[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":362},["ShallowReactive",2],{"{\"version\":\"draft\",\"resolve_links\":\"url\",\"resolve_relations\":\"featured-events.events,featured-news.news\"}/global/footer":3,"{\"version\":\"published\",\"resolve_relations\":[\"news.related_news\"]}news-items/meet-dr-sonia-anand-2026-27-scholar-in-residence/":70,"{\"version\":\"draft\",\"resolve_links\":\"url\",\"resolve_relations\":\"featured-events.events,featured-news.news\"}/global/header":301},{"data":4,"headers":45},{"story":5,"cv":42,"rels":43,"links":44},{"name":6,"created_at":7,"published_at":8,"updated_at":9,"id":10,"uuid":11,"content":12,"slug":31,"full_slug":32,"sort_by_date":33,"position":34,"tag_list":35,"is_startpage":36,"parent_id":37,"meta_data":33,"group_id":38,"first_published_at":39,"release_id":33,"lang":40,"path":33,"alternates":41,"default_full_slug":33,"translated_slugs":33},"Footer","2024-05-22T05:42:54.552Z","2025-03-25T15:44:22.591Z","2025-03-25T15:44:22.608Z",500647255,"aa467ff3-d7e8-4224-a30c-158a6238f664",{"_uid":13,"email":14,"tel_no":15,"twitter":16,"youtube":17,"address1":18,"address2":19,"facebook":20,"linkedin":21,"component":6,"copyright":22,"instagram":23,"location1":24,"location2":25,"tel_label":26,"social_label":27,"location_label":28,"mailing_address_label":29,"_editable":30},"6a70eac0-8a42-45fe-8958-be43990a0ba6","","4163604000","https://twitter.com/UnityHealthTO","https://www.youtube.com/c/UnityHealthToronto","30 Bond St","Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada","https://www.facebook.com/UnityHealthToronto/","https://www.linkedin.com/company/unityhealthtoronto/?originalSubdomain=ca","© 2025 Unity Health Toronto. All rights reserved.","https://www.instagram.com/unityhealthto/","209 Victoria St","Toronto, ON  M5B 1T8, Canada","(416) 360-4000","Social Links","Location","Mailing Address","\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"Footer\", \"space\": \"282001\", \"uid\": \"6a70eac0-8a42-45fe-8958-be43990a0ba6\", \"id\": \"500647255\"}-->","footer","global/footer",null,-100,[],false,500647197,"04c5a689-ad14-437c-8c58-4ab38629c4ed","2024-05-22T05:39:24.843Z","default",[],1792677644,[],[],{"cache-control":46,"connection":47,"content-encoding":48,"content-type":49,"date":50,"etag":51,"referrer-policy":52,"sb-be-version":53,"server":54,"strict-transport-security":55,"transfer-encoding":56,"vary":57,"via":58,"x-amz-cf-id":59,"x-amz-cf-pop":60,"x-cache":61,"x-content-type-options":62,"x-frame-options":63,"x-permitted-cross-domain-policies":64,"x-ratelimit":65,"x-ratelimit-policy":66,"x-request-id":67,"x-runtime":68,"x-xss-protection":69},"max-age=0, private, must-revalidate","keep-alive","gzip","application/json; charset=utf-8","Thu, 22 Oct 2026 14:01:25 GMT","W/\"75cda6330b8eab4837214b372cdf46aa\"","strict-origin-when-cross-origin","5.993.0","nginx/1.31.3","max-age=31536000","chunked","Origin,Accept-Encoding","1.1 4cdcf8406ed0f002560c00fdc60b6ee0.cloudfront.net (CloudFront)","5pqBBdHTCrc5UG8y9bpmNvzCREBZmXjhtSDxieJtHh3Ji4135YCtfA==","CMH68-P4","Hit from cloudfront","nosniff","SAMEORIGIN","none","\"space-concurrent-requests\";r=28","\"space-concurrent-requests\";q=30","dc058abb-7342-4854-b7d5-0f8d53701141","0.022676","0",{"data":71,"headers":293},{"story":72,"cv":42,"rels":291,"links":292},{"name":73,"created_at":74,"published_at":75,"updated_at":76,"id":77,"uuid":78,"content":79,"slug":284,"full_slug":285,"sort_by_date":33,"position":286,"tag_list":287,"is_startpage":36,"parent_id":288,"meta_data":33,"group_id":289,"first_published_at":75,"release_id":33,"lang":40,"path":33,"alternates":290,"default_full_slug":33,"translated_slugs":33},"Meet Dr. Sonia Anand, 2026-27 Scholar-in-Residence at Unity Health Toronto","2026-10-22T13:48:12.587Z","2026-10-22T13:57:09.690Z","2026-10-22T13:57:09.712Z",233419950464613,"238ab7a4-5346-4d84-ad6b-b7a49619c535",{"_uid":80,"date":81,"blurb":82,"image":87,"title":73,"content":93,"component":282,"description":14,"related_news":283},"d1fb41a5-f8bf-4740-9882-6ebcbfe7977d","2026-10-14 00:00",{"type":83,"content":84},"doc",[85],{"type":86},"paragraph",{"id":88,"alt":14,"name":14,"focus":14,"title":14,"source":14,"filename":89,"copyright":14,"fieldtype":90,"meta_data":91,"is_external_url":36},233420814030569,"https://a.storyblok.com/f/282001/1350x900/d420287ccd/261014-sonia-anand-1500-1000-1350x900.jpg","asset",{"size":92},"1350x900",{"type":83,"attrs":94,"content":95},{"backgroundColor":33},[96,102,107,112,122,127,156,161,166,174,179,184,189,194,199,207,229,234,242,247,252,257,264,271],{"type":86,"attrs":97,"content":98},{"textAlign":33},[99],{"text":100,"type":101},"Dr. Sonia Anand, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at McMaster University and Associate Vice-President of Global Health at McMaster University recently joined Unity Health Toronto as a 2026-27 Arthur S. Slutsky Scholar-in-Residence. ","text",{"type":86,"attrs":103,"content":104},{"textAlign":33},[105],{"text":106,"type":101},"Anand has spent more than 25 years working in population health and clinical research, studying why some communities carry a heavier chronic disease burden. She has long argued that research only holds up when it includes the communities most affected by disease, and that too often the people carrying the burden are the ones missing from the trials. ",{"type":86,"attrs":108,"content":109},{"textAlign":33},[110],{"text":111,"type":101},"We recently sat down with her to learn more about her research, what drew her to the Scholar-in-Residence opportunity, and what she hopes to accomplish while here. ",{"type":86,"attrs":113,"content":114},{"textAlign":33},[115,120],{"text":116,"type":101,"marks":117},"What drew you to Unity Health Toronto, and to the Scholar-in-Residence program in particular?",[118],{"type":119},"bold",{"text":121,"type":101}," ",{"type":86,"attrs":123,"content":124},{"textAlign":33},[125],{"text":126,"type":101},"Over the years I’ve had many colleagues and collaborations with researchers and clinicians at Unity Health. What excites me especially is the chance to work with Drs. Fahad Razak and Amol Verma’s team leading the Vital program. I’m keen to help develop use cases for the AI platform and to work through the details of how you might run clinical trials on a national platform like this one. ",{"type":128,"content":129},"blockquote",[130],{"type":86,"attrs":131,"content":132},{"textAlign":33},[133,137,139,151,155],{"text":134,"type":101,"marks":135},"Enjoying this story?",[136],{"type":119},{"text":138,"type":101}," ",{"text":140,"type":101,"marks":141},"Sign up for the Unity Health Toronto newsletter",[142,148,149],{"type":143,"attrs":144},"link",{"href":145,"uuid":33,"anchor":33,"target":146,"linktype":147},"https://unityhealth.to/about-unity-health/media-room/newswire/","_blank","url",{"type":119},{"type":150},"underline",{"text":152,"type":101,"marks":153},", a monthly update on the latest news, stories, patient voices and research emailed directly to subscribers. ",[154],{"type":119},{"text":121,"type":101},{"type":86,"attrs":157,"content":158},{"textAlign":33},[159],{"text":160,"type":101},"I’m excited to learn from Dr. Andrea Tricco and the team at Unity Health leading the Knowledge Translation Program – it’s one of the top places in Canada disseminating research findings to decisionmakers and patients. Implementation science is key. It can take a very long time for new treatments and health knowledge to reach the patients who need them, and there’s a lot to learn about closing the gap between research and practice. ",{"type":86,"attrs":162,"content":163},{"textAlign":33},[164],{"text":165,"type":101},"And I’m looking forward to working with the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, where the focus is on vulnerable populations and the social determinants of health. St. Michael’s has real depth of expertise working with people who are unhoused and living with addiction, and that need is only growing in our cities.  ",{"type":86,"attrs":167,"content":168},{"textAlign":33},[169,173],{"text":170,"type":101,"marks":171},"Your work has helped reshape Canada’s approach to cardiovascular health, health equity and population health research. Can you tell us about that work?",[172],{"type":119},{"text":121,"type":101},{"type":86,"attrs":175,"content":176},{"textAlign":33},[177],{"text":178,"type":101},"I’ve written extensively on including diverse populations in clinical trials. Think about the big conditions that affect people globally, like type 2 diabetes, and then look at who gets enrolled in the trials testing new drugs. It’s usually white, European, higher-income participants. This is the case even when the burden of the disease, like type-2 diabetes, falls on people who are non-white, and in particular, on South Asian, other Asian and Latino populations.  ",{"type":86,"attrs":180,"content":181},{"textAlign":33},[182],{"text":183,"type":101},"From the beginning of my career, I have questioned how we can apply those results to everyone, when the people carrying the disease aren’t represented. Within Canada, I led the first studies of ethnic variation in cardiovascular risk factors. Those were interesting grants to write in the late 1990s. I recall the first reviewer comments came back saying we already know the causes. My case was that we only knew them in white European populations. We had to establish that the risk factors are the same across ethnic groups, they just vary in frequency.  ",{"type":86,"attrs":185,"content":186},{"textAlign":33},[187],{"text":188,"type":101},"That research led to more precise tools, genomics, proteomics and metabolomics, what we now call the omics, so we can link how a person’s genetics interact with their environment to cause disease. ",{"type":86,"attrs":190,"content":191},{"textAlign":33},[192],{"text":193,"type":101},"Now that we have good evidence that patients’ trust and uptake go down when they don’t see themselves reflected in the research, we know representation is essential.  ",{"type":86,"attrs":195,"content":196},{"textAlign":33},[197],{"text":198,"type":101},"We must recruit differently. Of course, the easiest way for researchers to recruit is to put up a poster in the hospital, but the people who respond are always the same demographic. In two papers we published in the British Medical Journal in 2025, we describe something we call inclusive infrastructure: you start with community engagement, you ask people how they might want to take part, and then you build the infrastructure to make it possible.  ",{"type":86,"attrs":200,"content":201},{"textAlign":33},[202,206],{"text":203,"type":101,"marks":204},"And beyond that work on inclusion, what else does your research cover?",[205],{"type":119},{"text":121,"type":101},{"type":86,"attrs":208,"content":209},{"textAlign":33},[210,212,221,227],{"text":211,"type":101},"My work runs along two lines. The first is population health, that is understanding and discovering the causes and consequences of disease in large populations. I’ve run studies across more than 20 countries, with more than 20,000 people, looking at the risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Much of what I’ve learned about South Asian heart health is reflected in my scientific papers and summarized into my book, ",{"text":213,"type":101,"marks":214},"Reclaiming our Hearts",[215,218,220],{"type":143,"attrs":216},{"href":217,"uuid":33,"anchor":33,"target":146,"linktype":147},"https://www.indigo.ca/products/reclaiming-our-hearts",{"type":219},"italic",{"type":150},{"text":222,"type":101,"marks":223},".",[224,226],{"type":143,"attrs":225},{"href":217,"uuid":33,"anchor":33,"target":146,"linktype":147},{"type":150},{"text":228,"type":101}," My studies have shown that South Asian people develop risk factors earlier in life than any other ethnic group, in large part because of what is known as “thin-fat” – we can carry a normal body weight but a higher percentage of body fat, which sets off a chain toward fatty liver, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. It’s multifactorial, genetics and environment both influence our outcomes. One of the recommendations in my book is something as practical as lowering carbohydrate intake which can help reduce the risk. ",{"type":86,"attrs":230,"content":231},{"textAlign":33},[232],{"text":233,"type":101},"The second line of my work is dedicated to clinical trials. My clinical specialty is peripheral artery disease, which affects the arteries, mainly in the legs. I’ve run trials showing that some drugs cause harm and shouldn’t be used, and that others are very effective at preventing outcomes like limb amputation. What I bring to my work is the ability to make an observation in a population and then carry that observation into a trial to see whether we can change the outcome. ",{"type":86,"attrs":235,"content":236},{"textAlign":33},[237,241],{"text":238,"type":101,"marks":239},"What do you hope to bring to the groups here?",[240],{"type":119},{"text":121,"type":101},{"type":86,"attrs":243,"content":244},{"textAlign":33},[245],{"text":246,"type":101},"What we’ve learned about implementing projects successfully in challenging settings. I have a large study in Hamilton working with newcomer families across 14 neighbourhoods, focused on increasing children’s participation in sport. During the pandemic, with two working parents, most kids ended up at home on screens. And because non-white populations are at higher risk of type 2 diabetes, we started to see more overweight, and even adult-onset diabetes, appearing in children. So, we’re moving upstream to prevent that.  ",{"type":86,"attrs":248,"content":249},{"textAlign":33},[250],{"text":251,"type":101},"That kind of work only succeeds if you build it with the community rather than for it. Much of my research comes down to community engagement. That means going to people and asking how they want to take part, then building the infrastructure to make it possible. It’s the same approach whether I’m working in a Hamilton neighbourhood or running trials in other countries, where the processes around research ethics, the infrastructure and the levels of trust can all look very different.  ",{"type":86,"attrs":253,"content":254},{"textAlign":33},[255],{"text":256,"type":101},"I also hope to give back by meeting trainees and early-career researchers and sharing how I worked through challenges in my own career. It’s a bidirectional experience, and I expect to leave with plans to collaborate on specific grants, papers or rounds.",{"type":86,"attrs":258,"content":259},{"textAlign":33},[260],{"text":261,"type":101,"marks":262},"Story by Zehra Goawala",[263],{"type":219},{"type":86,"attrs":265,"content":266},{"textAlign":33},[267],{"text":268,"type":101,"marks":269},"Photo by Kevin Van Paassen",[270],{"type":219},{"type":86,"attrs":272,"content":273},{"textAlign":33},[274],{"text":275,"type":101,"marks":276},"Originally published on Unity Health 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