Sheela Basrur, (October 17, 1956 – June 2, 2008) was a Canadian physician and

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Chief Medical Officer of Health and Assistant Deputy Minister of Public Health. She resigned from these positions late in 2006 to undergo treatment for cancer.

Life and training

Basrur was born in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, in 1956 to Indian immigrants. Her mother, Parvathi Basrur, was a professor of veterinary genetics and her father, Vasanth Basrur, was a radiation oncologist. She grew up in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

, where there were very few visible minorities at the time. After obtaining a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

from the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

in 1979, she received her

doctor of medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in 1982, after which Basrur worked as a

general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

in Guelph for one year. She then spent a year in India and

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, where she became interested in public health. Upon returning to Canada, she obtained a

Master of Health Science The Master of Health Science (MHS/M.H.Sc.) degree is a specialized master's degree. Depending on the department and specific area of study, the MHS degree provides opportunities for advanced study and research (academic MHS programs) or prepares i ...

degree in 1987, specializing in

community health Community health refers to non-treatment based health services that are delivered outside Hospital, hospitals and Clinic, clinics. Community health is a subset of public health that is taught to and practiced by Clinician, clinicians as part of th ...

and

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

, again from the University of Toronto. She then completed a post-graduate residency, becoming a specialist in community medicine, as well as an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Toronto. Basrur lived in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

, but moved to Kitchener, where she underwent treatment for

leiomyosarcoma A leiomyosarcoma (LMS) is a rare malignant (cancerous) smooth muscle tumor. The word is . The stomach, bladder, uterus, blood vessels, and Gastrointestinal tract, intestines are examples of hollow organs made up of smooth muscles where LMS can be ...

, from which she eventually died on June 2, 2008.

Public career

Basrur became the Medical Officer of Health for the

East York East York is a district and former municipality within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1967 to 1998, it was officially the Borough of East York, a borough within the upper-tier municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. The borough was dissolved ...

Health Unit until East York was merged into the city of Toronto in 1998, when she became the first Medical Officer of Health for the new amalgamated city. She was widely hailed for her work during the 2003

Severe acute respiratory syndrome Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the virus SARS-CoV-1, the first identified strain of the SARS-related coronavirus. The first known cases occurred in November 2002, and the sy ...

(SARS) outbreak in Toronto, appearing in numerous television interviews on international networks, such as

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

. Basrur wrote a journal article with Barbara Yaffe and

Bonnie Henry Bonnie J. Fraser Henry (born ) is a Canadian epidemiologist, physician, and public servant who has been the provincial health officer at the British Columbia Ministry of Health since 2014. Henry is also a clinical associate professor at the Unive ...

in the 2004

Canadian Journal of Public Health ''Canadian Journal of Public Health'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of public health published by the Canadian Public Health Association on a bimonthly basis. It was originally established in 1910 as the ''Public Health Journal'' (), whic ...

entitled "SARS: A Local Public Health Perspective". She said upon the release of the NACSARS report that Basrur's other accomplishments included Canada's first city program that required restaurants to post health inspection results in their windows, post-9/11 bioterrorism preparation plans, and a citywide ban on cigarette smoking in 2004. In 2004 she was appointed Chief Medical Officer of Health and Assistant Deputy Minister of Public Health in the

Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care The Ministry of Health is the Government of Ontario ministry responsible for administering the health care system in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ministry is responsible to the Ontario Legislature through the minister of health, pr ...

. She remained in this position until her resignation on December 6, 2006, in order to undergo treatment for her cancer.

Honours

Basrur received a number of honours throughout her career. In 2007 she was awarded life membership in the Ontario Public Health Association (OPHA), as well as an honorary

doctor of laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

degree from

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

. A nursing

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's Etymology, etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγ ...

fellowship was established in Basrur's name by the Registered Nurses' Foundation of Ontario, and the OPHA created an award for social justice in her honour. A major Public celebration of the life and contributions of Dr.Sheela Basrur was held on Oct 17th 2008 4:00-5:30pm at Convocation Hall, University of Toronto, where the accomplishments of the late Dr. Basrur's life were celebrated by friends, family, the public and leaders from the City of Toronto, the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada. Upon the formation of the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion on March 8, 2008, it was announced that the headquarters would be known as the Sheela Basrur Centre. The following month, on April 10, Basrur was inducted into the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the Advice (constitutional), advice of the Executive Council ...

for her public service; Basrur's induction ceremony took place outside the normal award schedule, owing to her ongoing battle with

References

External links

*
Dr. Sheela Basrur biography
at th
Sheela Basrur Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basrur, Sheela 1956 births 2008 deaths Canadian public health doctors Canadian people of Indian descent Members of the Order of Ontario University of Toronto alumni Academic staff of the University of Toronto Deaths from cancer in Ontario Physicians from Toronto University of Western Ontario alumni 21st-century Canadian civil servants Deaths from leiomyosarcoma Canadian health officials 21st-century Canadian physicians 21st-century Canadian women physicians Canadian women public health doctors Canadian people of Malayali descent