Title:
Associate Professor

Institute:
Dalhousie University

Department:
Pediatrics

Province:
Nova Scotia

Training:
PhD, Institute of Child Health, Newcastle University, Newcastle, England, UK
MSc, Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
BA, Department of Geography, University of Hull, Hull, England, UK

Research interests:
Health Geography, Epidemiology, Environmental Risks

Career highlights:
Contributions to the development of GIS-based environmental exposure estimates; adverse pregnancy outcomes and residential proximity to hazardous industrial and waste sites; influence of the built environment on obesity prevalence.

Research Projects

Project title:
Cancer risk and outdoor air pollution in Halifax Regional Muncipality, Nova Scotia

Funding period: 
2011-2013

Program:
Operating Grant (environment-cancer)

Summary:
Rates of lung, bladder, brain and breast cancer are very high in Nova Scotia.  These types of cancer may be related to high levels of outdoor air pollution.  Until now it has not been possible to know how the amount of air pollution varies from place to place in Nova Scotia.  We will use detailed maps of pollution levels for the urban area of Halifax Regional Municipality developed by the study team.  We will link these maps to reported cancer cases.  This study will see if areas in Halifax with higher levels of outdoor air pollution also have higher rates of lung, bladder, brain and breast cancer.  The results from this study will provide much needed additional information to enable researchers to assess how much air pollution influences cancer rates.  This information will be used to help develop cancer prevention and intervention approaches.