During its Forum and Annual General Meeting last night, new fellows were inducted to the听(颁础贬厂). among them, 11 are from 平特五不中, including Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, Dr. Elham Emami听(). The Academy鈥檚 General Meeting also signals the beginning of Faculty of Dentistry professor and former Dean Dr. Paul J. Allison鈥檚 tenure as elected president of the Academy.
The Canadian Academy of Health Sciences was founded in 2004 as one of three national academic that comprise the. The two other CCA academies are the , to which Dentistry associate member Dr. Marta Cerruti was also recently inducted as a fellow, and the . The CAHS brings together not only the best and brightest minds from every discipline in health science, but also scholars with a demonstrable commitment to making a positive impact on the urgent health concerns of all Canadians. By providing independently researched, objective, and evidence-based analyses to government and public groups, the CAHS aims to recommend strategic, actionable solutions.
Together, Dr. Allison鈥檚 leadership role and Dean Emami鈥檚 induction as fellow in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences signal the excellence of Dentistry faculty members. As Dr. Allison notes, 鈥淭here are 5 criteria for nominating fellows, including the quality of their research, scholarly activities, and demonstrated leadership in their field, but what makes the CAHS unique is that it also values fellows that have shown a sustained commitment to community groups. We want people who will get involved and want to move things forward.鈥�
Over the years, Dr. Allison has worn many hats in the Academy: he has been a fellow since 2011, chair to a panel on Improving Access to Oral Health Care, discipline representative for dentistry and regional representative for Quebec, as well as the chair of the fellowship committee.
Importantly, Dr. Allison's new role signals a historic shift in the leadership composition of the Academy. "I am the first non-physician to become president of the Academy," Dr. Allison notes.听The inclusion of members from dentistry in the Academy's fellowship and leadership in, in addition to the increasing number of interdisciplinary researchers, demonstrates the growing trend of dentistry moving from the dental chair to the core of health sciences, as well as the important role of interdisciplinarity in both organizations such as the Academy and the interventions they make.
鈥淭he interdisciplinary nature of the Academy is by virtue of the fact that it has people from a broad range of disciplines 鈥� from fundamental researchers who are not health care professionals, through the whole range of health care professionals, and all the way to clinicians and people involved in government and policy. I believe very strongly that we need interdisciplinary approaches to the health and health care problems of Canadians today.听The issues we鈥檙e facing are very complex, and there鈥檚 no one discipline that has the capacity to resolve them on its own.鈥�
Moving forward, the main challenge for the Academy, Dr. Allison notes, 鈥渞emains getting recognition from decision makers to see our potential to help in these issues.鈥� As president, Dr. Allison plans to continue improving upon the Academy鈥檚 strengths 鈥� its diverse group of fellows, its interdisciplinarity, and commitment to solving the health problems of Canadians 鈥� while advocating for new ways of engaging the Academy鈥檚 fellowship at every level of governance, including Federal, Provincial, and local.
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