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Kelley Lee (born May 5, 1962) is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Global Health Governance and Professor of Global Public Health in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. She has studied the impact of globalisation on public health, with a particular focus on the tobacco industry. During the COVID-19 pandemic Lee initiated and led the Pandemics and Borders Project to understand effective ways to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2 through the effective use of travel measures.
She joined Simon Fraser University (SFU) in 2011 where she was appointed Associate Dean for Research and Director of Global Health. At SFU Lee led the Global Tobacco Control Research Programme. She was appointed a Canada Research Chair in Global Health Governance in 2015. Her chair was renewed in 2022. Lee has investigated the role of the WHO in international health cooperation and its role in supporting collective action in response to global health challenges. Her research has shown that collective action and cooperation is essential to improve the global response to pandemics, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Ebola and HIV/AIDS. In 2018 Lee was selected by the Canadian Society for International Health as one of the leading women in global health.
Lee is leading a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) research program to evaluate the efficacy of coronavirus prevention strategies. She looked to define and categorise the various measures adopted by countries and corporations, and compare these approaches with datasets from historical pandemic responses. By understanding the effectiveness of various prevention strategies, Lee looks to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2. When asked by the Rolling Stone magazine what she thought of the WHO response to coronavirus disease, Lee was impressed by their proactive approach, "it has kept us informed. It has mobilized scientists and coordinated data and research. It has collected the best evidence and tried to put forward very clear guidance about what should be done. The big question is whether we've given it enough authority and resources to act the way we want it to act". She believes that the WHO struggles to respond quickly to emerging disasters because of underfunding, as well as trying to deal with global politics and bureaucracy. She has said that SARS-CoV-2 may cause the world to ask profound questions about how we govern the world, "I used to say it would take a really big outbreak or catastrophe. Now it's here. We've got it. If we can learn from this one we'll be so much better equipped for the next one. But people just don't want to face those questions".
Lee has said that people who smoke and vape are at a greater risk to become infected by coronavirus disease. Researchers in Wuhan identified that smokers were fourteen times more likely to have coronavirus disease progression. Lee has called for British Columbia Ministry of Health to expand their Smoking Cessation Program during the outbreak.
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