Four Dates, One Future

Abstract

For nearly 150 years the University of Toronto has integrated public health into its teaching and research. From early lectures in sanitation (1871) to the discovery of insulin (1921), the University of Toronto’s rich history is reflected in its prominence as a global leader in public health research and education. Therefore, it is fitting for the University of Toronto to host an academic journal of public health that showcases both high-impact scholarship and public health practice. Founded in 2020, the University of Toronto Journal of Public Health has an ambitious, yet essential, vision: to foster the next generation of public health researchers and practitioners in order to improve population health nationally and globally. In this editorial, we honour the diverse and complementary nature of the fields of biostatistics, epidemiology, health policy and practice, and social and behavioural health sciences by highlighting an important historical date from each. We reflect on these milestones within a historical and contemporary context, and conclude by considering the importance of each discipline for the future of public health in Canada and abroad.