Dr. Jennie Johnstone elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences

Sinai Health is proud to announce that Dr. Jennie Johnstone, Medical Director, Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC), Sinai Health, has been elected a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS), one of the highest honours in Canadian health science. She joins 58 other new Fellows who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, creativity and achievement across the health sciences in Canada.

Dr. Johnstone is an infectious disease physician, hospital epidemiologist and clinician investigator whose research and leadership have shaped how healthcare institutions across Canada prevent and respond to infectious disease threats. She is also an associate professor of medicine at the University of Toronto where she serves as Division Director for Infectious Diseases.

“I am delighted to congratulate Dr. Johnstone on this well-deserved honour. She is an exceptional leader whose work seamlessly connects scientific discovery, clinical practice, and public health policy to improve the health and well-being of Canadians. Her expertise, vision, and commitment to advancing health outcomes will make her an invaluable asset to the Academy as it continues its mission of providing independent, expert advice to improve the health and well-being of people in Canada,” said Dr. Anne-Claude Gingras, Vice President, Research, Sinai Health and Director, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health.

At Sinai Health, Dr. Johnstone leads the IPAC team responsible for monitoring and preventing infection across Mount Sinai and Hennick Bridgepoint Hospitals, where she and her team track healthcare associated infections, including influenza, gastrointestinal infections, and surgical site infections among others.

That work took on added weight during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she played a pivotal role in guiding hospitals through the crisis and helped developed clinical guidelines for the National Advisory Committee on Infection Prevention and Control for the Public Health Agency of Canada, Ontario Provincial Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee (PIDAC) and Ontario Health Toronto Region working groups.

That frontline experience has also shaped Dr. Johnstone’s research program which spans infection prevention and investigation of infectious disease treatments to improve patient outcomes. Her work has directly changed practice in transmission control programs for antibiotic-resistant microorganisms and has informed the management of influenza and COVID-19 outbreaks in healthcare institutions across the country.

Drawing on the diagnostic testing challenges she confronted first-hand during the pandemic, Dr. Johnstone now co-leads PRECISE, an $18.9 million research network funded through the Canadian Biomedical Research Fund. The initiative brings together more than 100 clinicians, laboratory scientists, epidemiologists, biomanufacturers, and public health and community partners across Canada to build coordinated diagnostic strategies and strengthen the country’s capacity to detect and respond to emerging infectious disease threats, while removing systemic barriers faced by underserved populations.

Dr. Johnstone joins an accomplished community of CAHS Fellows recognized for their contributions to advancing health science and policy in Canada. Her election reflects not only her own scientific leadership, but the strength of infection prevention and control, and infectious diseases research at Sinai Health and the University of Toronto.