Climate change is reshaping how healthcare must prepare for and respond to increasingly frequent wildfires, extreme heat, and other climate-related hazards. This panel highlights innovative approaches to building climate-resilient care across clinical and health system settings.
Presentations will explore 1) scalable digital mental health supports deployed during wildfire emergencies, 2) patient-partnered tools that help individuals prepare for wildfire smoke and extreme heat, 3) the critical role of primary care in preventing and managing wildfire-related health impacts, and 4) lessons from a cross-sector initiative to strengthen Toronto’s healthcare preparedness for extreme heat. Together, these examples demonstrate how healthcare organizations can move beyond emergency response toward proactive, coordinated, and patient-centred approaches that strengthen resilience while protecting populations at greatest risk.
Moderator
Jamie Lundine, MSc, PhD
Jamie Lundine is a former wildland fire dispatcher and currently a Senior Advisor with the Centre for Research on Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies (CRPPHE), housed at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). In her role with the CRPPHE, she supports the development of funding policies and programs related to pandemics and health emergencies. Dr. Lundine holds a PhD from the University of Ottawa, an MSc from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and a BA (Hons) from McGill University.
Panelists
Vincent Agyapong, MD, PhD
Vincent Agyapong is a psychiatrist, health system leader, and researcher with expertise in climate change and disaster mental health. He is the Director of the Dalhousie Centre for Global Mental Health and the Head of the Department of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University. His research has examined the long-term psychological impacts of climate-related disasters, including wildfires and flooding, and the development of scalable interventions to support affected populations. He has led large population-based studies, randomized trials, and implementation research across diverse settings. His expertise spans climate resilience, digital mental health, implementation science, health system transformation, and global partnerships.
Stacey Butler, MSc, PhD
Stacey Butler is a post-doctoral fellow at Unity Health Toronto working with Dr. Samir Gupta. She is leading research and quality improvement projects centered around climate change and sustainability in respiratory medicine. Her work takes a patient-centered approach to understand the health impacts of climate change for individuals with chronic respiratory disease, integrate sustainability into respiratory care, and build climate resilience among this population.
Sean Kidd, PhD
Sean Kidd is a Senior Scientist with the Slaight Family Centre for Youth in Transition at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and an Associate Professor in the University of Toronto’s Department of Psychiatry. Sean’s areas of focus have included developing and trialling interventions for individuals with severe mental illnesses and youth who have experienced homelessness. His research has included trials of cognitive and critical time interventions for schizophrenia spectrum populations, housing stabilization interventions for homeless youth, digital health interventions for severe mental illness, and global health work in the area of climate change and homelessness. He has founded global and national networks related to health equity and climate change and co-leads climate-related initiatives at CAMH.
Lyall Pacey, MD, MSc, MPH, CCFP
Lyall Pacey is a final-year resident in NOSM University’s Public Health and Preventive Medicine (PHPM) program. He completed his family medicine residency in Northern Ontario communities, and this year will complete final rotations in Sault Ste Marie ON and Northern Saskatchewan. Starting in community health work in 2010, he was driven to a career in medicine and that fed his interests in community-based care and helping at a population level. Today, Lyall expands on impacts of wildfires and interventions relevant to primary care.