Dr. Ambreen Sayani, MD PhD is a scientist at the Women’s College Research Institute, Women’s College Hospital and an Assistant Professor (status) at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Dr. Sayani has held clinical, consulting and leadership roles across multiple healthcare industries and received leadership, research, early-career investigator, presentation and quality awards for her work. She is Principal Investigator for the Improving Cancer Care Equity (ICCE) Research Program that aims to improve cancer outcomes for all populations groups by promoting equitable cancer prevention, early detection and access to high quality care. Dr. Sayani is the recipient of a six-year Transition-to-Leadership Stream career development award in Patient-Oriented Research from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. She is a Health Equity Expert Advisor for the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, a member of the Medical Advisory Committee for the Canadian Cancer Survivor Network, co-chair of the Inequalities Network for the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership, and co-founder of Equity Mobilizing Partnerships in Community.
As a physician and a critical social scientist, Dr. Sayani applies a health equity lens to study patient engagement, health policy, change management and cancer care. She uses community-engaged and patient-oriented participatory research methods to partner with interdisciplinary teams, including policymakers, healthcare providers and patients (defined as community members with relevant lived/living experience) to generate new knowledge, develop evidence-based interventions, and to implement effective solutions. Her research program is guided by Equity-Mobilizing Partnerships in Community (EMPaCT), a co-designed model of diverse and inclusive patient engagement. While specifically promoting patient-centered cancer care, Dr. Sayani’s research program generates knowledge and learnings that are transferable across the healthcare sector so that we can provide timely, effective, safe and equitable care to all patients.
Professional and research interests:
- Patient/ person-centred care
- Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility & Allyship (IDEAA) in patient engagement
- Equitable cancer prevention, early detection and access to high quality care
- Health policy
- Implementing change
- Community-based knowledge mobilization
- Social determinants of health
- Health equity
- Lung health