She then completed a post-graduate residency, becoming a specialist in community medicine, as well as an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Toronto.
She was widely hailed for her work during the 2003 Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Toronto, appearing in numerous television interviews on international networks, such as CNN.
[7] She said upon the release of the NACSARS report that[8] We have to move away from pencil, paper and flip charts.Basrur's other accomplishments included Canada's first city program that required restaurants to post health inspection results in their windows, post-9/11 bioterrorism preparation plans, and a citywide ban on cigarette smoking in 2004.
In 2007 she was awarded life membership in the Ontario Public Health Association (OPHA), as well as an honorary doctor of laws degree from York University.
Upon the formation of the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion on March 8, 2008, it was announced that the headquarters would be known as the Sheela Basrur Centre.