Dr. Peter Selby appointed Interim Vice-Chair, Research
The University of Toronto Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM) is pleased to announce Dr. Peter Selby has been appointed Giblon Professor and Interim Vice-Chair Research. Dr. Selby succeeds Dr. Eva Grunfeld, who has led the Research Program since 2008.
DFCM’s Research Program was established in 1995 to create a critical mass of family medicine researchers, provide faculty with protected research time, develop research excellence and productivity, and build an infrastructure to support research.
Under Dr. Grunfeld’s leadership, the program has nurtured family medicine research across DFCM’s 14 sites and 40 community teaching practices. After 12 years at the helm, Dr. Grunfeld retired from this position at the end of 2020.
As Interim Vice-Chair, Dr. Selby will build on the successes of the program and shape its future directions. He will also take over the Dr. Barnett & Beverley Giblon Professorship in Family Medicine Research, which supports an outstanding Family Medicine scholar.
Dr. Selby is a respected leader and researcher in areas including addictive disorders, motivational interviewing and health behavior change at individual and system levels. He is a Senior Medical Consultant and Clinician Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and a Professor in DFCM, the Department of Psychiatry, and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. He is also a Clinician Scientist and the Director of the recently established Mental Health and Addictions Division at DFCM. Additionally, he is completing his term as the Chair of the Medical Education Council for the American Society of Addiction Medicine.
Dr. Selby’s research focuses on innovative methods to understand and treat addictive behaviours and their comorbidities. He uses technology to combine clinical medicine and public health methods to scale up and test health interventions. His most recent program of research utilizes a Learning Health Systems approach to investigate how technology enabled collaborative care can enhance the delivery of evidence-based interventions to the patient while providing a more satisfying experience of care for both patient and provider.
“It’s an exciting time for family medicine research. As COVID-19 continues, we must continue to nurture family medicine researchers at all levels, to help us understand and address current and future health challenges.”
“I would like to thank Dr. Grunfeld for her outstanding stewardship of the research program over the past 12 years, and welcome Dr. Selby as Giblon Professor and Interim Vice Chair,” says Dr. David Tanenbaum, Interim Chair. "We look forward to Dr. Selby’s leadership over the next 18 months."
