Season 2, Episode 3: How Well Designed Cohort Studies Shape Global Health Equity with Dr. Sonia Anand
Welcome back everyone to the Emerging Scholar Podcast. Today I have the distinct pleasure of speaking with someone I truly admire in population health research, Dr. Sonia Anand.
Dr. Anand is a professor of medicine and epidemiology at McMaster University. She's also the director of the Chanchlani Research Centre, which focuses on health equity research. Dr. Anand is a senior scientist at the very famous Population Health Research Institute at McMaster University and also serves as McMaster's Associate Vice President for Global Health.
Dr. Anand is a world leader in cohort study design and implementation with decades of experience building and leading some of the most influential global health research initiatives in Canada, she has been instrumental in major studies, including the inter heart study, which examined heart attack risk factors across dozens of countries.
The pure cohort, which continues to track cardiovascular outcomes in chronic diseases in urban and rural populations worldwide. Her work also includes seminal discoveries within the share cohort as well as. Starting and making discoveries in maternal child health areas with the A, B, C, and start birth cohorts, which are advancing our understanding of the early life determinants of health and health inequities.
Throughout her career Dr. Anand has centred racial and ethnic health inequities in her research, examining how cardiovascular risk varies across populations and working to address disparities in health outcomes. She brings a unique expertise not only in the science of cohort design, but also in building and managing the large international research teams necessary to do this groundbreaking work.
Today we're diving into the world of cohort studies building on what we learned in season 2, episode 2 with Dr. Rosie McEachen and the Born in Bradford study. What is a cohort study? Why do they matter? Find out how Dr. Anand and her team at McMaster has helped shape this essential research methodology to advance global health equity worldwide.
Papers & Resources That We Touched On In This Episode:
- McMaster Population Health Research Institute
- Salim Yusuf: Three decades of pioneering research and leadership at PHRI
- Salim Yusuf, MBBS DPhil
- A comparison of practice patterns for acute myocardial infarction between hospitals in Canada and India
- Differences in risk factors, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular disease between ethnic groups in Canada: the Study of Health Assessment and Risk in Ethnic groups (SHARE)
- Risk factors, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular disease among Aboriginal people in Canada: the Study of Health Assessment and Risk Evaluation in Aboriginal Peoples (SHARE-AP)
- Obesity and the risk of myocardial infarction in 27 000 participants from 52 countries: a case-control study
- Effect of potentially modifiable risk factors associated with myocardial infarction in 52 countries (the INTERHEART study): case-control study
- Cardiovascular Risk and Events in 17 Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Countries
- Dr. Anand's Book: Reclaiming Our Hearts: Lessons For South Asians At Risk For Diabetes And Heart Disease
- Reducing inequalities in cardiovascular disease: focus on marginalized populations considering ethnicity and race
Birth Cohort Studies:
- Trajectory of Early Life Adiposity Among South Asian Children
- Socio-economic, environmental and nutritional characteristics of urban and rural South Indian women in early pregnancy: findings from the South Asian Birth Cohort (START)
- Causes and consequences of gestational diabetes in South Asians living in Canada: results from a prospective cohort study
- Aboriginal birth cohort (ABC): a prospective cohort study of early life determinants of adiposity and associated risk factors among Aboriginal people in Canada
- Genetic Evidence for Recent Population Mixture in India
Guests
-
Dr. Sonia Anand
Dr. Sonia Anand is a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at McMaster University, Director of the Chanchlani Research Centre for Health Equity, and Senior Scientist at the Population Health Research Institute. A vascular medicine specialist at Hamilton Health Sciences, she completed her MD, clinical training, and advanced degrees at McMaster University, with additional fellowship training in thrombosis and vascular medicine at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
An internationally recognized leader in population health research, Dr. Anand’s work focuses on the environmental and genetic determinants of vascular disease, women and cardiovascular health, and health inequities across populations. She has authored over 490 scientific publications and has received numerous national and international honors, including induction into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the Royal Society of Canada, multiple lifetime achievement and leadership awards, and the King Charles III Coronation Medal for Community Service. She currently serves as Associate Vice-President, Global Health at McMaster University and as a board member of the national Heart and Stroke Foundation.