The university hosts conferences, events and podcasts aimed at general audiences, such as its annual McMaster Global event, and participates in initiatives like the 2023 World’s Challenge Challenge (WCC), which invited undergraduate and graduate students to propose innovative solutions to pressing global issues aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The competition culminated in an international final at Western University, where teams competed for prizes of up to $30,000 to advance their ideas. McMaster’s Global Health Office continues to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and action toward achieving the Global Goals. 

Events involving government & NGO PARTNERS

Panellists from institutions around the world joined in conversation around how HEIs can advance the global goals. Throughout the discussion, panellists came back to the importance of SDG 4 (Quality Education) as key enabler of all the other SDGs. In the context of internationalization in higher education, the panel agreed that higher education institutions can promote and advance SDG 4 to the benefit of all other goals. Panellists hosted by McMaster for this discussion:  

• Charles Hopkins UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability, York University 
• Dr. Andrea Baumann Associate Vice-President, Global Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University 
• Meghna Ramaswamy Director of the International Office, University of Saskatchewan 
• Omar Hernández Public Information Officer, United Nations Academic Impact 
• Monika Froehler CEO, Ban Ki-Moon Centre for Global Citizens 

COP29: climate justice and sustainable healthcare

McMaster researchers Bonny Ibhawoh, vice-provost, International, and Myles Sergeant, an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine, will be among the global experts at the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29), sharing their expertise to critical conversations around climate justice and health care.

• Ibhawoh will present the preliminary findings of a climate justice study he is undertaking with support from researchers at the McMaster Centre for Human Rights and Restorative Justice. He shared with us why climate justice, which is rooted in the understanding that the impacts of climate change are unevenly distributed across the globe, is an essential framework for global conversations about climate change.
• With support from McMaster, Myles started PEACH Health Ontario, a provincial initiative influencing hospital strategic plans to incorporate sustainability, developing a business case for sustainable menu options in hospitals, engaging with family physicians to lead sustainability initiatives, and researching how to reduce the environmental footprint of end-of-life care while improving patient care.

Conferences bringing together government, NGO voices

The Canadian Conference on Global Health (CCGH)

The Canadian Conference on Global Health (CCGH) in 2023 centered on the theme “From Rhetoric to Action: Moving Policy, Research, and Practice.” The event explored critical aspects of global health, emphasizing health equity, inclusivity, and the transition from discussion to tangible outcomes. Sub-themes included addressing health inequities; fostering partnerships with shared benefits in research, training, and practice; exploring the transformative role of innovation, technology, and digital health; and unpacking the influence of policy and politics in global health. Through these discussions, the conference aimed to inspire actionable steps to advance global health efforts.

Simulating a scientific conference experience, students will formally present their thesis research proposals and scholarly paper abstracts and receive critical feedback from peers and faculty.  Student presentations have been divided thematically using the SDGs and topics that range from migrant and refugee health, mental health, Indigenous health, and the COVID-19 pandemic.  This year, SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), and SDG 10 (Reducing Inequalities) were among the top themes.

Events hosted by McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA)

The MIRA International Scientific Advisory Committee (ISAC) is composed of highly accomplished and world-renowned scientists from the international community who are active in research on aging, ensuring objectivity and the highest standard of scientific excellence regarding research priorities and performance.

9 major public events

Launch of Voice Canada with speaker Jennifer Heisz, Snacks and Science with speaker Anthea Innes, Hooker lecture with speaker Cathy Sherrington, Older Adults Open Campus Day, Building Communities for Aging Better with MIRA’s ISAC, Looking to the Future: Reimagining medical support in long-term care and assisted living with speaker Paul Katz, Oakville Seniors Fair, BIRMAC Tale of Two Cities (sessions held in Hamilton and Birmingham UK).

5 major knowledge mobilization events

2023 MIRA & Labarge Knowledge Exchange, MIRA | Dixon Hall Centre Townhall, Canadian Conference on Research Administration (CARA) in St. Johns, NL, Canadian Association of Gerontology (CAG) conference, and World Non-Communicable Diseases Congress (WNCD 2023) in Toronto.

22 research seminars & workshops

Design Thinking workshop with adjunct MIRA member PJ White from South East Technological University (SETU) Ireland; macPAGE kickoff talk with Léa Ravensbergen, Faculty of Science Graduate workshop, trainee Pitch Your Project event, National Research Council of Canada Aging in Place kickoff, MIRA leadership workshops, BIRMAC Tale of Two Cities, AURA Research 101, early career researcher luncheon, IPRC Pain Day workshop, MARC transportation mobility kickoff, MIRA’s Fall Funding Webinar, and seven #TraineeTalks for trainees to connect and share their work.

Universitas 21 (U21) 

As a member of Universitas 21 (U21), McMaster University participates in a leading global network of research-intensive universities that empowers its members to share excellence, collaborate across borders and nurture global knowledge exchange around the SDGs.   

Committed to promoting the value of internationalization and multinational collaboration, U21 facilitates the delivery of programs, activities and initiatives which could not be delivered through a single university or via bi-lateral agreements.  

McMaster’s Global Health Office is an active member of the Universitas 21 Health Sciences Group’s UN Sustainable Development Goals Initiative, which connects member universities that provide health professional training in education and actions of the SDGs. We continue to work with U21 on ways to mobilize our students and encourage student-led activities including UN SDG Awareness Week.  

McMaster also participated in the U21 SDG Forum, sharing the ways in which the SDGs are being aligned with the Health Sciences curriculum.   

Annual Global Health Symposium

The annual Global Health Learning Symposium took place in Manipal, India at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) from April 17-29, 2023 to addresses concerns of equity and inclusion in ways that accommodate global concerns.

This new model for internationalization of higher education supports McMaster University’s institutional priority on Engaging Local, National, Indigenous, and Global Communities. Specifically, the dual offering of in-situ and virtual Symposium options aims “to expand community engaged and globally connected educational offerings, including enhancing the opportunities available in a virtual environment”

SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), and SDG 10 (Reducing Inequalities) were among the top themes.

Throughout the concurrent (online and in-person) symposiums, the importance of SDGs and internationalization were highlighted as students from around the world were able to share diverse and innovative perspectives on how to progress sustainability and equitably, both locally and globally.

The Future of Vaccinology 

Hosted by McMaster University’s Global Nexus School for Pandemic Prevention & Response and Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, The Future of Vaccinology is a two-day symposium designed to bring thought-leaders together for holistic discussion about ongoing and emerging vaccine-relevant research. Key themes include aerosolized vaccines, vaccines that offer broad protection, experimental vaccinology, cancer vaccines, vaccination of vulnerable populations, and more. The event is tailored to researchers and trainees, industry professionals, government officials, regulatory experts, and scientific journal editors.  

The Future of Vaccinology Symposium included many experts – national and international – who spoke on the history and development of vaccines for rotovirus, Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and malaria, as well as vaccine policy and methods for evaluating vaccine efficacy and effectiveness. 

Educational series highlighting expertise of public sector partners

2023 Consortium Universities for Global Health (CUGH)

The 2023 Consortium Universities for Global Health (CUGH) Conference took place in-person in Washington, DC from April 14th-16th. This year’s conference theme “Global Health at a Crossroads: Equity, Climate Change and Microbial Threats” offered an invaluable opportunity to bring together experts across sectors within the field of Global Health to discuss the most pressing challenges of our times. CUGH brought together researchers, policymakers, professionals, and students alike to share knowledge and enhance the ever-strengthening network of Global Health practitioners.

“Unparalleled dedication to student growth and climate science” – Professor’s local initiatives have global impact

Dr. Altaf Arain, who’s now a professor in the School of Earth, Environment & Society and the Science Research Chair in Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change, was looking to test a potential solution to our climate crisis. In 2002, he launched the Turkey Point Environmental Observatory which has been collecting data every half hour ever since, making it an invaluable resource for hundreds of climate scientists around the world.

Seven years later, he founded the McMaster Centre for Climate – a centre he would lead for 15 years and build into a catalyst for interdisciplinary research, student engagement, science communication and community outreach.

Altaf met with politicians and government agencies, fielding interview requests from journalists and connecting with climate scientists, groups and organizations looking to collaborate or replicate what the centre was doing at their universities. He says the centre has become everything he had hoped for – fostering multidisciplinary research with local to international partnerships, championing science communication and inspiring the next generation of climate scientists.

Faculty associated with the centre have published more than 300 peer-reviewed journal articles, presented over 160 times at national and international scientific conferences, workshops and symposiums and secured more than $8.5 million in grants from Tri-Council agencies and the Global Water Futures Program.

The Arctic: A Global Health Perspective  

Despite documented health disparities between the circumpolar north and other regions, the Arctic remains an underrepresented area in global health research, which the Global Health Office has been eager to explore. The Arctic: A Global Health Perspective series offered a transdisciplinary look at key global health challenges and opportunities in the High North.  The 10-part webinar series, featuring academics and specialists that covers topics including Arctic governance, climate change, Covid-19, food security, migration, Indigenous rights and more.  

Global Health Podcast 

Current global health challenges are multiple and complex, from the rising burden of disease to the climate crisis to health disparities. The Global Health Collective was a limited-edition podcast series based on the UN SDGs and explores some of these issues and the research and work being done in response. With strategic support provided by the Global Health Office and a focus on the SDGs, the podcast invites students, faculty, staff, and global health changemakers from the broader community to share their stories about the differences they’re making towards meeting the global goals. 

Projects or research studies WITH government & NON-PROFIT PARTNERS 

Institute on Ethics & Policy for Innovation

At IEPI, we identify and address ethical challenges, ethics-related risks, and policy gaps that have the potential to undermine the impact of life-saving technologies and interventions in global health. We collaborate with the global health research community, partners, funders, and other stakeholders to navigate the ethical, social, and cultural challenges that arise from scientific and technological advancement — so that, ultimately, innovative health solutions reach those who need them most.

Improving Policymaking with Strong Global Partnerships and the Best Research Evidence

Professor John Lavis launched Social Systems Evidence (SSE), the most comprehensive, free access point for evidence on strengthening 20 government sectors and achieving the SDGs. He is improving policymaking with strong global partnerships and the best research evidence by injecting research evidence to inform government on how to approach their commitments.

IAEA review of the McMaster Nuclear Reactor supports plans for expansion

McMaster welcomed a team of international nuclear experts to campus at the start of 2024 for an in-depth evaluation focused on the research, education and commercial utilization of the McMaster Nuclear Reactor (MNR) and its plans for expansion.

The review was led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – the world’s centre for cooperation in the nuclear field, headquartered in Vienna, Austria – as part of their Integrated Research Reactor Utilization Review (IRRUR) mission.

The review took place at a pivotal time for MNR. In 2023, McMaster received a total of $13.6M in funding from the Government of Canada and Government of Ontario to expand medical isotope production and increase operating hours at MNR to enable more research in nuclear medicine, materials science, clean energy and small modular reactors (SMRs).

Pollution, Power, and Protest: Unpacking Environmental Racism from Africville to Wet’suwet’en

In a world where clean air and safe drinking water should be fundamental rights, Dr. Ingrid Waldron exposed a national crisis during her seminar, From Africville to Wet’suwet’en: The Health Effects of Environmental Racism in Indigenous and Black Communities in Canada. Reflecting on her expertise as an advocate, health researcher, and HOPE Chair in Peace and Health at McMaster University, Waldron illustrated how systemic inequalities force marginalized communities to bear the brunt of toxic pollution and its devastating health impacts.

Waldron’s commitment to support these communities and advocate for policy change led her to launch the ENRICH Project. This initiative helps to raise awareness for this issue through multimedia campaigns, conducts interdisciplinary research, and provides training that empowers communities to monitor environmental hazards. The ENRICH Project has also played a key role in advocating for environmental racism and justice legislation in Canada. As Waldron stated, “In order to get people to act, they first have to empathize. In order for them to empathize, they first have to understand.” This prompted her to write the book, There’s Something in the Water, which was later adapted into a Netflix documentary in 2019, which explores environmental racism in Nova Scotia and amplifies the voices of Black and Indigenous communities fighting against industrial pollution.

Fueling child health research at McMaster

Thanks to a significant donation to McMaster University’s Department of Pediatrics in 2021, the Collaborative Research Excellence (CoRE) Builder Team Grant was established. These annual grants support transformative child health research with a special focus on collaborative, cross-disciplinary studies that have the potential to secure external funding in the future. CoRE project highlights include:

• Caring for Kids Hospitalized with Pneumonia
• Pediatric Palliative Medicine Impact Study
• Addressing Misdiagnosed Allergies in Pediatric Care
• And more…

Addressing climate change impact on Black communities

Ingrid Waldron, the HOPE Chair in Peace and Health in the Faculty of Humanities, and McMaster Engineering researcher Zobia Jawed are working together on a series of educational workshops for underrepresented communities in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area to bridge the gap between these communities and climate policymakers.

“In the complex intersection of climate challenges and infrastructure shortcomings, underrepresented communities fervently call for immediate action,” says Jawed, who has taken on a Senior Research Fellowship in the Global Peace and Social Justice program.

With the help of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, the Toronto Environmental Alliance and Waldron’s Environmental Noxiousness, Racial Inequities and Community Health Project, the workshops link climate change and climate justice to relevant aspects of life for the participants.

“People from marginalized communities are underrepresented in climate discussion because they’re distracted by other priorities,” says Waldron. “Because they may be low income, because they’re racialized, they have other competing priorities, and the climate messages shared by climate scientists often lack relevance.”

“But climate change is a housing issue. Climate change is a food security issue. Climate change is an income issue. Those are the things that people care about.”

The workshops will begin early in 2024 and will continue through the end of 2026. The goal is to spark and sustain an interest in climate action, empower participants to act, get them comfortable with talking about climate change, and generate passion for the cause.

Global centre for climate change being co-led by McMaster Engineering professor awarded $3.75 million grant

A new global centre focused on climate change promises to address complex water crises that span international boundaries and jurisdictions.

Gail Krantzberg, a professor and program lead from McMaster’s Masters of Engineering and Public Policy program in the W Booth School of Engineering Practice and Drew Gronewold from the University of Michigan (U-M) will lead the project. The Global Centre for Understanding Climate Change Impacts on Transboundary Waters will have a special focus on collaborating with Indigenous populations.

The centre received $3.75 million in funding from the National Science Foundation Global Centres – a joint initiative between the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the US National Science Foundation (NSF), Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to encourage and support international collaborative research on climate change and clean energy.

Networks connecting McMaster with public sector leadership

McMaster Institute for Transportation and Logistics (MILT)

MITL conducts world-class, multidisciplinary, cross-sectoral, collaborative research in transportation and logistics to:

• Accelerate the identification, mobilization and adoption of knowledge and innovation;
• Identify and address pressing regional and national challenges in transportation and logistics including those of vulnerable populations;
• Educate the next generation of thought leaders in transportation and logistics;
• Foster long-term strategic partnerships between the academic, public and private sectors, and;
• Contribute to the international transportation and logistics research agenda.

MILT’s research areas include goods movements and multimodality, logistics, electric vehicles, disruptive mobility technologies, emissions/environmental sustainability, and urban transportation policy. Among its notable projects are:

• Metropolitan Traffic Congestion in Canada: Measures, Causes, Implications and Policies
• The Safety Impacts of Red Light Cameras in the City of Hamilton, and Benchmarking & Planning
• Promoting Transit-Oriented Intensification in Rapid Transit Station Areas
• Economic impact on manufacturing opportunities in Ontario, operational efficiencies (avoided costs), infrastructural requirements and changes in labour demands and skills
• Impacts of environment and health due to traffic-related emissions due to emerging new mobility technologies

“Unparalleled dedication to student growth and climate science” – Professor’s local initiatives have global impact

Dr. Altaf Arain, who’s now a professor in the School of Earth, Environment & Society and the Science Research Chair in Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change, was looking to test a potential solution to our climate crisis. In 2002, he launched the Turkey Point Environmental Observatory which has been collecting data every half hour ever since, making it an invaluable resource for hundreds of climate scientists around the world.

Seven years later, he founded the McMaster Centre for Climate – a centre he would lead for 15 years and build into a catalyst for interdisciplinary research, student engagement, science communication and community outreach.

Altaf met with politicians and government agencies, fielding interview requests from journalists and connecting with climate scientists, groups and organizations looking to collaborate or replicate what the centre was doing at their universities. He says the centre has become everything he had hoped for – fostering multidisciplinary research with local to international partnerships, championing science communication and inspiring the next generation of climate scientists.

Faculty associated with the centre have published more than 300 peer-reviewed journal articles, presented over 160 times at national and international scientific conferences, workshops and symposiums and secured more than $8.5 million in grants from Tri-Council agencies and the Global Water Futures Program.

‘Together, we can work to stop the climate crisis’

The 2024 Canada-Caribbean Institute Symposium, held at McMaster last week, included panel discussions with globally recognized experts as well as student researchers. McMaster is the lead Canadian partner of the Canada-Caribbean Institute.

In addition to sharing research and ideas on a vast range of topics — climate justice, health, housing and food security, climate vulnerabilities, climate resilience, and promoting the adoption of alternative energy sources, to name a few — attendees from Canada and a large number of Caribbean nations also had an opportunity to create and strengthen relationships with peers, colleagues and allies in advocacy.

Sustainable Development Solutions Network Canada 

The McMaster Health Forum is part of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network Canada, which mobilizes global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical solutions for sustainable development. SDSN members work together across the globe to support action-oriented research to address the SDGs. 

We plan to share what we learn from SDSN activities with our fellow Partners for Evidence-driven Rapid Learning in Social Systems (PERLSS) in our effort to support the achievement of the non-health SDGs using best evidence, citizen values and stakeholder insights in 13 other countries around the globe. 

The McMaster Health Forum’s efforts include bringing synthesized research evidence from its Health Systems Evidence and Social Systems Evidence databases to network activities involving policymakers and other leaders. 

Combating Climate Change 

Mission Innovation is a global initiative of 22 countries to dramatically accelerate global clean energy innovation, as identified in the SDGs, by driving research and development in key areas, such as sustainable biofuels, smart grids, off-grid access, carbon capture, and clean energy materials. 

In 2018, McMaster University hosted the organization’s Clean Energy Materials Innovation Challenge Workshop, the second in a series of international meetings. Participants included McMaster’s Faculty of Engineering, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Natural Resources Canada, and experts from Mexico and the United States. 

Hamilton Anchor Institution Leadership 

McMaster University is a founding partner of the Hamilton Anchor Institution Leadership (HAIL) initiative. HAIL brings together a cross-section of institutional and private sector leaders to address pressing challenges in Hamilton, such as poverty, environment, and regional economic development. 

The initiative includes the City of Hamilton, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton Health Sciences, the Local Health Integration Network, the local school boards, Hamilton Police Services, Mohawk College, Chamber of Commerce, ArcelorMittal Dofasco, and the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction. 

HAIL exemplifies the partnerships envisioned by the Postsecondary Principles of Cooperation, signed by Hamilton’s three postsecondary institutions with the City of Hamilton in 2016 and again in 2019 — to promote access to education, retention of local talent, and mutual cooperation for the benefit of all citizens and the broader society.