Over the last 20 years, James Dunn’s research has revealed clear relationships between inequality in cities and people’s health. Working with communities in southern Ontario and beyond, he has explored how housing, economic inequality and attributes of neighbourhoods affect residents’ mental and physical health.

“People’s income and other socio-economic conditions are incredibly important to their health — and way more actionable than we’d like to believe,” says Dunn, whose background in urban geography and social epidemiology is well-suited to the study of urban health equity.