Current Position
Professor and Associate Head (Research)
History
Education:
Ph.D. University of Toronto, Department of Civil Engineering, August 1981
M.A.Sc. University of Toronto, Department of Civil Engineering, January 1976
B.A.Sc. University of Toronto, Department of Civil Engineering, May 1973
Research Focus:
Housing and Health:
Housing as a neglected site for public health action has been identified in a number of recent publications. There is strong empirical evidence that suggests that damp, cold, and mouldy housing is associated with asthma and other chronic respiratory symptoms.
Understanding how respiratory health risks are associated with housing is essential to designing effective strategies to improve children’s quality of life. I am currently completing a collaborative research project sponsored by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Manitoba Health Research Council, and the CIHR-Regional Partners Program to determine the relationship between “Respiratory Health, Housing Conditions, and School Absenteeism Among Nine-Year-Old Children in Winnipeg.”
Housing and health concerns among Canada’s First Nations have also been well documented in the Canadian social, housing, and health care literature. The demand for engineered solutions for northern housing is of high priority. In April 2011, I applied and received just under a half a million dollars in funding from the Collaborative Health Research Projects Program (NSERC and CIHR) to develop a protocol for the renewal of housing to improve the health of First Nations residents. This is also an interdisciplinary research project which fills a serious gap in the evaluation tools available in assessing the housing conditions as determinants of health of First Nations people.
It is designed to draw from the expertise of professionals from engineering, medicine and education that will lead to knowledge and technologies useful in improving the health of First Nations Canadians.
