Faculty & School/Dept.

Faculty of Health - School of Health Policy & Management

Degrees

PhD Health Policy - 1995
Health Administration
University of Toronto

Master of Science - 1988
Biochemistry
Dalhousie University

Bachelor of Science - 1985
Biochemistry
University of Manitoba

Biography

Mary Wiktorowicz is Chair and Associate Professor in the School of Health Policy and Management at York University.  Professor Wiktorowicz adopts a comparative lens to study models of health system governance, focusing on mental health policy and pharmaceutical policy. A recent study assessed the governance models used by ten local health networks to coordinate mental health care.  Her comparative policy research also analyses pharmaceutical policies and develops frameworks to enhance our understanding of them. Her most recent research compares international pharmacovigilance strategies, and the global and national policy networks through which such strategies are developed.

The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care was a research partner for the CHSRF-funded research project: Mental Health Restructuring Among Canadian Provinces: Lessons in Policy Reform and Regional Coordination

Key words: health policy, health governance, pharmaceutical policy, mental health policy, integration and coordination, regional health governance models.

Selected Publications

Walji, Rishma and Mary Wiktorowicz 2013. Governance of natural health products regulation: An iterative process.Health Policy 111: 86– 94.

Lexchin, J., Wiktorowicz, M, Moscou, K . Eggertson, L. 2013. Provincial Drug Plan Views of the Canadian Drug Safety System. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 38(3): 545-571. 

Wiktorowicz, Mary, Lexchin, J., Moscou, K. 2012. Pharmacovigilance in Europe and North America: Divergent Approaches. Social Science and Medicine 75: 165-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.11.046

Wiktorowicz, Mary E., Fleury, Marie-Josée, Adair, Carol E., Lesage, Alain, Goldner, Elliot, Peters, Suzanne. 2010. Mental health network governance: Comparative analysis across Canadian regions. International Journal of Integrated Health Volume 10: 26 October http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/pmc/articles/PMC3031794/

Wiktorowicz, M.E.  2010. “Health Care Systems in Evolution” Chapter 11 in Toba Bryant, Dennis Raphael and Marcia Rioux editors Staying Alive: Critical Perspectives on Health, Illness, and Health Care, Canadian Scholars Press, Toronto, Ontario 2^nd edition.

Wiktorowicz, Mary E., Lexchin, Joel, Moscou, Kathy, Silversides, Ann, Eggertson, Laura. 2010. Keeping an eye on drugs...keeping patients safe. Active monitoring systems for drug safety and effectiveness in Canada and internationally. Commissioned by the Health Council of Canada. November 17, 2010.

Wiktorowicz, M.E., Fleury, M.-J., Adair, C.E., Lesage, A., Goldner, E, Goering, P., Peters, S.  2009  Mental health network governance and coordination: Comparative analysis across ten Canadian regions.  Submitted to the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation.   http://www.chsrf.ca/final_research/index_e.php                                     http://www.chsrf.ca/final_research/index_f.php

Lexchin, J. and M.E. Wiktorowicz. 2008. “Profits First: The Pharmaceutical Industry in Canada” Chapter 20 in B. Singh Bolaria and Harely D. Dickenson editors Health, Illness and Health Care in Canada, 4^th edition Toronto, Scarborough, Ontario: Thompson Nelson, 437-57.

Wiktorowicz M.E., Lexchin J., Paterson M., Mintzes B., Metge C., Light D., Morgan S., Holbrook A., Tamblyn R., Zaki E., Moscou K. 2008  Research networks involved in post-market pharmacosurveillance in the US, UK, France, New Zealand, Australia, Norway and European Union: Lessons for Canada. http://www.patientsafetyinstitute.ca/English/research/commissionedResearch/postMarketingSurveillance/Documents/Executive%20Summary.pdf

Wiktorowicz, M.E. 2005. “Restructuring mental health policy in Ontario: Deconstructing the evolving welfare state,” Canadian Public Administration 48(3): 386-412.

Wiktorowicz, M.E. 2003. "Emergent Patterns in the Regulation of Pharmaceuticals: Institutions and Interests in the United States, Canada, Britain and France," Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law International Issue 28 (4): 615 - 658.

Hartford, K., Schrecker, T., Wiktorowicz, M., Hoch, J., Sharp, C. 2003. “Four decades of mental health policy in Ontario, Canada” Administration and Policy in Mental Health 31 (1): 65 - 73.

Wiktorowicz, M.E., Lapp, M.D., Brodie, I., Abelson, D. 2003. “Nonprofit Groups and Health Policy in Ontario: Assessing Strategies and Influence in a Changing Environment,” in Kathy Brock editor Delicate Dances, Public Policy and the Nonprofit Sector, Volume 4, Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.

Wiktorowicz, M. 2000. "Shifting Priorities at the Health Protection Branch: Challenges to the Regulatory Process," Canadian Public Administration, 43(1): 1-22. (lead article)

Wiktorowicz, M.E., Goeree, R., Papaioannou, A., Papadimitropoulos, M., Adachi, J.D. 2001. "Economic Implications of Hip Fracture: Health Service Use, Institutional Care and Cost in Canada," Osteoporosis International 12(4): 271-278.

Willison, D., Wiktorowicz, M., Grootendorst, P., O'Brien, B., Levine, M., Deber, R., Hurley, J. 2001.  "International Experience with Pharmaceutical Policy, Common Challenges & Lessons for Canada," Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis Working Paper 01-08, McMaster University.

Papaioannou, A., Wiktorowicz, M., Adachi, J.D., Goeree, R., Papadimitropoulos, M., Bédard, M., Brazil, K. 2000. "The Effect of Hip Fracture on One-year Mortality, Institutionalization and Re-fracture," Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Canada 22(8): 591-597.

Wiktorowicz, M. and Deber, R. 1997. “Regulating Biotechnology: A Rational-Political Model of Policy Development,” Health Policy 40: 115-138.

Affiliations

Awards

Premier's Award for Research Excellence - 2002

Honorable Mention, Hodgett's Award Best Article in - 2006

Canadian Public Administration in 2005

Supervision

Currently available to supervise graduate students: Yes

Currently taking on work-study students, Graduate Assistants or Volunteers: No

Available to supervise undergraduate thesis projects: No

Current Research

Governance
Health Administration
Policy Networks
Mental Health Policy
Pharmaceutical Policy
Qualitative Methods

Research Projects

Developing a health system-level balanced scorecard
Role: CoInvestigator
Amount funded: $67,197
Year Funded: 2009
Duration: 2
Funded by: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

Discussion Paper on Drug Safety and Effectiveness in Canada and Abroad
Compares international pharmacovigilance policies and operational aspects of integrating a network of research centres to inform regulatory and reimbursement decisions. Emphasis is placed on how Canadian policies could be informed by international best practices.
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Amount funded: $37,500
Year Funded: 2010
Duration: 1
Funded by: Other...
Other funding: Health Council of Canada

International Experience with Pharmacare: Lessons for Canada
Role: CoInvestigator
Amount funded: $85,754
Year Funded: 1999
Duration: 1
Funded by: Other...
Other funding: Health Transition Fund

International pharmacosurveillance strategies: Lessons for Canada
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Amount funded: $69,880
Year Funded: 2007
Duration: 1
Funded by: Canadian Patient Safety Institute
Other funding: CIHR

International Strategies for Pharmacosurveillance
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
Amount funded: $144,000
Year Funded: 2006
Duration: 3
Funded by: Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Mental Health Restructuring Among Canadian Provinces: Lessons in Policy Reform and Regional Coordination
Role: Principal Investigator
Amount funded: $144,000
Year Funded: 2002
Duration: 3
Funded by: Other...
Other funding: Canadian Health Services Research Foundation

Nonprofit Groups and Health Policy in Ontario: Assessing Strategies and Influence in a Changing Environment
Role: Principal Investigator
Amount funded: $12,000
Year Funded: 2000
Duration: 1
Funded by: Other...
Other funding: Kanoff Foundation

Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives and Patient Safety: exploration of physician experiences in three countries and implications for regulatory policy
Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), PIs: Barbara Mintzes, Joel Lexchin; Co-investigators: Line Guenette, Mary Wiktorowicz, Morris Barer, Ken Basset, G. Durrieu, Steve Morgan, J. Sutherland, A. Tejani, M. Wilkes, J. Wright. Health Services and Policy Research
Role: CoInvestigator
Amount funded: $308,366
Year Funded: 2012
Duration: 2
Funded by: Canadian Institutes of Health Research