One Health Summer Institute students conducting research at Lusk Creek, Alberta.ANDREA KORMYLO
Innovation ecosystem at UCalgary advancing novel and holistic approaches
Solving pressing complex societal issues – such as the impacts of climate change, emerging health threats and widening socio-economic inequities – requires ingenuity from various branches of knowledge using novel and holistic approaches. That’s the transformative One Health approach that has been embraced by the University of Calgary since 2019.
UCalgary, a research institution at the forefront of this methodology in Canada, offers “an incredible convergence of people and capacity,” says William Ghali, the university’s vice president (research).
At its core, he explains, One Health adopts a systems view. It’s utilized globally, and supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and institutions across Canada, recognizing the intricate web binding human, animal and environmental health. It is predicated on collaborations between diverse fields, such as veterinary medicine, medicine, public health, environmental science, geography and engineering.
At UCalgary, One Health is a cross-cutting research theme that is founded in “discipline-based research and scholarship that pulls disciplines out of their traditional focus to think laterally,” explains Dr. Ghali.
One Health provides an opportunity for the university to “advance transdisciplinary research, amplify its expertise and strengths, and maximize our impact,” he says. “It’s a top priority of our university.”
One Health at UCalgary is facilitating interdisciplinary cross-faculty connections under the themes of healthy water ecosystems, zoonotic infections – which are those that are passed from animals to humans – healthy communities and antimicrobial resistance.
UCalgary has advanced work related to water safety and sustainability, which, Dr. Ghali points out, is “a central element for health and life.
“We’ve had significant success with the recruitment of Canada Research Chairs, bringing together environmental scientists, Indigenous scholars, geographers and others,” he says, adding that he sees the award of a UNESCO chair in water sustainability for UCalgary as an “exciting honour.”
Another “quintessential One Health topic” is the study of zoonotic diseases. “With the advent of COVID-19 and other viruses and infections, it’s extremely timely.”
William Ghali"We’ve had significant success with the recruitment of Canada Research Chairs, bringing together environmental scientists, Indigenous scholars, geographers and others.
Vice President (Research), University of Calgary
A compelling transdisciplinary theme driven by Indigenous scholars is the interconnectedness of animals, people and the environment – and the imperative of this view for healthy communities, says Dr. Ghali. It’s important to understand people-animal relationships, such as those in communities in the North where people live in migratory corridors, or in Calgary, where coyotes regularly cross paths with humans.
“So again, when health comes to the fore, there’s no question for our university that One Health is an effective approach,” he says.
The One Health paradigm engenders innovative solutions that result in robust and meaningful change within existing social, economic and political contexts. It should be reflected in a national strategy, says Dr. Ghali, as “it is essential to defining all future environmental, health, social and public policy.”
Herman Barkema, lead of One Health at UCalgary and scientific director of the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) One Health Consortium, says he is encouraged by the uptake by governments and key funding agencies who are influenced by the results of work underway.
“We see policy changing,” says Dr. Barkema, pointing to the release of the Pan-Canadian Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance by the Public Health Agency of Canada, a five-year (2023 to 2027) blueprint to co-ordinate an accelerated response to address AMR.
AMR is a major threat to human health, caused by commonly used antibiotics losing their effectiveness, resulting in thousands of deaths each year in Canada, he says. “The sense of urgency is clear.”
The AMR One Health Consortium, launched in 2019, is a collaborative platform applying a multisectoral transdisciplinary lens studying antimicrobial use and resistance research. It’s comprised of approximately 20 partnering institutions, including several colleges and universities.
Members of the consortium are studying a diversity of subjects, explains Dr. Barkema, from how resistance develops to certain antibiotics, the prevalence of food-borne AMR bacteria, the effectiveness of new infection prevention protocols for hip and knee replacement surgeries, to analyzing the appropriateness of prescribing antibiotics in Alberta’s primary care settings.
The work so far has been rewarding and stimulating, Dr. Barkema says, because of the collaborations and rich cross-disciplinary environment, leading to what he views as “resounding success.”
Nonetheless, he adds, “recognition of One Health’s value is growing, and we will continue to demonstrate its capacity for impact.”
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