Advancing interdisciplinary collaboration and advocating for global health and human rights, Shashika Bandara is one of our Family Medicine Heroes.
Global Health and Human Rights Advocacy
Bio: Graduated with a PhD from the Department of Family Medicine.
Year: Joined the Department in 2020.
Award category: Community
Nominated by Rebecca Zhao, part of the same PhD student cohort from Fall 2020.
"I am thrilled to nominate Shashika Bandara for his exceptional contributions to the success of the Department of Family Medicine (FMED). Shashika's renowned work in health policy has been instrumental in shaping our department's initiatives and strategies towards improving health outcomes. His dedication to advancing interdisciplinary collaboration has fostered innovative approaches to tackling complex health challenges. Not only was he a Vanier award recipient for his dissertation on tobacco policy in Zimbabwe, but he also wrote numerous articles and commentaries on health equity particularly on vaccine equity in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, global human rights advocacy, and white saviorism in global health education within the last four years.
Shashika's leadership has forged partnerships between our department and stakeholders outside of primary care. For example, he co-ordinated an event in collaboration with the School of Population and Global Health (SPGH) named 鈥淗ow do we handle disinformation agents in public health?鈥�. He has inspired countless students to further their studies in family medicine and global health through his mentorship and teaching assistantships in the Department of Family Medicine and the School of Population and Global Health. His passion for fostering the next generation of leaders in these fields is evident in his tireless efforts to provide guidance and support to aspiring global health leaders. In summary, Shashika Bandara's outstanding contributions to the Department of Family Medicine, particularly in the realms of global health policy and interdisciplinary collaboration, make him a truly deserving candidate for recognition."
Congratulations Shashika!
About his PhD thesis
Shashika Bandara aimed to use his doctoral dissertation to strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) with a focus on tobacco supply reduction. In his dissertation, Shashika focused on understanding how academic research on the WHO FCTC implementation in the African region consider context, examining the political economy of tobacco in Zimbabwe 鈥� the highest tobacco producer in the African region, and examining policy pathways for tobacco supply reduction in the African region.
More articles on Shashika Bandara:
/familymed/article/shashika-bandara-receives-vanier...
/familymed/article/disinformation-realm-global-heal...
/familymed/channels/event/oral-phd-defense-shashika...
The Department of Family Medicine is celebrating its 50th anniversary and over the course of this year, we will tell the stories of our people, our places and our partners who have worked with us to serve our communities by leading in Family Medicine education, research and care. As part of our celebrations, we are asking faculty, clinicians, researchers, residents, students, and admin staff to nominate heroes who have greatly helped shape the community. Please nominate using .