Canada's Chief Public Health Officer

Dr. Theresa Tam, BMBS (UK), FRCPC

Dr. Tam is the Interim Chief Public Health Officer (CPHO) of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

Formerly, Dr. Tam was PHAC’s Deputy Chief Public Health Officer. As Deputy CPHO, she provided support to Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer in day-to-day activities and responding to public health issues of high importance to Canadians.

She was also formerly the Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for the Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control Branch at the Agency. In this role Dr. Tam oversaw activities aimed at making Canadians less vulnerable to impacts of infectious diseases. This includes surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, science research, policy development and national leadership for a wide range of infectious disease threats. Dr. Tam has previously provided senior leadership on key Agency initiatives and programs on immunization, respiratory infections, health emergency preparedness and response; public health at Canada’s borders and on public conveyances; laboratory biosecurity; public health workforce, surveillance and other infrastructure capacities; and implementation of the International Health Regulations.

Dr. Tam is a paediatric infectious disease specialist and field epidemiologist with extensive experience in the management of outbreaks and complex health emergency situations, including the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak; H1N1 Influenza Pandemic; and Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in West Africa. She has served as an international expert on a number of World Health Organization (WHO) committees and international missions, including the first WHO Influenza Pandemic Task Force. She has also served as a WHO consultant on multiple international missions related to influenza and Polio eradication in Bangladesh.

Dr. Gregory W. Taylor, BSc, MD, CCFP, FRCPC (Retired on December 16, 2016)

Dr. Gregory Taylor is Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, appointed on September 24, 2014.

Dr. Taylor obtained his MD from Dalhousie University in Halifax where he also completed a family medicine residency. After several years in active primary care in Ontario, he completed a fellowship in Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa and joined Health Canada's Laboratory Centre for Disease Control. His initial responsibilities focussed on cardiovascular disease and he has been involved with a wide range of Federal chronic disease activities.

He joined the Agency's Office of Public Health Practice in 2007, with primary responsibilities focussed on building public health capacity in Canada, and a number of key leadership roles within the Agency and in the Public Health Network.

Dr. Taylor became the Deputy Chief Public Health Officer in 2012 directly supporting the Chief Public Health Officer and Associate Deputy Minister.

He maintains his connection with the University of Ottawa as adjunct professor of Epidemiology and Community Medicine.