Queens University Logo-White

Jeffrey Masuda, PhD

PhD (University of Alberta)

MSc (University of Alberta)

BSc (University of Alberta)

Contact Information

Email:  jeff.masuda@queensu.ca

Telephone:  613-533-6000 x77560

Office:  KINE 301L

Undergraduate Courses

HLTH 445 – Critical Health Promotion

Graduate Courses

KHS 871 – Critical Health Promotion

Research Summary

The Centre for Environmental Health Equity (www.cehe.ca) works closely with communities, advocacy groups, policymakers, and citizens to nurture the development of research partnerships to address the conditions that promote healthy environments for all.

We do research on:

          -Housing habitability and affordability

          -The human right to a healthy environment and the right to a healthy city

          -Indigenous leadership and expertise in environmental health

          -Participatory research on environmental determinants of health

          -Environmental justice and health equity

I am a human geographer trained in the sub-discipline of health geography as well as the interdisciplinary fields of health promotion and population health. In my research I draw on critical theory and employ a community based participatory research approach, using mixed methods to investigate the systemic roots of social and environmental injustice. My scholarly contributions include insights into arts-based methodologies, neighbourhood level health inequities, environmental governance; knowledge translation, systematic review, and social theory in geography.

My published contributions include studies of environmental health promotion, citizen engagement in regional environmental governance, risk communication, rural geography, knowledge translation in chronic disease prevention, and urban human rights and environmental injustice. My current projects focus on equity focused knowledge translation, human rights and place, and Indigenous leadership in renewable energy and autonomy. I collaborate on projects and initiatives with scholars, policymakers, and community advocates across Canada and internationally.

Graduate Students Opportunities

CEHE is an ideal training environment for students who are interested in gaining research skills in the areas of urban justice, human rights, health inequities, food sovereignty, environmental governance, and citizen engagement. In a broader context, I accept students who are interested in participating in research projects that take an integrated, transdisciplinary approach to the theorization, empirical analysis, and praxis of environmental rights and justice in the Canadian context. 

At Queen’s, my graduate students can select from Master’s programs in health promotion, human geography, and cultural studies.

Prospective students will be considered on a case-by-case basis on receipt of a short statement of intent outlining your previous education and experience and career aspirations, with special consideration given to those that align with the priority projects outlined above. Students should also prepare a detailed Curriculum Vitae. I reserve the right to accept or reject applicants without substantive explanation.

All students should consult with the application guidelines of the Ontario Graduate Scholarship programs, SSHRC, CIHR, and other agencies that fund graduate students prior to commencing studies. Preference will be given to those students who hold or who would be competitive in external scholarship competitions at the time of their application.

Current Funding

The “Right to Remain” of Single Room Occupancy Dwellers in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (SSHRC Insight Grant, 2017 – 2021)

A SHARED Future: Achieving Strength, Health, and Autonomy through Renewable Energy Developments for the Future (CIHR Team Grant, 2016-2021)

Rentsafe Knowledge-to-Action: Mobilizing Intersectoral Action to Address Housing-Related Health Risks Affecting Low-Income Tenants (CIHR Knowledge-to-Action Grant, 2016-2018)

Recent Publications

For a full list of publications, see my Google Scholar Page.

In the area of environmental health equity and inner city health:

Franks, A., Masuda, J.R., Wideman, T., Kobayashi, A, and the “Revitalizing Japantown?”-Right to Remain Community Fair team. (2016). “Mobilizing the ‘Right to Remain’ as a Counter-urban Brand in Vancouver’s Paueru Gai: Historicising Gentrification, Planning, and Heritage in a Racialised Community through Arts-based Participatory Research”. In Zebracki, M. and Palmer, L. (Eds). Public Art Encounters: Art, Space, and Identity.  Ashgate.

Masuda, J.R., and Skinner, E. (2016). Counter-mapping inner city “deprivation” in Winnipeg, Canada. In Giesbrecht, M., and Crooks, V. (eds). Place, Health, and Diversity. Ashgate.

Masuda, J.R. and Franks, A. (2014). The Right to Remain in Vancouver’s Nihonmachi/Downtown Eastside. The Bulletin: a journal of Japanese-Canadian community, history and culture. March 2014. 

Teelucksingh, C., & Masuda, J.R. (2013). Urban environmental justice through the camera: understanding the politics of space and the right to the city. Local Environment, (ahead-of-print), 1-18.

Masuda, J.R., Teelucksingh, C., Haber, R., Skinner, E., Zupancic, T., Crabtree, A., Poland, B., Frankish, J., & Fridell, M. (2012). Out of our inner city backyards: Re-scaling urban health inequity assessment. Social Science and Medicine, 75, 7, 1244-1253.

In the area of knowledge translation:

Masuda, J. R., Zupancic, T., Crighton, E., Muhajarine, N., & Phipps, E. (2014). Equity-focused knowledge translation: a framework for “reasonable action” on health inequities. International journal of public health, 59, 3, 1-8.

Masuda, J.R., Robinson, K., Elliott, S.J., & Eyles, J. (2012). Health promotion and the politics of scale: Lessons from Canadian health reform. Social Work in Public Health, 27, 7, 639-657.

In the area of Indigenous health:

Alaazi, D.A., Masuda, J.R., Evans, J., and Distasio, J. (2015). Therapeutic landscapes of home: exploring Indigenous peoples’ experiences of a Housing First intervention in Winnipeg. Social Science & Medicine, 147, 30-37.

Skinner, E.A., & Masuda, J.R. (2013). Right to a healthy city? Examining the relationship between urban space and health inequality by Aboriginal youth artist-activists in Winnipeg. Social Science and Medicine, 91, 210-218.

In the area of community based participatory research, and health promotion pedagogy:

Skinner, E.A., & Masuda, J.R. (2014). Mapping the geography of health inequity through participatory hip hop. In, Andrews, G., Kearns, R., and Forrester, N. (eds). Medicinal Melodies: Places of Health and Wellbeing in Popular Music. Ashgate.

Masuda, J.R., Creighton, G., Nixon, S., & Frankish, C.J. (2011). Building capacity for community-based, participatory research for health disparities in Canada. Health Promotion Practice, 12, 280-292.

In the area of children’s health promotion:

Masuda, J.R., Abernathi, P., David, L., and Lewis, D. (Accepted). Mobilities of wellbeing in children’s health promotion: Confronting urban settings in geographically informed theory and practice. In Ergler, C.R., and Kearns, R. (Eds), Children’s Health and Wellbeing in Urban Environments. Ashgate.

Castleden, H., Watson, R., Tui’kn Partnership, Bennett, E., Masuda, J.R., King, M., and Stewart, M. (2016). Asthma Prevention and Management for Aboriginal People: Lessons from Mi’kmaq Communities, Unama’ki, Canada. Preventing Chronic Disease, 13(E06).

Masuda, J.R., Anderson, S. Letourneau, N., Sloan Morgan, V., & Stewart, M. (2012). Reconciling preferences and constraints in online peer support for youth with Asthma and Allergies. Health Promotion Practice, Online First.

Stewart, M., Masuda, J.R., Letourneau, N., Anderson, S., Cicutto, L., McGhan, S.L., & Watt, S. (2011). Online support intervention for adolescents with Asthma and Allergies: Ingredients and insights. Journal of Asthma and Allergy Educators, 2(6), 306-317. DOI 10.1177/2150129711402686

Laferriere, K., Crighton, E., Baxter, J., and Masuda, J.R. (2016). Examining inequities in children’s environmental health: Results of a survey on the risk perceptions and protective actions of new mothers. Journal of Risk Research, 19(3), 271-287.

Stewart, M.J., Masuda, J.R., Evans, J., Letourneau, N., and Edey, J. (2016) . Respiratory health inequities experienced by low-income children.  Journal of Poverty 20(3), 278-295.

My PhD research:

Masuda, J.R., McGee, T., & Garvin, T.D. (2008). Power, knowledge, and citizenship in public engagement: The case of Alberta’s industrial heartland. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, 10(4), 359-380.

Masuda, J.R., & Garvin, T.D. (2008). Whose heartland? The politics of place in a rural-urban interface. The Journal of Rural Studies, 24, 112-123.

Masuda, J.R., & Garvin, T.D. (2006). Place, culture, and the social amplification of risk. Risk Analysis, 26(2), 437-454.

Affiliations:

  • Director, Centre for Environmental Health Equity
  • Institute Advisory Board Member, CIHR Institute of Population and Public Health
  • Allergen Investigator, Allergen NCE

Other Interests:

I grew up in and around Edmonton, Alberta and have lived in five Canadian provinces over the past ten years. I have a passion for whitewater paddling and have been spotted on rivers in BC, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, California, Washington State, and Manitoba. Now that I’m in Kingston, I may take up sailing. You can find my full biography as well as those of my team here.

Links

Centre for Environmental Health Equity

Revitalizing Japantown? A unifying exploration of human rights, branding, and place in Vancouver’s Nihonmachi/Downtown Eastside

Geography of Health and Health Care Study Group