Cancer is the leading cause of mortality in Canada. It is estimated that one in every two Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer over the course of their lifetime, and one in every four Canadians will die of the disease. Despite a publicly funded health system in Canada, there are significant differences in cancer-related health outcomes based on the distribution of the social determinants of health and for population groups who experience discrimination based on their social identity.
Dr. Sayani envisions a future where the burden of cancer is reduced and eliminated for all communities, and where the social determinants of health are addressed to ensure that all individuals have the resources, support, and care they need to prevent and treat cancer. As Principal Investigator of the Improving Cancer Care Equity (ICCE) Research Program, Dr. Sayani aims to improve cancer outcomes by promoting cancer prevention, early detection and access to high quality care for all, with an emphasis on lung health and equity-focused lung cancer care.
As a clinically trained social scientist, Dr. Sayani uses community-engaged and patient-oriented participatory research methods to partner with interdisciplinary teams, including policymakers, healthcare providers and patients (defined as community members with relevant lived/living experience) to generate new knowledge, develop evidence-based interventions, and to implement effective solutions. Her research program is guided by Equity-Mobilizing Partnerships in Community (EMPaCT), a co-designed model of diverse and inclusive patient engagement. While specifically promoting patient-centered cancer care, Dr. Sayani’s research program generates knowledge and learnings that are transferable across the healthcare sector so that we can provide timely, effective, safe and equitable care to all patients.
Her areas of expertise are:
- Patient/ person-centred care
- Equity, fairness and social justice in patient engagement
- Cancer prevention, early detection and access to high quality care
- Equitable lung health
- Social determinants of health
- Health equity
PhD, Health Policy and Equity, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
MS, Oncology, Vrije University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
MD, Dubai Medical College, Dubai, The United Arab Emirates.
- Early Career, Transition to Leadership Stream in Patient-Oriented Research, Canadian Institute of Health Research, Phase 2 (2023-2026)
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, Transition to Leadership Stream in Patient-Oriented Research, Canadian Institute of Health Research, Phase 1 (2020-2022)
- Quality Award. Quality Improvement Patient Engagement Award, Women’s College Hospital (2022)
- Engaging Multi-stakeholders for Patient Oriented research Wider Effects & Reach (EMPOWER) Award, Ontario Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) Support Unit (OSSU) (2021)
- Early Career Investigator Award. Student and Early Career Investigator Scholarship (SECIS), American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) United States of America (2021)
- Leadership Award. Skinner Agents of Change Leadership Award, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2019)
- Research Award. Culture of Discovery Research Award, Unity Health Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2019)
- Patient/ person-centred care
- Equity, fairness and social justice in patient engagement
- Cancer prevention, early detection and access to high quality care
- Equitable lung health
- Social determinants of health
- Health equity