My interests center on the sociology of health and illness, particularly community and individual socioeconomic influences on physical and mental health. I also have related interests in social capital, social networks, theory-building in population health, social constructions of illness and risk, community action research, the measurement of community social environments, and the application of mixed methods to health research.

In addition to sociology, my training is rooted in public and population health.  Thus, my research activities are interdisciplinary, often involving collaboration with researchers from fields such as geography, anthropology, public health, nursing, and medicine.  I was a Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholar at the University of Wisconsin from 2004-2006. Currently, I am a Faculty Affiliate of the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at UBC. 

I have been the recipient of two investigator awards.  In 2007, I was awarded a six year Career Scholar Award from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and, in 2010, I was selected for a five-year New Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.  These career grants support my continuing and future projects focused on community social conditions and population health.

Given my background and research foci, I have a keen interest in building interdisciplinary dialogue.  In 2010, with the support of colleagues throughout campus, I received funding from Green College at UBC for a Population Health lecture series that commenced on campus in Fall 2010.