Dr. Emma Bartfay is Professor of Epidemiology in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ontario Tech University. After completing her doctoral degree at Western University in London, Ontario, she began her career as a research scientist at the Queen’s Cancer Research Institute in Kingston, Ontario, before joining academia in 2005 at Ontario Tech University. Since then, she has developed and taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in epidemiology, global health and communicable diseases, where she is passionate about global health issues such as neglected tropical diseases and environmental health. In 2013, Dr. Emma Bartfay was nominated by the Faculty of Health Sciences for the Ontario Tech University Award for Excellence in Teaching, and was named the “most influential professor” by student alumni. In 2019, Dr. Bartfay was nominated for a second time and has subsequently won the Ontario Tech University Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Dr. Emma Bartfay also has a productive research career, where she received numerous research grants and awards. Most notably, she received the prestigious Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care Career Scientist Award in health services research through the Health Research Personnel Development Program Open Competition. Additionally, Dr. Bartfay has obtained many Tri-Council and major national peer-reviewed research grants from agencies such as CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC, the National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC), the Canadian Heath Services Research Foundation (CHSRF), the J. P. Bickell Foundation, the Clare Nelson Bequest Fund and various internal grants to support her research.
To-date, Dr. Emma Bartfay has accumulated over 100 scholarly products, which includes high-impact international peer-reviewed journal publications, conference proceedings, book chapters, books and monographs. She is the co-author of the textbook Public Health in Canada (2014, Pearson). Dr. Bartfay’s work has appeared in national newspapers and other media, including featured interviews by the Elderbranch (US) and by Saint Elizabeth Health Care (Canada) in relation to her work in dementia care. A series of her work in dementia diagnosis was published in such international journals as the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, Geriatric and Gerontology International and Public Health. Her work has also been selected as the Editor’s choice and was cited in the World Alzheimer’s Report.
Dr. Emma Bartfay is an active contributor both in academia and in the wider community. She has been invited and served as a guest editor for an international journal in public health, a session chair and member of the technical program committee for a global health conference, as well as to sit on journal editorial boards and grant review panel of funding agencies. Dr. Bartfay also made significant contributions in the community. In the past, she has served on the Protocol Review Committee at the Windsor Regional Cancer Centre, the Scientific Advisory Committee at the Centre for Environmental Health of Ontario, the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Palliative Care Integration Project Evaluation Committee. Most recently, she served on the Steering Committee for the Age-Friendly Durham, a regional initiative funded by the Ontario Seniors’ Secretariat. Based on the WHO framework of age-friendly community, the committee developed an action plan to meet the needs of the residents and to address the challenges of the aging population, which was later unanimously endorsed by the regional council. Upon its conclusion, the Age-Friendly Durham steering committee has evolved into the Durham Council on Aging where Dr. Bartfay continues to serve in the same capacity.
