Susan Elliott

Dr. Susan 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 an active research career Dr. Elliott has published over 200 peer-reviewed publications related to global environment and health. In her role as head of the GoHElP lab she has been a supervisor and mentor to many successful graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.

Her current research activities focus on the intersection of health and environment with an emphasis on bridging science and policy. Presently, she is leading three large projects around gender, water, and violence in Sub-Saharan Africa with strong links to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition to her projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, Dr. Elliott also conducts research on the lifescape experiences and impacts of neglected chronic diseases in North America and beyond.

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:

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
Elliott, S.J. (2011). The transdisciplinary knowledge journey: A suggested framework for research at the water-health nexus. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 3(6): 527-530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2011.10.005

Recent Publications

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

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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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