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Anna Banerji
M.D. O. Ont.
NationalityCanadian
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
Harvard School of Public Health

McGill University

Ottawa University
Occupation(s)Infectious and tropical disease physician; pediatrican; public health specialist
Organization(s)Founder and chair, North American Refugee Health Conference (Canadian), founder and chair, Indigenous Health Conference
Known forCOVID-19 commentary in Canadian news, advocacy for Indigenous and refugee populations
HonoursOrder of Ontario, 2012
Diamond Jubilee Medal, 2012 Peter Henderson Bryce Award 2019

Anna Banerji M.D., O. Ont. is a Toronto infectious disease doctor, tropical disease specialist, pediatrician, public health specialist, academic, and activist.[1] She is the founder and chair of both the North American Refugee Health Conference in Canada[2] and the Indigenous Health Conference,[3] and the co-founder of the Society of Refugee Healthcare Providers.[4] She was awarded the Dr Peter Bryce Henderson for her advocacy for Indigenous children.[5]

Education

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Banerji studied Arts and Science at the University of Toronto from 1983 to 1985. In 1989, she graduated from the University of Toronto as a Doctor of Medicine.[4] She completed a pediatric residency at Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, University of Ottawa from 1992 to 1995, then Infectious Diseases at McGill University from 1995 to 1997. Subsequently she completed a clinical research fellowship while studying Tropical Medicine in 1998.

She obtained a Masters of Public Health from Harvard School of Public Health[4] in 2003, where she was selected as promising graduate to represent HSPH for the Harvard Gazette for the class of 2003.[6]

Academic career

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From 2007 to 2016, Banerji was an assistant professor at University of Toronto's Faculty of Medicine, specialising in infectious and tropical disease and pediatrics.[4] She is currently an associate professor at both the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health[7] and the University of Toronto's Temerty Faculty of Medicine.[4]

She has spent almost three decades advocating for equity for Indigenous children, including the RSV antibody palivizumab, and for better housing, access to clean water and solutions to food insecurity.[5] Banerji published a series of papers that showed that infants in Nunavut have the highest global rate of Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).[8][9][10][11] She did economic analyses to show that it was cheaper to give the RSV antibody palivizumab than to pay for hospitalization.[12][13][14][15] However, this strategy was introduced, resulting in a petition with almost a quarter of a million signatures at change.org.[16]

Banerji has been working with refugee populations for most of her career, and created refugee children's clinics when there was a surge of Syrian refugees and more recently Afghan refugees.[17] She is the founder and chair of the North American Refugee Health Conference in Canada, which occurs on alternative years.[2] She is the co-founder of the Society of Refugee Healthcare Providers, and was the first chair of the board from 2015 to 2022.[4] She is the founding Executive Director of the new not-for-profit North American Refugee Health Confernece Inc.

Advocacy

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Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic Banerji was regularly quoted in Canadian media speaking about the connections between COVID-19 and child mental health,[18] how to safely navigate family gatherings,[7] the importance of COVID-19 vaccines,[19] COVID-19 vaccine mandates,[20] and the need for better public policy.[21] She was very involved in addressing COVID-19 in Indigenous communities in Ontario, including petitioning for more resources,[22] being part of the Nishnawabe Aski Nation Covid-19 Task-force, and spending five weeks vaccinating First Nations Indigenous youth in Northern Ontario.[23]

She was the recipient of the Dr. Peter Henderson Bryce Award in 2019.[5]

In addition to being a physician and an human rights advocate, Banerji used to be a clown during medical school, and has made animal balloons for children around the world including in Africa, Haiti after the earthquake, and recently in remote First Nations communities. She is commonly referred to as "Dr. Balloon".[23]

Awards

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  • Top 25 Women of Influence, 2024[24]
  • Order of Ontario, 2012[4][25]
  • Diamond Jubilee Medal, 2012[4]
  • Ontario Pediatrician of the Year, as selected by the Ontario Pediatric Alliance 2022
  • Arbor Award, University of Toronto 2022[26]
  • Pillars of the Pandemic Award 2022[23]
  • Dr. Peter Henderson Bryce Award by the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society 2019[5]

Family

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Banerji has a daughter who was born in 2000. She adopted a son from Nunavut, Nathan Banerji-Kearney, who died in 2018 by suicide, aged 14.[27][28] Banerji, with friends, set up two scholarships in her son's name for Indigenous medical students,[29][30][31] and has advocated for improving access to mental health services, especially for Indigenous youth.[32]

References

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  1. ^ "CPD University of Toronto". www.cpd.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  2. ^ a b "North American Refugee Health Conference". www.northamericanrefugeehealth.com. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  3. ^ "Indigenous Health Conference 2024 | Rekindling Nations". ihc2024.ca. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Banerji, Anna". Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  5. ^ a b c d "Dr. Anna Banerji | First Nations Child & Family Caring Society". fncaringsociety.com. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  6. ^ Staff, Alvin Powell Gazette (2003-06-05). "Heading north to heal". Harvard Gazette. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  7. ^ a b "Unvaxxed loved ones? How to handle tense family gatherings over the holidays". CTVNews. 2021-11-19. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  8. ^ Banerji, A.; Panzov, V.; Young, M.; Robinson, J.; Lee, B.; Moraes, T.; Mamdani, M.; Giles, B. L.; Jiang, D.; Bisson, D.; Dennis, M.; Morel, J.; Hall, J.; Hui, C.; Paes, B. (2016-10-18). "Hospital admissions for lower respiratory tract infections among infants in the Canadian Arctic: a cohort study". CMAJ Open. 4 (4): E615–E622. doi:10.9778/cmajo.20150051. ISSN 2291-0026. PMC 5173479. PMID 28018874. S2CID 23298566.
  9. ^ Banerji, Anna; Greenberg, David; White, Laura Forsberg; Macdonald, W Alexander; Saxton, Audrey; Thomas, Eva; Sage, Douglas; Mamdani, Muhammad; Lanctôt, Krista L.; Mahony, James B.; Dingle, Mia; Roberts, Ann (August 2009). "Risk Factors and Viruses Associated With Hospitalization Due to Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Canadian Inuit Children". Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. 28 (8): 697–701. doi:10.1097/inf.0b013e31819f1f89. ISSN 0891-3668. PMID 19461554. S2CID 13283507.
  10. ^ "High-risk Nunavut babies to get antibodies sooner as RSV cases rise across globe". Nunatsiaq News. 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  11. ^ "Anna Banerji, David Suzuki, Faisal Moola: Inuit infants need access to medication to prevent respiratory illness". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  12. ^ Banerji, A.; Ng, K.; Moraes, T. J.; Panzov, V.; Robinson, J.; Lee, B. E. (2016-10-18). "Cost-effectiveness of palivizumab compared to no prophylaxis in term infants residing in the Canadian Arctic". CMAJ Open. 4 (4): E623–E633. doi:10.9778/cmajo.20150052. ISSN 2291-0026. PMC 5396468. PMID 28443266.
  13. ^ Banerji, Anna; Panzov, Vladimir; Young, Michael; Lee, Bonita E; Mamdani, Muhammad; Giles, B Louise; Dennis, Marguerite; Morel, Johanne; Bisson, Danny; Paes, Bosco A; Hui, Charles; Mahony, Jim (2014). "The Real-Life Effectiveness of Palivizumab for Reducing Hospital Admissions for Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Infants Residing in Nunavut". Canadian Respiratory Journal. 21 (3): 185–189. doi:10.1155/2014/941367. ISSN 1198-2241. PMC 4128465. PMID 24367792.
  14. ^ Tam, Derrick Y.; Banerji, Anna; Paes, Bosco A.; Hui, Charles; Tarride, Jean-Eric; Lanctôt, Krista L. (2009-11-10). "The cost effectiveness of palivizumab in term Inuit infants in the Eastern Canadian Arctic". Journal of Medical Economics. 12 (4): 361–370. doi:10.3111/13696990903442155. ISSN 1369-6998. PMID 19900071. S2CID 22869942.
  15. ^ Banerji, Anna; Lanctôt, Krista L.; Paes, Bosco A.; Masoud, Shababa T.; Tam, Derrick Y.; Macdonald, W Alexander; Roberts, Ann (August 2009). "Comparison of the Cost of Hospitalization for Respiratory Syncytial Virus Disease Versus Palivizumab Prophylaxis in Canadian Inuit Infants". Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. 28 (8): 702–706. doi:10.1097/inf.0b013e31819df78e. ISSN 0891-3668. PMID 19461555. S2CID 46179233.
  16. ^ change.org/fairmedicine
  17. ^ Adopia, Vik (January 20, 2016). "Care for Syrian refugee children goes above and beyond". CBC The National. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  18. ^ Ireland, Nicole (20 Nov 2021). "Doctors say the kids' COVID-19 vaccine is a booster for mental health". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
  19. ^ Rider, David (2021-11-04). "Toronto COVID-19 infections on the rise after prolonged drop". Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  20. ^ Rider, David (2021-08-10). "Toronto is in the fourth wave of COVID-19, experts say, as daily infection numbers soar". Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  21. ^ "Ontario's back-to-school plan encouraging, but lacks vaccine policy: experts". Global News. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  22. ^ change.org/covid19indigenous
  23. ^ a b c "In Toronto, she's an infectious disease specialist. In the North, she's Dr. Balloon". Healthy Debate. 2021-10-12. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  24. ^ [1]
  25. ^ "Rahul Singh, Anna Banerji among 27 named to Order of Ontario". BramptonGuardian.com. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
  26. ^ "Celebrating Temerty Medicine's 2022 Arbor Award Recipients". temertymedicine.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  27. ^ "Inuk teen remembered through new medical bursary award". Nunatsiaq News. 2021-01-07. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  28. ^ Newton, Paula (16 August 2020). "Coronavirus accelerates a mental-health crisis for Canada's indigenous youth". CNN. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  29. ^ "Making Change: How a Tragic Loss Inspired Two New Awards for Indigenous MD Students". temertymedicine.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  30. ^ "Community-led solutions urged to address gaps in health-care for Indigenous patients". thestar.com. 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  31. ^ Doctor creates award for Indigenous medical students in son's memory, retrieved 2023-06-03
  32. ^ Galloway, Matt (May 29, 2023). "CBC The Current: Helping Teens Cope with Depression". CBC. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
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