UdeM is a leader in the global One Health movement

The intersectoral and inclusive One Health concept has been a driving force behind the research, teaching and partnership decisions of members of the UdeM community for years. This commitment is shared by the research teams and the university bodies that support them.

“We cannot achieve individual or collective health if we don’t take care of the environment we share with animals and plants,” said Marie-Josée Hébert, UdeM’s vice-rector of research, discovery, creation and innovation. “At the university, we have created a virtuous circle in which we benefit from the expertise and dynamic energy of our many research teams. We do our part by creating opportunities for exchange and providing the structures they need to achieve their most ambitious goals.”

“Our researchers, who understand the importance of joining forces to respond and act on major health issues, are strongly aligned with our One Health initiative, which seeks to facilitate intersectoral dialogue,” added Luc Stafford, assistant vice-rector of research and co-director of UdeM’s One Health Initiative with Julie Carrier, assistant vice-rector of graduate and postgraduate studies.

The two vice-rectors and their teams are responsible for implementing the mechanisms needed to foster exchange, collaboration and data sharing across sectors. And their efforts are paying off.

More than an abstract concept, One Health has spawned a series of concrete initiatives such as the healthy parks project, PARCS en santé, led by UdeM professor Cécile Aenishaenslin and supported by a large network of partners. Its goal is to protect both human health, particularly against the spread of the ticks that cause Lyme disease, and ecosystem health in peri-urban nature parks in the Montreal, the Montérégie and the Eastern Townships.

Another initiative is Précrisa, a research network focused on preparing for emerging threats to human health. Funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec, Précrisa is a collaboration between UdeM, Université du Québec à Rimouski, and civil-society partners.

UdeM also has two Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERCs) related to One Health: CERC One Urban Health, led by professor Evelyne De Leeuw, explores governance mechanisms and power issues in urban projects, and CERC Eco-Evo-Patho of Microbes in Nature, led by professor Frédérique Le Roux, develops innovative solutions to tackle the rise of antibiotic resistance.

Another One Health initiative, ELUZO, is mobilizing African women and girl farmers as key players in the fight against zoonoses in rural communities in Senegal and Burkina Faso. Funded by Foreign Affairs Canada, the project is backed by a large UdeM-led consortium of partners in Canada and West Africa.

Other research groups and centres at Université de Montréal that are applying One Health include the Centre for Research in Public Health (CReSP) and the Research Group on Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health (GREZOSP).

The commitment to One Health is also strong in UdeM’s student community. Created by and for students, the One Health Student Club has helped launch a number of important initiatives, including the Gaïa Circle, which mobilizes the next generation around projects to support the socio-ecological transition, based on One Health principles.

“One of the greatest strengths of UdeM’s One Health Initiative is its ability to leverage expertise from across our faculties,” said Stafford. “This diversity allows us to create the unique synergies essential to meeting multidimensional challenges and developing innovative, interdisciplinary solutions that expand the reach of each project.”