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The ¶®É«µÛ banner is flying at half-mast from March 30 – April 4, 2022 in remembrance of Dr. Larry Svenson, Associate Professor, Division of Preventive Medicine and Adjunct Professor, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, School of Public Health.

Dr. Larry Svenson Born October 26, 1964, in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, passed away unexpectedly on Friday, March 25, 2022.

Larry graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the ¶®É«µÛ. He received a PhD from Manchester Metropolitan University in Manchester, England, in 2015, and was also a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health. He was an Associate Professor, Special Continuing in the Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, ¶®É«µÛ for almost six years, an Adjunct Professor with the School of Public Health, ¶®É«µÛ for over 25 years, and an Adjunct Associate Professor with the University of Calgary, Cumming School of Medicine for almost 20 years.

In addition to his academic roles, he was the Provincial Health Analytics Officer and Executive Director for Analytics and Performance Reporting at the Alberta Ministry of Health and was said to be integral part of our province’s response to COVID. Keenly watching the first cases unfold in Wuhan, he and his team knew COVID would become an international concern and started thinking about what would happen if the virus appeared in Canada. They began their work in late January 2020 prompting the province to impose the necessary public health measures to flatten the curve and prevent adverse impacts on the health-care system. This work was instrumental in him being awarded the Premier’s Public Service Award for Individual Leadership in 2020.

Larry was a member of the Public Health Agency of Canada expert surveillance advisory committees for cardiovascular disease, arthritis, chronic respiratory disease, neurological conditions, and diabetes. He also recently chaired the National Surveillance Infrastructure Task Group of the Public Health Network Council of Canada, that developed a public health surveillance blueprint for Canada.

Larry was described by colleagues as having a great sense of humour, “he was always joking around, and managed to be both sarcastic and extremely supportive in the same sentence. When he poked fun, it was a sign of endearment”.

He took every opportunity to brag about his wife Jill’s cooking, especially her homemade pasta. In his spare time, he enjoyed traveling, and it’s not surprising, he loved puzzles, including Wordle. He also enjoyed reading, and always had good recommendations for health-related non-fiction books because of his passion for public health.

“I remember one thing he liked to do is to give a non-fiction book he found interesting to new colleagues and mentees” said Dr. Ellen Rafferty one his colleagues in the Division of Preventive Medicine.

Larry was known to always champion those around him, giving the spotlight to those who worked for him or with him, making sure their successes were recognized. He was described as an 'ideas guy', always coming up with great ways to push Alberta forward as a leader in data science and a strong advocate for open data initiatives.

We will remember him fondly, he will be sadly missed in the Department of Medicine.

A celebration of life will be held on Thursday, March 31, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Evergreen Funeral Home (16204 Fort Rd NW, Edmonton, AB T5Y 6A2).

In lieu of flowers donations can be made in his name to the Canadian Cancer Society in support of Esophageal Cancer Research.

An obituary can be found .

For information about lowering the ¶®É«µÛ banner, visit the In Memoriam webpage.