Leadership
Director
Professor Daniel Sellen
Director, Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition
Daniel Sellen is cross-appointed in two faculties at the University of Toronto as Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Global Health, and Professor of Nutritional Sciences. He is also Senior Resident Scholar at the SickKids Centre for Global Child Health. He has served in many administrative roles at U of T, most recently as the inaugural Associate Dean of Research at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, and has a wealth of teaching, supervisory and academic mentoring experience. An expert in child nutrition, human ecology and international health with over 25 years of experience leading cross-disciplinary studies of child and family nutrition security, Prof. Sellen has initiated or collaborated on research in a range of vulnerable communities in a dozen countries — including nomads in Tanzania, rural and urban low income families in Guatemala, Mexico, and Kenya, families living with HIV in Ghana and Kenya, adolescent mothers in Bangladesh, resettled refugees in Britain and America, and new Canadians.
Executive Committee
Professor Trevor Young,
Dean, Temerty Faculty of Medicine and Vice Provost, Relations with Health Care Institutions
Chair, Lawson Centre Executive Committee
Trevor Young is Dean of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and Vice Provost, Relations with Health Care Institutions. He has been Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University; Professor and Head, Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia; and Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He was also Physician-in-Chief, Executive Vice President Programs at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. Prof. Young is a clinician-scientist who studies the molecular basis of bipolar disorder and its treatment and is interested in the long-term changes in the brain and how mood-stabilizing drugs can alter those changes. As Vice Provost, Relations with Health Care Institutions, Dean Young oversees the University's relationship with nine fully affiliated hospitals and 20 community-affiliated hospitals and health facilities.
Professor Lynn Wilson
Vice Dean, Clinical and Faculty Affairs, Temerty Faculty of Medicine
Lynn Wilson is a Professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. She has been a comprehensive family physician since 1986. Her interests have included palliative care, addiction medicine, obstetrics, and global health. Prof. Wilson has co-led a number of provincial and national projects regarding substance abuse education for physicians and is the co-editor of two textbooks on addiction medicine. Prof. Wilson was Vice Dean, Partnerships in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine from 2016 to 2020, responsible for the Faculty’s ongoing relationships with nine fully affiliated hospitals and 18 community-affiliated hospitals and health facilities, as well as government, community organizations and international collaborators. Her current role includes partnerships as well as clinical faculty appointments and related matters, such as professional values and faculty wellness.
Professor Justin Nodwell
Vice Dean, Research and Graduate Education, Temerty Faculty of Medicine
Justin Nodwell was appointed Vice Dean, Research and Graduate Education on May 1, 2021. In this new combined portfolio, Prof. Nodwell provides leadership and oversight of Temerty Medicine’s research activities and two key education activities — graduate education and undergraduate life sciences education. Dr. Nodwell is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, where he previously held the role of Chair for seven years. As Chair, he coordinated the department’s move to MaRS, and oversaw the department’s expansion through several faculty recruits and cross-appointments. He also undertook renewals of the undergraduate and graduate programs, and successfully implemented laboratory rotations for incoming graduate students.
Professor Meredith Irwin
Chair, Department of Paediatrics
Meredith Irwin was appointed Chair of the Department of Paediatrics at U of T and Chief of Paediatrics at The Hospial for Sick Children in 2020. She holds cross-appointments at U of T in Medical Biophysics and Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology. Prof. Irwin is a Senior Scientist in the Cell Biology program in SickKids’ Research Institute, as well as a paediatric oncologist and a global leader in the development of clinical trials and novel biomarkers for patients with neuroblastoma. Prof. Irwin is also Co-Director of the Neuroblastoma Program and Head of the Solid Tumour Section of the Division of Haematology/Oncology, where she serves as an Attending Physician.
Professor Danielle Martin
Chair, Department of Family and Community Medicine
Danielle Martin is the appointed Chair and Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, with cross-appointments at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She served as the Executive Vice President and Lead Medical Executive at Women's College Hospital and currently sits on the board of directors and chairs the Anti-Black Racism Task Force of the Wellesley Institute. She co-founded WIHV, the institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care; led the establishment of Women's Virtual, Canada's first virtual hospital; and was medical lead for the hospital's pandemic response. Her main academic interests include improving health care quality, equity and access in universal health care systems.
Professor Deborah O'Connor
Chair, Department of Nutritional Sciences
Deborah O’Connor is the Acting Director of the Joannah & Brian Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition. She has also been Chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences since 2018. She holds a departmental chair in Vitamin Research in Human Milk and Development at U of T, and has scientific appointments at The Hospital for Sick Children and Mount Sinai Hospital. At SickKids, Prof. O'Connor served as Director of Clinical Dietetics and Breastfeeding Support from 2000 to 2012 and then as Associate Chief of Academic and Professional Practice until 2013. She studies maternal and infant nutrition and has published extensively on the nutritional requirements of pregnant and lactating women, and on strategies to help provide human milk to vulnerable infants.