Julia Knapp
Executive Director, Alumni Engagement
University of Toronto

invites University of Toronto alumni and friends to attend a dinner reception, featuring a special presentation:

Concrete, Clinics, and Calories: Exploring the Urban Health Connection

by

Michael J. Widener
Professor and Chair, Department of Geography and Planning
University of Toronto
Canada Research Chair in Transportation and Health

It isn’t uncommon to read in the news about the many ways the places we live are impacting our health and well-being – with some popular outlets declaring your postal code matters as much as your genetic code. From food deserts to pollution to access to parks, researchers have spent the past few decades exploring how city environments might directly - or indirectly - affect our health.

Join us for an insightful talk with Professor Michael J. Widener on how urban neighbourhoods can help or hinder behaviours that contribute to healthy and happy lives. Drawing from research conducted by his team, Professor Widener will discuss what these findings mean for how we think about the future of urban planning in Canada.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Michael J. Widener is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in Transportation and Health at the University of Toronto - St. George. He also serves as the Chair of the Department of Geography and Planning, with a cross-appointment in Epidemiology at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Outside of U of T, Dr. Widener serves as the co-Editor in Chief of the journal Health and Place, sits on various journals’ editorial boards, is a member of CIHR’s College of Reviewers, and co-leads the Social and Health Factors Cluster of the Network of European Communication and Transportation Activity Researchers.

Dr. Widener’s research focuses on how health and well-being are affected by social context, transportation opportunities, and urban form, with an emphasis on food environment research. In the classroom, Dr. Widener teaches courses on geographic information systems, data science, mapping health data, and spatial statistics at the undergraduate and graduate levels.