Research chair the first of its kind in Canada

Toronto, ON – North York General Hospital (NYGH) has appointed Dr. Frank Sullivan as the first Gordon F. Cheesbrough Research Chair in Family and Community Medicine. The hospital says the chair is the first of its kind in Canada and will play an important role in community hospital-based research.

Dr. Sullivan will also be appointed to the role of director of the University of Toronto Practice Based Research Network (UTOPIAN), a network of the 14 University of Toronto primary care sites working together to improve patient care in community settings.

“At North York General, our clinical strength, focus on academics and population diversity provide us with the opportunity to ask vital questions related to the health of individuals and populations,” said Tim Rutledge, president and CEO, NYGH.

Dr. Sullivan has worked as an academic general medical practitioner with an interest in clinical trials and linking health data for research since 1984. After graduating from the University of Glasgow he combined clinical training in Scotland and service general practice with a PhD in Health Services Research. Until early 2014 he was the National Health Service (NHS) Tayside professor of R&D in general practice and primary care and director of the Scottish School of Primary Care. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2011.

Dr. Sullivan will lead research initiatives at NYGH, the North York Family Health Team, and at UTOPIAN sites across the region.

“UTOPIAN will strengthen our involvement in clinically important research that will have a direct impact on the care of our patients,” said Dr. Eva Grunfeld, vice-chair research, Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM), University of Toronto.