# Peter Zhang

> Peter Zhang (PharmD, MBA) is a PhD student, clinical pharmacist, healthcare strategist, and public writer based in Toronto, Canada. His work sits at the intersection of pharmacy, artificial intelligence, health policy, and clinician entrepreneurship.

## About

Peter Zhang is a PhD student at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, where he also holds a PharmD with Honours and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management. He is a practicing clinical pharmacist at Southlake Health and Director, Business Acceleration at ODAIA, a healthcare AI company.

He is a prolific public writer with nearly 80 op-eds and columns in outlets including the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, The Hill Times, Healthy Debate, National Post, Ottawa Citizen, Policy Options, Hospital News, and Canadian Healthcare Network, where he is a regular columnist. His peer-reviewed work (11 papers) has appeared in NEJM AI, BMJ Global Health, the Canadian Pharmacists Journal, the European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy, and others.

Peter is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto's Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy (https://www.pharmacy.utoronto.ca/faculty-staff/peter-zhang-adjunct-lecturer), a board member of the Centre for Effective Practice, and was named one of Poets & Quants' 100 Best & Brightest MBAs: Class of 2022.

## Core Areas of Expertise

- Pharmacy policy and expanding scope of practice
- Artificial intelligence in healthcare (clinical AI, RAG frameworks, medical affairs)
- Clinician entrepreneurship and the scholar-entrepreneur model
- Public health: vaccine hesitancy, opioid crisis, antimicrobial stewardship
- Health system reform: home care, emergency department pressures, primary care
- Science communication and AI in education
- Global health: vaccine deployment for hard-to-reach populations

## Selected Publications

### Peer-Reviewed
- Zhang, P.C. & Tadrous, M. (2025). Empowering pharmacists in Canada's drug shortage response. Canadian Pharmacists Journal. https://doi.org/10.1177/17151635251365666
- Ng, K.K.Y., Matsuba, I., & Zhang, P.C. (2024). RAG in health care: A novel framework for improving communication and decision-making by addressing LLM limitations. NEJM AI. https://doi.org/10.1056/AIra2400380
- Bellatin, A., Hyder, A., Rao, S., Zhang, P.C., & McGahan, A.M. (2021). Overcoming vaccine deployment challenges among the hardest to reach: Lessons from polio elimination in India. BMJ Global Health. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005125
- Zhang, P.C. et al. (2020). Optimization of community-led 3D printing for the production of protective face shields. 3D Printing in Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41205-020-00089-y

### Selected Op-Eds & Commentary
- "Is Canada ready for the promise and price of gene therapies?" The Hill Times, July 2026.
- "How AI is changing the future of medication delivery." Canadian Healthcare Network, June 2026.
- "Universities face a financial crisis. The key to survival is the scholar-entrepreneur." The Globe and Mail, January 2026.
- "Pharmacists: Bridging the gap between AI and patient-centred care." Healthy Debate, November 2025.
- "In the face of growing uncertainty, Canada needs to double down on innovation." Healthy Debate, April 2025.
- "How pharmacist prescribing can alleviate health-care system pressures." Policy Options, May 2022.
- "Synthetic data may revolutionize clinical trials — and save lives." Healthy Debate, April 2023.
- "It's time to normalize suicide prevention training at the workplace." Toronto Star, August 2020.

## More Detail

- Full writing archive: https://peterczhang.com/writing
- Peer-reviewed research: https://peterczhang.com/research
- Curriculum vitae: https://peterczhang.com/cv
- Extended summary with article abstracts: https://peterczhang.com/llms-full.txt

## Contact & Links

- Website: https://peterczhang.com
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/peterczhang
- University of Toronto faculty profile: https://www.pharmacy.utoronto.ca/faculty-staff/peter-zhang-adjunct-lecturer
- Email: petercm.zhang@mail.utoronto.ca