Susan Elliott

Professor, Geography and Environmental Management
Headshot of Susan Elliott

Dr. Susan J. Elliott is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management and University Research Chair in Medical Geography at the University of Waterloo. 

As a health geographer with a distinguished career, Professor Elliott has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles related to the global environment and health. Her research spans the built environment, socially constructed risks, and the physical environment's effects on health, always emphasizing the integration of science and policy. Her work is characterized by a transdisciplinary approach that includes partnerships with knowledge owners and users.

In her role as the head of the GoHelP lab at the University of Waterloo, she has supervised and mentored numerous successful graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Her current research focuses on the intersection of health and environment, with particular emphasis on gender, water, and violence in Sub-Saharan Africa, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Additionally, she conducts research on the lifescape experiences and impacts of neglected chronic diseases in North America and beyond.

Professor Elliott's career also includes various leadership roles, such as Director of the Institute of Environment and Health (McMaster University), Senior Research Fellow at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment, and Health, Dean of Social Sciences (McMaster University), and Dean of Health Sciences (University of Waterloo). She is the editor-in-chief of Social Science and Medicine and co-editor-in-chief of Wellbeing, Space & Society.

Her contributions have significantly advanced understanding in areas such as the role of violence in WASH, climate change, and post-COVID-19 recovery, informing policy and practice. Elected as a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) in 2022, she actively contributes to shaping the Academy's strategic direction and supports its vision of transforming African lives through meaningful scientific collaboration.

Research Interests

1. Health and the built environment

  • Alsabbagh, W., Cooke, M., Elliott, S. J., Chang, F., Shah, N.-U.-H., & Gabriel, M. (2022). Stepping up to the Canadian opioid crisis: a longitudinal analysis of the correlation between socioeconomic status and population rates of opioid-related mortality, hospitalization, and emergency department visits (2000-2017). Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada. https://doi.org/10.24095/hpcdp.42.6.01
  • Pouliou, T., Elliott, S.J. (2010). Individual and socio-environmental determinants of obesity in urban Canada. Health and Place, 16(2): 389-398. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2009.11.011

2. Health and the socially constructed environment

  • Dixon, J. Cardwell, F. S., Clarke, A.E. & Elliott, S.J. (2020). Choices are inevitable: A qualitative exploration of the lifecosts of systemic lupus erythematosus. Chronic Illness. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742395320910490
  • Harrington, D., Elliott, S.J. (2015). How can we govern what we don’t understand? A framework for understanding emerging environmental health risks. The Canadian Geographer, 59 (3): 283-296. https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12198

3. Health and the physical environment

  • Berrang-Ford, L., Siders, A. R., Lesnikowski, A., Fischer, A. P., Callaghan, M. W., Haddaway, N. R., Mach, K. J., Araos, M., Shah, M. A. R., Wannewitz, M., Doshi, D., Leiter, T., Matavel, C., Musah-Surugu, J. I., Wong-Parodi, G., Antwi-Agyei, P., Ajibade, I., Chauhan, N., Kakenmaster, W., …Elliott, S.J.,... Abu, T. Z. (2021). A systematic global stocktake of evidence on human adaptation to climate change. Nature Climate Change, 11(11), Article 11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01170-y
  • Salubi, E. A., & Elliott, S. J. (2021). Geospatial analysis of cholera patterns in Nigeria: Findings from a cross-sectional study. BMC Infectious Diseases, 21(1), 202. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-05894-2
  • Bisung, E., Elliott, S.J. (2014).Toward a social capital based framework for understanding the water-health nexus. Social Science and Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.01.042

Susan’s research is also characterized by a strong commitment to science-policy bridging. For example, see:

Recent Publications

2024

  • Brubacher, L. J., Chen, T. T. W., Longboat, S., Dodd, W., Peach, L., Elliott, S. J., Patterson, K., & Neufeld, H. (2024). Climate change, biodiversity loss, and Indigenous Peoples’ health and wellbeing: a systematic umbrella review protocol. Systematic Reviews, 13(1), 8. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0002995

  • Thompson, C., Elliott S.J., Meyer, S., Leatherdale S. & Majowitz S. (2024). Attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control factors influencing Canadian secondary school students’ milk and milk alternatives consumption. Public Health Nutrition, 27(1):e92. doi: 10.1017/S1368980024000661

  • Yeung, Y., & Elliott, S. J. (2024). Investigating Student Perceptions and Vulnerability to Heat Stress in Campus Residences Using Reddit: Climate Change, Health, and Wellbeing. Canadian Geographies. https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12912

  • Shantz, E., Elliott, S.J, Sperling, C., et al. (2024). Towards an understanding of the biopsychosocial determinants of CVD in SLE: a scoping review. Lupus Science & Medicine; 11:e001155. doi: 10.1136/lupus-2024-001155 

  • Dhillon, S., Luginaah, I., Elliott, S. J., Nagawa, J., & Niwagaba, R. A. (2024). The impacts of COVID-19 on older adults in Uganda and Ethiopia: Perspectives from non-governmental organization staff and volunteers. PLOS Global Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0003691

2023

  • Nunbogu, A. M., Elliott, S. J., & Bisung, E. (2023). I feel the pains of our past water struggles anytime I turn on the tap: Diaspora perceptions and experiences of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) gendered violence in Ghana. Social Science & Medicine, 317, 115621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115621

2022

  • Alsabbagh, M. W., Cooke, M., Elliott, S. J., Chang, F., Shah, N.-U.-H., & Ghobrial, M. (2022). Stepping up to the Canadian opioid crisis: A longitudinal analysis of the correlation between socioeconomic status and population rates of opioid-related mortality, hospitalization and emergency department visits (2000-2017). Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada: Research, Policy and Practice, 42(6), 229–237. https://doi.org/10.24095/hpcdp.42.6.01
  • Butler, A. E., Battista, K., Leatherdale, S. T., Meyer, S. B., Elliott, S. J., & Majowicz, S. E. (2022). A comparison of repeat cross-sectional and longitudinal results from the COMPASS study: Design considerations for analysing surveillance data over time. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 25(5), 597–609. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2021.1922804
  • Cardwell, F. S., Clarke, A. E., & Elliott, S. J. (2022). Investigating self-reported food allergy prevalence in Waterloo Region, Canada. The Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe Canadien. https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12800
  • Cardwell, F. S., Elliott, S. J., Chin, R., Pierre, Y. S., Ben-Shoshan, M., Chan, E. S., Gerdts, J., Harada, L., Asai, Y., La Vieille, S., & Clarke, A. E. (2022). Economic burden of food allergy in Canada: Estimating costs and identifying determinants. Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, 129(2), 220–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anai.2022.04.027
  • Cardwell, F. S., Elliott, S. J., Chin, R., Pierre, Y. S., Choi, M. Y., Urowitz, M. B., Ruiz-Irastorza, G., Bernatsky, S., Wallace, D. J., Petri, M. A., Manzi, S., Bae, S.-C., Shin, J.-M., Mak, A., Cho, J., Peschken, C. A., Ramsey-Goldman, R., Fortin, P. R., Hanly, J. G., … Clarke, A. E. (2022). Health information use by patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) pre and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lupus Science & Medicine, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1136/lupus-2022-000755
  • Dixon, J., Cardwell, F. S., Clarke, A. E., & Elliott, S. J. (2022). Choices are inevitable: A qualitative exploration of the lifecosts of systemic lupus erythematosus. Chronic Illness, 18(1), 125–139. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742395320910490
  • Elliott, S. J. (2022). Changing geographies of aging on a global scale: The knowledge to action gap. The Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe Canadien, 66(1), 60–64. https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12751
  • Elliott, S. J. (2022). Global health for all by 2030. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 113(2), 175–177. https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-022-00623-x
  • Li, S., Schmidt, A. M., & Elliott, S. J. (2022). Socioeconomic factors and bacillary dysentery risk in Jiangsu Province, China: A spatial investigation using Bayesian hierarchical models. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 32(1), 220–231. https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2020.1746745
  • Liu, J., Brouwer, R., Sharmin, D. F., Elliott, S., Govia, L., & Lindamood, D. (2022). Industry Perspectives on Water Pollution Management in a Fast Developing Megacity: Evidence from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Sustainability, 14(24), 16389. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416389
  • Manjang, B., Ochola, E. A., & Elliott, S. J. (2022). The use of non-pharmaceutical interventions for the prevention and control of schistosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review. Global Public Health, 17(3), 469–482. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2020.1869799
  • Memauri, T. D., Golding, M. A., Gerdts, J. D., Simons, E., Abrams, E. M., Elliott, S. J., Roos, L. E., Kim, H., & Protudjer, J. L. P. (2022). The perceived impact of pediatric food allergy on mental health care needs and supports: A pilot study. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: Global, 1(2), 67–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacig.2022.01.002
  • Nunbogu, A. M., & Elliott, S. J. (2022). Characterizing gender-based violence in the context of water, sanitation, and hygiene: A scoping review of evidence in low- and middle-income countries. Water Security, 15, 100113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasec.2022.100113
  • Ochola, E. A., Karanja, D. M. S., & Elliott, S. J. (2022). Local tips, global impact: Community-driven measures as avenues of promoting inclusion in the control of neglected tropical diseases: a case study in Kenya. Infectious Diseases of Poverty, 11(1), 88. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40249-022-01011-w

2021

  • Abu, T. Z., Elliott, S. J., & Karanja, D. (2021). ‘When you preach water and you drink wine’: WASH in healthcare facilities in Kenya. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 11(4), 558–569. https://doi.org/10.2166/washdev.2021.238
  • Alsabbagh, M. W., Chang, F., Cooke, M., Elliott, S. J., & Chen, M. (2021). National trends in population rates of opioid-related mortality, hospitalization and emergency department visits in Canada between 2000 and 2017. A population-based study. Addiction, 116(12), 3482–3493. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15571
  • Cardwell, F. S., Dixon, J., Clarke, A. E., & Elliott, S. J. (2021). Canadian workplace experiences of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Lupus Science & Medicine, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1136/lupus-2021-000536
  • Cardwell, F. S., Elliott, S. J., & Clarke, A. E. (2021). The value of hackathons in integrated knowledge translation (iKT) research: Waterlupus. Health Research Policy and Systems, 19(1), 138. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-021-00785-z
  • Clarke, A. E., Elliott, S. J., St. Pierre, Y., Soller, L., La Vieille, S., & Ben-Shoshan, M. (2021). Demographic characteristics associated with food allergy in a Nationwide Canadian Study. Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology, 17(1), 72. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13223-021-00572-z
  • Kangmennaang, J., & Elliott, S. J. (2021). Linking water (in)security and wellbeing in low-and middle-income countries. Water Security, 13, 100089. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasec.2021.100089
  • Lindamood, D., Armitage, D., Sharmin, D. F., Brouwer, R., Elliott, S. J., Liu, J. A., & Khan, M. R. (2021). Assessing the capacity for adaptation and collaboration in the context of freshwater pollution management in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Environmental Science & Policy, 120, 99–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2021.02.015
  • Nunbogu, A. M., & Elliott, S. J. (2021). Towards an integrated theoretical framework for understanding water insecurity and gender-based violence in Low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Health & Place, 71, 102651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2021.102651
  • Ochola, E. A., Elliott, S. J., & Karanja, D. M. S. (2021). The Impact of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) on Women’s Health and Wellbeing in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): A Case Study of Kenya. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(4), 2180. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18042180
  • Ochola, E. A., Karanja, D. M. S., & Elliott, S. J. (2021). The impact of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) on health and wellbeing in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): A case study of Kenya. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 15(2). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009131

2020

  • Abu, T. Z., & Elliott, S. J. (2020). When It Is Not Measured, How Then Will It Be Planned for? WaSH a Critical Indicator for Universal Health Coverage in Kenya. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(16). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17165746
  • Asai, Y., Martino, D., Eiwegger, T., Nadeau, K., Koppelman, G. H., Clarke, A. E., Lee, Y.-A., Chan, E. S., Simons, E., Laprise, C., Mazer, B., Marenholz, I., Royce, D., Elliott, S. J., Hampson, C., Gerdts, J., Eslami, A., Soller, L., Hui, J., … Daley, D. (2020). Phenotype consensus is required to enable large-scale genetic consortium studies of food allergy. Allergy, 75(9), 2383–2387. https://doi.org/10.1111/all.14333
  • Berrang-Ford, L., Siders, A. R., Lesnikowski, A., Fischer, A. P., Callaghan, M. W., Haddaway, N. R., Mach, K. J., Araos, M., Shah, M. A. R., Wannewitz, M., Doshi, D., Leiter, T., Matavel, C., Musah-Surugu, J. I., Wong-Parodi, G., Antwi-Agyei, P., Ajibade, I., Chauhan, N., Kakenmaster, W., … Abu, T. Z. (2021). A systematic global stocktake of evidence on human adaptation to climate change. Nature Climate Change, 11(11). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01170-y
  • Butler, A. E., Battista, K., Leatherdale, S. T., Meyer, S. B., Elliott, S. J., & Majowicz, S. E. (2020). Environmental Factors of Youth Milk and Milk Alternative Consumption. American Journal of Health Behavior, 44(5), 666–680. https://doi.org/10.5993/AJHB.44.5.10
  • Cardwell, F. S., Bisung, E., Clarke, A. E., & Elliott, S. J. (2020). Hacking systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): Outcomes of the Waterlupus hackathon. Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada: Research, Policy and Practice, 40(7–8), 235–244. https://doi.org/10.24095/hpcdp.40.7/8.03
  • Clarke, A. E., Elliott, S. J., Pierre, Y. S., Soller, L., Vieille, S. L., & Ben-Shoshan, M. (2020). Comparing food allergy prevalence in vulnerable and nonvulnerable Canadians. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, 8(7), 2425–2430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaip.2020.03.037
  • Kangmennaang, J., Bisung, E., & Elliott, S. J. (2020). ‘We Are Drinking Diseases’: Perception of Water Insecurity and Emotional Distress in Urban Slums in Accra, Ghana. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(3), 890. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030890

2019

  • Abu, T. Z., Bisung, E., & Elliott, S. J. (2019). What If Your Husband Doesn’t Feel the Pressure? An Exploration of Women’s Involvement in WaSH Decision Making in Nyanchwa, Kenya. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16101763
  • Bisung, E., & Elliott, S. J. (2019). Community water supply improvement and wellbeing: A pre-post photovoice intervention study in Kenya. Habitat International, 85, 14–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2019.01.005
  • Cardwell, F. S., & Elliott, S. J. (2019). Understanding an Environmental Health Risk: Investigating Asthma Risk Perception in Ontario Youth Sport. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16112033
  • Dixon, J., & Elliott, S. J. (2019). Changing the culture is a marathon not a sprint. Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology, 15(1), 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13223-019-0325-6
  • Dixon, J., & Elliott, S. J. (2019). Changing the culture is a marathon not a sprint. Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13223-019-0325-6
  • Kangmennaang, J., & Elliott, S. J. (2019). ‘Wellbeing is shown in our appearance, the food we eat, what we wear, and what we buy’: Embodying wellbeing in Ghana. Health & Place, 55, 177–187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2018.12.008

2018

  • Atiim, G. A., Elliott, S. J., Clarke, A. E., & Janes, C. (2018). ‘What the mind does not know, the eyes do not see’. Placing food allergy risk in sub-Saharan Africa. Health & Place, 51, 125–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2018.02.005
  • Barber, H., Dickson-Anderson, S. E., Schuster-Wallace, C. J., Elliott, S. J., & Tema, S. (2018). Designing a Mixed-Methods Approach for Collaborative Local Water Security: Findings from a Kenyan Case Study. Exposure and Health, 10(3), 145–153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-017-0251-0
  • Brown, K. M., Elliott, S. J., Robertson-Wilson, J., Vine, M. M., & Leatherdale, S. T. (2018). ‘Now What?’ Perceived Factors Influencing Knowledge Exchange in School Health Research. Health Promotion Practice, 19(4), 590–600. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839917732037
  • Elliott, S. J., Dixon, J., & Bisung, E. (2018). Taking it global: Toward an index of wellbeing for low- to middle- income countries. In E. Kalipeni, I. Iwelunmor, D. S. Grigsby-Toussaint, & I. K. Moise (Eds.), Public Health, Disease and Development in Africa (1st ed.). Routledge.
  • Kangmennaang, J., & Elliott, S. J. (2018). Towards an integrated framework for understanding the links between inequalities and wellbeing of places in low and middle income countries. Social Science & Medicine, 213, 45–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.07.002
  • Lu, S. K., Elliott, S. J., Majowicz, S. E., & Perlman, C. M. (2018). An Evaluation Toolkit for Small NGOs in Water-based Development. Journal of International Development, 30(3), 457–473. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3328
  1. Onyango, E. O., & Elliott, S. J. (2022). Traversing the geographies of displacement, livelihoods, and embodied health and wellbeing of senior women in Kenya. Wellbeing, Space and Society, 3, 100110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wss.2022.100110
  2. Onyango, E. O., & Elliott, S. J. (2020). Bleeding Bodies, Untrustworthy Bodies: A Social Constructionist Approach to Health and Wellbeing of Young People in Kenya. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(20), 7555. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17207555
  3. Rios, S., Meyer, S. B., Hirdes, J., Elliott, S., & Perlman, C. M. (2021). The development and validation of a marginalization index for inpatient psychiatry. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 67(4), 324–334. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764020950785
  4. Rishworth, A., & Elliott, S. (2022). Global Discourses and Local Disconnects: Gender, Aging, Health, and Well-Being in Uganda. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 112(6), 1519–1536. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2021.1997567
  5. Rishworth, A., & Elliott, S. J. (2022). Walking the health geographers’ talk: Aging and health inequalities in sub-Saharan Africa. The Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe Canadien, 66(3), 497–511. https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12761
  6. Rishworth, A., Elliott, S. J., & Kangmennaang, J. (2020). Getting Old Well in Sub Saharan Africa: Exploring the Social and Structural Drivers of Subjective Wellbeing among Elderly Men and Women in Uganda. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17072347
  7. Salubi, E. A., & Elliott, S. J. (2021). Geospatial analysis of cholera patterns in Nigeria: Findings from a cross-sectional study. BMC Infectious Diseases, 21(1), 202. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-05894-2
  8. Shantz, E., & Elliott, S. J. (2021). From social determinants to social epigenetics: Health geographies of chronic disease. Health & Place, 69, 102561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2021.102561
  9. Springer, R. A., & Elliott, S. J. (2020). “There’s Not Really Much Consideration Given to the Effect of the Climate on NCDs”—Exploration of Knowledge and Attitudes of Health Professionals on a Climate Change-NCD Connection in Barbados. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17010198
  10. Trottier, H., & Elliott, S. J. (2021). World Health Organization recommends first malaria vaccine. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 112(6), 967–969. https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-021-00593-6

Contact information

Links
Contact information: Susan Elliott