Dahdaleh Distinguished Chair in Global Governance & Legal Epidemiology
Faculty Fellow

Dr. Steven J. Hoffman is the Dahdaleh Distinguished Chair in Global Governance & Legal Epidemiology and a professor of global health, law, and political science at York University; the director of the Global Strategy Lab; the director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Global Governance of Antimicrobial Resistance; and the scientific director of the CIHR Institute of Population & Public Health at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He holds a courtesy appointment as a professor of health research methods, evidence & impact (part-time) at McMaster University. He is an international lawyer licensed in both Ontario and New York who specializes in global health law, global governance, and institutional design. His research leverages various methodological approaches to craft global strategies that better address transnational health threats and social inequalities. Past studies have focused on access to medicines, antimicrobial resistance, health misinformation, pandemics, and tobacco control.
Steven previously worked as a project manager for the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and as a fellow in the Executive Office of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York City, where he offered strategic and technical input on a range of global health issues. He also previously worked for a Toronto law firm specializing in cross-border intellectual property litigation, health product regulation, and government relations. Steven advised the World Health Organization on development of a global strategy for health systems research and was lead author on the background paper that provided the strategy's conceptual underpinnings. For three years he convened an academic advisory committee on science reporting for Canada's only national weekly current affairs magazine. He was previously an associate professor of law at the University of Ottawa (2014-2017), adjunct professor of global health & population at Harvard University (2015-2020) and a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford (2018-2019).
Steven holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences from McMaster University, an MA in political science and a Juris Doctor from the University of Toronto, a PhD in health policy from Harvard University, and a doctorate in law from Sciences Po Paris.
You may also be interested in...
Recap — The Benefits of Qi Gong (Tai Chi) in Theory and Practice
Efforts towards addressing the most pressing global health issues must not overshadow the importance of personal health and wellbeing. Recognizing this, the Dahdaleh Institute invited the YorkU community to participate in a special three-part Wellness ...Read more about this Post
Announcing the Winners of the 2026 Seed Grants in Critical Social Science Perspectives in Global Health Research
Following the seventh annual Critical Perspective for Global Health Research (CPGH) workshop in May, the CPGH Steering Committee is delighted to announce that the following York researchers have been awarded this year’s $8,000 seed grants ...Read more about this Post
Recap — Addressing the Structural Drivers of Tuberculosis to #EndTB
In celebration of World Tuberculosis (TB) Day 2023: Yes! We Can #End TB! Faculty fellow and founder of the Social Science and Health Innovation for Tuberculosis Centre (SSHIFTB), Amrita Daftary, facilitated a seminar discussing how ...Read more about this Post
