Natasha Saunders

Senior Associate Scientist, Child Health Evaluative Sciences Program

U of T Positions

Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics

Associate Professor, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Dr. Natasha Saunders received academic training at the University of Toronto (medicine, clinical epidemiology and health care research), clinical training at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), and post-doctoral training at ICES (formerly the Institute of Clinical Evaluative Sciences). Her primary appointment is as a Clinician-Investigator in the Division of Paediatric Medicine at The Hospital for Sick Children, and she also holds appointments as an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto and as an Adjunct Scientist at ICES.

Saunders’ primary areas of clinical practice are general paediatric hospitalist medicine and outpatient consultant general paediatrics. She consults on a wide spectrum of acute and chronic childhood conditions requiring tertiary level assessment or management and has a clinical focus on children and youth with complex, often diagnostically challenging, comorbid physical and mental health conditions. Her research interests include mental health system performance, access to and quality of care for immigrant children and youth with a specific focus on injuries and mental health, and primary care delivery and using large linked health and administrative databases. She also serves as an Associate Editor at Archives of Diseases in Childhood.

Research

Using large health and administrative databases, Dr. Saunders’ research program aims to improve the health of children and youth through population-based research that informs and evaluates health system programs that affect paediatric populations.

Specific areas of focus include mental health system performance evaluation, injury epidemiology, including a program of research of paediatric firearm injury, immigrant health outcomes and access to care, and paediatric primary care delivery.

Education and experience

• 2015–2017: Postdoctoral Fellowship, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2013–2015: Master of Science, Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2013–2015: Academic General Paediatrics Fellowship, Division of Paediatric Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2004–2008: Doctor of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2002–2004: Master of Science, Vascular Physiology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada
• 1998–2002: Bachelor of Physical and Health Education, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada
• 1998–2002: Bachelor of Science, Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

Achievements

• 2020: Associate Editor, Archives of Diseases in Childhood
• 2015: Claire Bombardier Award, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto
• 2015: Thomas and Edna Naylor Award, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto
• 2012–2014: Research Training Competition (Restracomp) Award, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Training Centre 

View a full list of Natasha Saunders' publications on PubMed or Google Scholar