Portrait of Samuel Tobias

Samuel Tobias, PhD

Substance use, drug policy & public health systems

BC Centre on Substance Use · University of British Columbia

About

I am an applied epidemiologist specializing in substance use, drug policy, and public health systems. My work focuses on generating timely, actionable evidence to respond to the unregulated drug supply and reduce drug-related harms. I have expertise in study design, drug supply surveillance, and program evaluation, with a strong emphasis on methods that can inform real-world decisions.

I collaborate closely with harm reduction services, drug checking programs, and health system partners to design research that is rigorous, responsive, and rooted in public health practice. Since 2018, I have worked with the BC Centre on Substance Use's Drug Checking Project. There, I developed British Columbia's original technical training curriculum for drug checking and have trained technicians from across North America.

Education

PhD, Population and Public Health
University of British Columbia · 2026
MSc, Crime and Forensic Science (Distinction)
University College London · 2016
BSc, Medical Science & Biology (Honours)
University of Western Ontario · 2015

Selected Awards & Fellowships

Canada Graduate Scholarship — Doctoral
Canadian Institutes of Health Research · 2024–2026
Four Year Doctoral Fellowship
University of British Columbia · 2022–2026
Globalink Research Award
Mitacs · 2024
Isabel Loucks Foster Public Health Scholarship
Health Officers Council of British Columbia · 2023
Bud Osborn Award for Excellence in Knowledge Translation
British Columbia Substance Use Conference · 2022

Selected Publications

  1. Temporal and regional associations between fentanyl concentrations in the unregulated drug supply and drug-related mortality in British Columbia, Canada.
    Tobias S, Bird J, Guzman SM, Palis H, Crabtree A, Hein JE, Wood E, Ti L.
    International Journal of Drug Policy, 2026
  2. How population-level drug supply data are incorporated into health outcomes research: A scoping review.
    Tobias S, Bird J, Law MR, Buxton JA, Ti L.
    Epidemiologic Reviews, 2026
  3. Novel adulterants in unregulated opioids and their associations with adverse events.
    Tobias S, Angelucci A, Wood E, Buxton JA, Ti L.
    Canadian Journal of Public Health, 2025
  4. Local impact from international crises: Unregulated drug toxicity during the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia, Canada.
    Tobias S, Buxton JA, Ti L.
    American Journal of Public Health, 2024
  5. Time-series analysis of fentanyl concentration in the unregulated opioid drug supply in a Canadian setting.
    Tobias S, Grant CJ, Laing R, Arredondo J, Lysyshyn M, Buxton J, Tupper KW, Wood E, Ti L.
    American Journal of Epidemiology, 2022

Full publication list →

Contact

To get in touch: hello@samueltobias.com

Profiles