12 Facts About Sheela Basrur

Sheela Basrur, was a Canadian physician and Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health and Assistant Deputy Minister of Public Health.

Sheela Basrur resigned from these positions late in 2006 to undergo treatment for cancer.

Sheela Basrur's mother, Parvathi Basrur, was a professor of veterinary genetics and her father, Vasanth Basrur, was a radiation oncologist.

Sheela Basrur grew up in Guelph, where there were very few visible minorities at the time.

Sheela Basrur then spent a year in India and Nepal, where she became interested in public health.

Sheela Basrur then completed a post-graduate residency, becoming a specialist in community medicine, as well as an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Toronto.

Sheela Basrur lived in Scarborough, but moved to Kitchener, where she underwent treatment for leiomyosarcoma, from which she eventually died on June 2,2008.

Sheela Basrur became the Medical Officer of Health for the East York Health Unit until East York was merged into the city of Toronto in 1998, when she became the first Medical Officer of Health for the new amalgamated city.

Sheela Basrur was widely hailed for her work during the 2003 Severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in Toronto, appearing in numerous television interviews on international networks, such as CNN.

Sheela Basrur wrote a journal article with Barbara Yaffe and Bonnie Henry in the 2004 Canadian Journal of Public Health entitled "SARS: A Local Public Health Perspective".

Sheela Basrur said upon the release of the NACSARS report that.

Sheela Basrur remained in this position until her resignation on December 6,2006, in order to undergo treatment for her cancer.