Unity Health Toronto acknowledges that the land on which we live, work, and operate on, Tkaranto, is part of the Dish with One Spoon Covenant territory and is the traditional and ancestral lands of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinabek, the Haudenosaunee, the Chippewa, and the Wendat Nations. The Dish with One Spoon represents a formal peace agreement between the Anishinabek and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, emphasizing reciprocal responsibilities for sharing and caring for the land and its resources. The "dish" symbolizes the shared land, while the "spoon" represents the people who use its resources, taking only what they need to ensure sustainability for all inhabitants. This agreement extends to other Indigenous Nations and settlers who arrived in the Great Lakes area. Our responsibilities continue with Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit in 1787, also known as the “Toronto Purchase”, which was revisited in 1805 and 2010. These lands are still home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples. By acknowledging the land, we acknowledge our treaty responsibilities in sharing this land and the Indigenous people who have been the traditional caretakers of this land since time immemorial.
Racism is a key driver of inequitable health outcomes for Canadians. Racialized people access the health system at a lower rate, from primary care to specialized acute care. Racialized people also generally have a worse experience than their white counterparts in healthcare institutions, including hospitals, where many do not feel safe and tend to receive lower quality of care.
Inequitable health care contributes to racialized members of our society having a lower life expectancy and worse quality of life.
Eliminating racism and reducing health inequities requires a combination of innovative solutions, challenging the status quo of our systems, and dismantling of structures of oppression/privilege. These changes will need to address the social determinants of health at multiple levels: transforming clinical care for individuals and families , bringing population health thinking into how health organizations function, collaborating with other sectors to intervene at the community level on factors like the built environment and access to care, and influencing policy to tackle systemic racism. This area of work exists at the interface between healthcare, public health, and public policy.
At Unity Health Toronto, we are launching a Program for Anti-Racism and Health Equity whose work will focus on creating a world with no health inequities caused by historical or ongoing racism. The Program will build upon and expand the demonstrated commitment of St. Michael’s Hospital within Unity Health Toronto to health equity, and position our hospital as a living lab where care, research, education, training, people and partnerships function in tandem to dismantle barriers to healthcare for racialized people.
While health disparities have been extensively documented in countries with racially diverse populations, there is an ongoing need for research on the effectiveness of interventions designed to reduce these disparities. Furthermore there is an acute need for research on how to successfully implement and scale interventions to improve health outcomes for racialized groups in Canada. These efforts will require researchers, policy makers, and health care providers to collaborate on strategies to mitigate the effect of discrimination and bias on health outcomes in racialized communities.
Description
St. Michael’s Hospital of Unity Health Toronto alongside the Temerty Faculty of Medicine are seeking applications for a full-time, permanent academic position as a Scientist II or III*. The successful candidate will also hold the Cassaday-Downe Chair in Anti-Racism and Health Equity, a joint Hospital/University chair. The successful candidate must be eligible for an academic appointment as an Affiliate Scientist at the rank of Associate or Full Professor at the University of Toronto. The appointment to the Chair is for a five-year term, with the tentative start date of September 2026 (negotiable). This position reports to the Vice President, Research & Innovation, Unity Health Toronto. The appointment process of the Chair will follow the University of Toronto Policy and Procedures for Academic Appointments, and the University Policy on Endowed and Limited Term Chairs, Professorships, Distinguished Scholars and Program Initiatives .
The Chair holder is expected to lead a world-class program of impactful research and innovation that is solution-driven and focused on addressing anti-Black racism/racism and the influence of social determinants of health . The success of this program will be measured by its effectiveness in contributing meaningfully to improving the health and well-being of Black and racialized groups and significantly contributing to Unity Health’s goals towards being a leader in health equity. The research program of the Chair should be guided by deep community partnership and should impact health systems across Canada and internationally through extensive knowledge translation and dissemination activities. The Chair will work closely with the Director of Anti-Racism, Equity and Social Accountability in the hospital to ensure that work is implemented across Unity Health through the Program for Anti-Racism and Health Equity. The Chair will also have the opportunity to join St. Michael’s Hospital’s MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions , Canada’s largest research centre focused on health equity and the social determinants of health. MAP develops and implements real-world, evidence-driven program and policy solutions that disrupt cycles of socioeconomic exclusion and poor health.
Qualifications
- This position will be filled as either a Scientist II OR Scientist III based on an internal assessment process, focusing on the candidate’s demonstrated skill sets, academic experience, research impact and productivity along with the position’s specific requirements.
Academic Rank / Education
Minimum Assistant Professor but Associate Professor preferred
MD, PhD or equivalent, with graduate training in a relevant field (e.g., public health, health policy, health services research).
Minimum 5 to 15 years of experience as an Independent Scientist
Research is recognized locally, provincially and nationally and working towards international recognition with evidence of invited presentations at national conferences
Minimum Associate Professor but Full Professor preferred
MD, PhD or equivalent, with graduate training in a relevant field (e.g., public health, health policy, health services research).
Minimum 10 to 20 years of experience as an Independent Scientist
Research is recognized locally, provincially, nationally and internationally by scientific peers with evidence of Invitations to present research at national or international conferences or distinguished institutions
- A record of excellence in scientific productivity, which would likely include
- A strong publication record and impactful knowledge translation activities. Unity Health Toronto recognizes the importance of research focused on action to address inequities and community partnerships, which may lead to fewer academic publications but higher impact of the research.
- A history of success with obtaining external peer-reviewed funding over the past 5 years, as both Nominated Principal Investigator (NPI). Funding can be from local, provincial, federal or private funding sources, but funding from the Canadian Tri-Agencies (e.g., CIHR, SSHRC) or equivalent (e.g., NIH) would be preferred.
- Experience and success in supervising and mentoring graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and other trainees.
- This position is being advertised at both a Scientist II and Scientist III levels. Scientist level will be determined following assessment of candidates’ academic qualifications (including publication, funding, and graduate trainee records) as well as related experience against the organization’s internal Scientist level criteria.
- Demonstrated knowledge and lived experience of health challenges facing Black, Indigenous, and/or racialized Canadians.
- Demonstrated experience with the design, implementation and evaluation of interventions to address anti- Black racism/ racism, taking into account the social determinants of health at multiple levels.
- An established track record of research leadership, including in establishing collaborative and impactful interdisciplinary teams, including knowledge users, health professionals and community partners.
- Established collaborative relationships and partnerships with racialized communities and non-profit/ community-based organizations.
- Proven ability to work with healthcare organizations.
- Excellent ability to communicate with various academic, policymaker, and public audiences.
Key Accountabilities of the position will include:
- Develop and sustain a world-class program of high-impact research that is focused on ending anti-Black racism/racism in healthcare, eliminating racial disparities in life span, and improving Black patient and population health.
- Co-leadership of the Program for Anti-Racism and Health Equity, together with the Director of Anti-Racism, Equity and Social Accountability, whereby the Chair holder will lead research efforts and the Director will oversee aspects of the work that are directly tied to hospital operations.
- Initiate and maintain strong research collaborations that include local, national, and international partners.
- Build research capacity at Unity Health Toronto, including through supporting graduate students, mentoring junior investigators and engaging other members of the health care team in research.
- Engage patients and communities in research aligned with Unity Health Toronto efforts.
- Provide annual lectures and presentations on their research both within Unity Health and at relevant local, national, and international forums/conferences.
- Work with the Hospital Foundations to support their fundraising efforts in this area.
Salary
This position is being advertised at both the Scientist II and Scientist III levels. The successful candidate’s Scientist level will be determined based on a review of their academic qualifications, related experience, and demonstrated competencies, assessed against the organization’s internal job classification standards for Scientist II and III levels.
- Scientist II: ($68.77/hr. to $85.96/hr.)
- Scientist III: ($82.40/hr. to $103.00/hr.)
The Chair provides $200,000 annually, applied towards salary + benefits for the first five years. If there are remaining funds, they will be used to support the incumbent’s academic and research activities.
Commitment to Equity
Unity Health recognizes that scholars have varying career paths and that career interruptions due to personal circumstances can be part of an excellent academic record. Search committee members have been instructed to give careful consideration to and be sensitive to the impact of career interruptions in their assessments. Moreover, Unity Health has endorsed the principles and committed the institution to comply with the recommendations of the DORA declaration (the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment). This entails that researchers’ research results are assessed and evaluated for content and quality.
Unity Health is committed to creating a workplace culture where everyone feels valued and welcome to be themselves, and where they are empowered to share different perspectives to inspire creativity and innovation. Unity Health encourages applications from qualified candidates and we especially welcome applicants who are Indigenous, Black or Racialized, persons with disabilities, people who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+, and all others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.
Unity Health Toronto is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive organization. We strive to provide a recruitment process that is barrier-free and in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and the Ontario Human Rights Code. We understand that you may require an accommodation at any stage of the recruitment process. When you are contacted, please inform the Talent Acquisition Specialist and we will work with you to meet your accommodation needs. We want to emphasize that all accommodation requests are handled with the utmost confidentiality, respecting your privacy and dignity.
