Part 1 of 2 from our interview series at “Borders, Babies and Body Parts: The Ethical Dilemmas of Medical Tourism,” a Café Scientifique event hosted by Institute of Population Health at University of Ottawa in collaboration with Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) on May 7, 2014 at Heart and Crown in the Byward Market in Ottawa, Canada.
Dr. Raywat Deonandan is an epidemiologist, author, journalist, and global health specialist. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, and formerly the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Canadian federal agency, Assisted Human Reproduction Canada. The 2000 recipient of the national book award of the nation of Guyana, Dr. Deonandan seeks to incorporate genuine interdisciplinarity into his work in the health sciences, exploring seemingly disparate –but actually interrelated– topics in global disease burden, statistics, history, ethics, law, communication, and social policy.
Dr. Deonandan currently sits on the Boards of Directors of both Harbourfront Centre (in Toronto) and the Canadian Society for Epidemiology & Biostatistics (CSEB), is the Editor of the CSEB’s national newsletter, and maintains a regular blog with The Huffington Post Canada. He is also the founder, academic advisor, and Executive Editor of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Health Sciences, the peer-reviewed journal of the students of the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences.