Medical Officer of Health & CEO

Peterborough Public Health

Adjunct Professor, School of Arctic and Subarctic Studies

Dr. Thomas Piggott is the current Medical Officer of Health and CEO of Peterborough Public Health. Prior to this position, Dr. Piggott was Medical Officer of Health and VP lead for Population Health and Rural and Remote Health in the northern region of Labrador-Grenfell Health. Dr. Piggott has experience in collaborative Indigenous public health in Canada and internationally. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, he led a response in solidarity with Indigenous governments in Labrador for outbreak prevention and a fair vaccination rollout prioritizing Indigenous communities.

Prior to working with Labrador-Grenfell Health, Dr. Piggott worked as a field doctor with Médicins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Dr. Piggott is a public health and preventive medicine specialist, and a practicing family physician who completed his Masters in Public Health at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and residency training at McMaster University.

Dr. Piggott is actively involved in research and teaching in public health at McMaster University and Memorial University. Dr. Piggott’s research work has focused on guideline development and health equity. He was the co-editor of the book Under-Served: Health Determinant of Indigenous, Inner-City, and Migrant Populations in Canada (2018). Dr. Piggott is a member of the GRADE Working Group and has advised in public health guideline development methodology for multiple organizations including the World Health Organization and European Commission. In 2019, Dr. Piggott was appointed to the provincial Health Accord Newfoundland-Labrador Task Force Social Determinants of Health Committee to provide expertise on health system reform. Dr. Piggott has previously served on the board of directors of the Public Health Physicians of Canada and the World Federation of Public Health Associations and currently sits on the board of directors of the Canadian Public Health Association.

Twitter:  @twpiggott