Our research team

Daniel Fuller is a Principal Investigator on the INTERACT team and Associate Professor in Community Health and Epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan. His research is focused on using wearable technologies to study physical activity, transportation interventions, and equity in urban spaces. Dan has an MSc in Kinesiology from the University of Saskatchewan, a PhD in Public Health from Université de Montréal. Dan is the Neighbourhood Factors Team co-lead of the Canadian Urban Environmental Health (CANUE) Research Consortium. He spends free time chasing his two rambunctious kids, and relives his youth playing recreational basketball on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Physical activity, natural experiment studies, transit impacts, equity

Yan Kestens, Professor at École de Santé Publique de l’Université de Montréal is a Principal Investigator on INTERACT. His research focuses on improving our understanding of how urban changes influence population health, considering converging objectives of sustainability, improved quality of life and reduced health inequalities. Yan develops new tools to collect and analyse spatial data and processes, including wearable sensors, and map-based online questionnaires. Offline, Yan turns to his other projects involving brewing, french sausage, and kids!

Intervention research, urban health, activity space, gentrification and health, science to policy

Spatial equity, GIScience, health geography

Land use and transportation, perceptions of transit users – GIScience

Participatory planning, mobility, neighbourhood design

Active aging, implementation, mobility

Maternal and child health, access to healthy food, neighbourhoods and health

Active transportation, cycling infrastructure, spatial equity, big data

Computer science, human mobility, big data, movement patterns

Resilience, municipal governance, climate readiness, policy

Mobility – Active Transportation – Transit Planning

Planning policy – Transportation – Urban Design

Methods – Cancer prevention – Physical Activity

Socio-spatial equity, health promotion, knowledge translation

Active aging – Qualitative Methods – Knowledge Translation

Mixed Methods, Mental Health, Psychology of Tech and Privacy

Meridith is a knowledge translation strategist and PhD candidate whose research aims to advance how cities measure and understand the impact of urban change on social connectedness, health, and equity.

Built environment, social connectedness, knowledge translation

Julie is pursuing her PhD in Public Health, informed by her previous work as a landscape architect. She is interested in how walkable neighbouroods relate to social connections. 

A kinesiologist by training, Célia is a doctoral student in public health (health promotion option) and is interested in the effect of cycle paths in urban centers on the levels of physical activity related to transport among different socio-economic groups as well as their potential gentrifying effect on neighbourhoods.

Tessa is a Registered Professional Planner (RPP) and Masters of Science candidate at Simon Fraser University, where she works as a research assistant exploring how cities use policy to operationalize equity.

Sadun has a Master’s degree in health economics and is now pursuing a MSc in Public Health at the University de Montreal. He is exploring the relationship between built and social environments, social interactions, and well-being among different socio-economic groups.

Zoé brings together key people, resources, and data to advance and promote our research. She’s worked in political communications and research, before becoming a community organizer, where she focused on urban revitalization and ageing. She holds a Master’s of Urban Planning from McGill University. Zoé organizes her free time around food, transit, and friends.

Meridith is a knowledge translation and communications strategist with a passion for mobilizing evidence and people around bold solutions to public health challenges. Meridith has spent the past ten years leading knowledge translation and evaluation strategies for health organizations aspiring for greater reach and impact. Her work has spanned multiple disciplines and settings, from government agencies in Canada to community organizations in Brazil and Botswana. Meridith spends most weekends playing in the mountains around Vancouver and park-hopping with her sushi-loving kids and mischievous yellow lab Kona.

Karen Laberee is the Project Coordinator in Victoria. She is also the Executive Director of BikeMaps.org. Karen has enjoyed drawing upon her experience in developing creative approaches for promoting BikeMaps.org to recruit participants in Victoria for Team Interact. When she’s not talking about biking, Karen can be found running the spectacular trails that are found just outside of Victoria.

Qualitative Research Manager

Qualitative methods – Knowledge translation – Active aging

Vancouver Coordinator

Montreal Coordinator

Postdoctoral Fellow

MSc Computer Science

Masters in Geography

Master of Community and Regional Planning University of British Columbia