Ian Drennan

Ian is a Paramedic Scientist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. He holds an Adjunct Scientist appointment in the Department of Emergency Services at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Sunnybrook Research Institute. Ian works as a Research Program Manager at Sunnybrook Research Institute, an Advanced Care Paramedic with Ornge Air Ambulance, and a Professor in the Health Sciences Department at Georgian College. Ian has a PhD from the University of Toronto and St. Michael’s Hospital, completing a collaborative program in resuscitation sciences.

His research interests focus on clinical aspects of prehospital medicine including life-threatening conditions such as cardiac arrest, sepsis, and trauma. Ian is also involved in the development and implementation of initiatives aimed to examine the impact of community paramedic interventions and identification and treatment of low-risk 911 patients. He is experienced in research methodology in systematic reviews, observational research through the use of large epidemiologic datasets, and randomized controlled trials in the prehospital setting. Ian has an H-index of 32 (Web of Science, May 2024) and has published over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts. He has received over $8 million in research funding as PI or co-investigator including funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), the University of Toronto, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. Ian is the past recipient of a Young Investigator Award from the American Heart Association (AHA) and has presented his research at numerous National and International conferences.

In addition to his PhD work, Ian is a member of a number of committees related to paramedic practice and research, including the Canadian Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (CanROC) Pediatric Resuscitation committee, a Decision Editor for the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine, and peer reviewer for a number of medical journals. He is the current Chair of the International Liaison Committee of Resuscitation (ILCOR) Advanced Life Support (ALS) taskforce and Vice-Chair and Senior Science Editor for the 2025 American Heart Association Guidelines for CPR and ECC.

Ian completed his undergraduate degree training at the University of Guelph in 2006 and his Primary Care Paramedic diploma in 2008 from Humber College.  He has been a paramedic in southern Ontario for twelve years, obtaining his Advanced Care Paramedic diploma from Durham College in 2012.