Outline: James R. Dunn

	Associate Professor PhD Simon Fraser University (1999) MA McMaster University (1993) BArtsSc (Hon) McMaster University (1991) Phone: n/a Email: jim.dunn@utoronto.ca

Visit homepage
Visit Canadian Institute for Advanced Research

Research Interests

Dr. Jim Dunn holds a Chair in Applied Public Health from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) for his program of research on Interventions in Residential Neighbourhoods and Population Health. He is also a Fellow in the Successful Societies Program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR – www.cifar.ca).

Dr. Dunn is a 'status only' faculty member in the department, cross-appointed to the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. He holds appointments as an Associate Professor in the Department of Health, Aging & Society at McMaster University and a Research Scientist in the Centre for Research on Inner City Health (CRICH) at St. Michael's Hospital.

Dr. Dunn’s research program focuses on geographical aspects of socio-economic inequalities in health. Current research includes:

an international study of the relationship between income distribution and population health in North American metropolitan areas;

a study of the effects of the Regent Park redevelopment on adult mental health and children’s developmental competencies. Regent Park is one of Canada’s oldest and largest social housing developments;

Toronto-IRONhI – Intensive Research on Neighbourhoods and Health Initiative. This initiative has selected 4 lower-income and 2 upper-income neighbourhoods for intensive study to identify the pathways between local ‘health opportunity structures’ (in the built, social, economic, and service environment) and health outcomes;

a study of the contribution of neighbourhood built, social, economic, and service environment factors on mental health;

various analyses of neighbourhood socio-economic factors and health outcomes, including neighbourhood SES and: mental health care utilization, diabetes, obesity, depression, and early child development;

the effects of supportive housing for people with mental illness on health, quality of life and health care utilization.

Selected Publications

Ferguson, K.T., Kim, P., Dunn, J.R., and Evans, G.W. (2009). An ecological model of urban child health. In: Freudenberg, N., Klitzman, S. and Saegert, S. (eds.) Urban Health and Society: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Research and Practice. Wiley/Jossey-Bass.

Dunn, J.R. and Ross, N.A. (2009). ‘Public goods’, metropolitan inequality and population health in comparative perspective: Policy & theory. In: Babones, S. (ed.) The New Public Health of Social Inequality: Pathways and Evidence. Bristol: Policy Press.

Maggi, S., Ostry, A., Tansey, J., Dunn, J.R., Hershler, R., Chen, L., Hertzman, C. (2008). Paternal psychosocial work conditions and mental health outcomes: A case-control study BMC Public Health, 8:104.

Southern, D.A., Lewis, S., Maxwell, C.J., Dunn, J.R., Noseworthy, T.W., Corbett, G., Thomas, K. and Ghali, W. (2008). Sampling ‘hard-to-reach’ populations in health research: Yield from a study targeting Americans living in Canada. BMC Health Services & Outcomes Research Methodology, 8:57.

Bush, K. R., E. A. Henderson, J. R. Dunn, R. R. Read and A. Singh. 2008. Mapping the core: Chlamydia and gonorrhea infections in Calgary, Alberta. Sexually Transmitted Diseases 35(3): 291-297.

Kyle, T. and J. R. Dunn. 2008. Effects of housing circumstances on health, quality of life and health care use for people with severe mental illness: A review. Health & Social Care in the Community 16(1): 1-15.

Leaver, C., G. Bargh, J. R. Dunn and S. W. Hwang. 2007. The effects of housing status on health-related outcomes in people living with HIV: A systematic review of the literature. AIDS & Behavior 11(S2): 85-100.

Dunn, J. R., P. Schaub and N. A. Ross. 2007. Unpacking income inequality and population health in North American Cities: The peculiar absence of geography. Canadian Journal of Public Health 98(S1): S10-S17.

Schuurman, N., N. Bell, J. R. Dunn and L. N. Oliver. 2007. Deprivation indices, population health and geography: Evaluation of the spatial effectiveness of indices at multiple scales. Journal of Urban Health 84(4): 591-603.

Oliver, L., J. R. Dunn, D. Kohen and C. Hertzman. 2007. Do neighbourhoods influence the readiness to learn of kindergarten children in Vancouver? A multilevel analysis of neighbourhood effects. Environment & Planning A 39(4): 848-868.

Frohlich, K., J. R. Dunn, L. McLaren, A. Sheill, L. Potvin, P. Hawe, C. Dassa and W. E. Thurston. 2007. Understanding place and health: A heuristic for using administrative data. Health & Place 13(2): 299-309.

Dunn, J. R., M. V. Hayes, J. D. Hulchanski, S. W. Hwang, and L. Potvin. 2006. Housing as a socio-economic determinant of health: Findings of a national needs, gaps and opportunities assessment. Canadian Journal of Public Health 97 (Suppl. 3): S11-S15.

Dunn, J. R. 2006. Speaking theoretically about population health: Commentary on Carpiano, R. M. and Daley, D. M. “A guide and glossary on theory-building for population health.” Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 60: 572-573.

Matheson, F. I., R. Moineddin, J. R. Dunn, M. I. Creatore, P. Gozdyra and R. Glazier. 2006. Urban neighbourhood, stress, gender and depression: A factorial ecology. Social Science and Medicine 63(10): 2604-2616.

Dunn, J. R., G. Veenstra and N. A. Ross. 2006. Relations between self-perceived relative social position and self-rated health: Results from a nationally representative survey of the Canadian population. Social Science & Medicine 62(6): 1465-1473.

Dunn, J. R., B. Burgess and N. A. Ross. 2005. Income distribution, public services expenditures, and all-cause mortality in U.S. states. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 59(9): 768-774.

Ross, N. A., D. Dorling, J. R. Dunn, G. Henriksson, J. Glover, J. W. Lynch and G. Ringback Weitoft. 2005. Metropolitan income inequality and working age mortality: A cross-sectional analysis using comparable data from five countries. Journal of Urban Health 82(1): 101-110.

Sections

Outline: James R. Dunn