Dr. Kevin Pottie MD, MClSc, CCFP, FCFP

Biography

Dr. Kevin Pottie is a Full Professor and Clinician-Investigator at the Department of Family Medicine and School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ottawa, where he has been a member of our faculty for over 15 years. He is also an Investigator at the Bruyère Research Institute and a Senior Clinical Researcher at the Institut de Savoir Montfort, as well as a Senior Global Health Editor for the International Journal of Environmental Reports and Global Health (Basel, Switzerland). Dr. Kevin Pottie completed his masters of family medicine at the University of Western Ontario in 2001. Following a post masters AMS fellowship in international refugee care, he went on to complete a CIHR TUDOR interdisciplinary fellowship in primary care research.

Dr. Pottie is a leader in refugee health and equity implementation, spearheading CSIH’s Pathways to Global Health, serving on the Canadian College of Family Practitioner’s global health committee and leading the globally successful community refugee health service learning programs that began in a refugee shelter in Ottawa and which he, and co-lead Doug Gruner, have scaled up to over 18 medical schools, including, USA, Ireland and Lebanon with funding support from MSF and  the Canadian Medical Association. This program has received several prestigious awards, including the Alex Trebek Innovation Award and enthusiastic social media.

Dr. Pottie leads a highly productive research program that revolves around three axes: refugee health, health equity implementation and guideline methods. His high impact reviews and guidelines have transformed the clinical approach to refugee care, identifying HIV and Hepatitis C in refugees, eliminating burdensome routine stool testing for intestinal parasites and bringing trauma centred care to the forefront of PTSD. His research has inspired refugee guidelines in Ireland (2015), Australia (2018), USA (2020) and DYNAMED App. During the European refugee health crisis he led the EU/EEA (European) Migrant health guidelines (ECDC, 2018). The impact of this research is a global movement of evidence based and equity focused care for vulnerable migrants that has inspired international networks in North America and Europe. The guidelines have had a dramatic impact on the consistency of screening, reduced harmful screening, and provided a unique pathway for students and interdisciplinary care. His research is internationally recognized and he was appointed to the Global Society of Refugee Health.

His previous interdisciplinary research (2009) integrated pharmacists into primary care practices. The mixed methods included RCT and a qualitative studies that brought physicians and pharmacist working together in evolving interdisciplinary practice. His research showed how disciplines need to examine their professional identities to find room for collaboration. Over 110 group practices in Ontario alone have integrated this model. His research in multi-morbidity has focused on developing GRADE methods and guidelines to support clinical de-prescribing for seniors. Two of these de-prescribing guidelines, proton pump inhibitors and benzo diazepam are high impact publications that are changing practice, improving the quality of life for seniors and saving millions of provincial health dollars.

Dr. Pottie was selected for a highly competitive global leadership role with the World Health Organization and International Organization of Migration. He has provided keynote addresses on Refugee Health and Equity Implementation at the Cochrane Colloquium in Cape Town, WONCA in Rio de Janeiro and at the North American Primary Care Refugee Group in Colorado Springs. He has made outstanding contributions to the research excellence of GRADE Working Group, developing novel methods for rating quality, health equity, and implementation of guidelines. Most recently he was successfully applied these methods to development guidelines for the field of homeless health (CMAJ 2020). Dr Pottie’s research is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada and the Immigration Refugee Citizenship Canada.

Contact: Belinda Smith, Administrative Assistant at bsmith@uottawa.ca.

Featured publications

Pottie K, et al. Clinical guideline for homeless and vulnerably housed people, and people with lived homelessness experience. CMAJ. 2020 Mar 9;192(10):E240-E254. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.190777. PMID: 32152052

World Health Organization (WHO), 2018. WHO recommendations on home-based records for maternal, newborn and child health. 

European Centre for Prevention and Disease Control (ECDC), 2018 Dec 5. Public health guidance on screening and vaccination for infectious diseases in newly arrived migrants within the EU/EEA.