Who We Are
John Myles, PhD, Principal Investigator
Brenda Ross, MSc.
Director of Research/ Senior Associate
Tel.: (416) 946-0668
Fax: (416) 946-0669
Brenda.ross@utoronto.ca
Dennis Magill, PhD, Managing Director
Stacey Creak, BA
Centre Coordinator
Tel.: (416) 978-7223
Fax: (416) 946-0669
cuhi.admin@utoronto.ca
If you would like more information about CUHI, please contact us by telephone, e-mail or by dropping by. We look forward to hearing from you!
Staff Profiles
Dr. John Myles (Principal Investigator)
Biography:John Myles, along with a group of University of Toronto researchers established the Centre for Urban Health Initiatives in 2003. Myles is an internationally-renowned authority in political sociology and social stratification and was named the Canada Research Chair in Social and Ethical Contexts of Health in 2001. He was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, in 2004 was elected Chair of the Political Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association in 2006. He continues to publish extensively. Myles is committed to excellence in graduate student training. He and his students conduct research that has a strong impact for our understanding of labour market, family and public policy effects on economic and social inequality.
Brenda Ross (Director of Research/ Senior Research Associate)
Biography: Brenda Ross was hired in the spring of 2006 as the Director of Research / Senior Research Associate for the Centre for Urban Health Initiatives. Brenda has worked as a researcher, evaluator and planning analyst in a number of health arenas including policy settings, community prevention and health promotion programs, hospitals and professional regulating bodies. She has had operational and strategic policy experience in her evaluation and research portfolios with Toronto Public Health, Healthy Families and Communities; the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, and the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services. Her previous research has included the provincial evaluation of the Healthy Babies Healthy Children Program, evaluation of Health Canada Community Action Programs for Children (CAPC), evaluation of the Toronto Early Child Development Initiatives and evaluation of hospital outreach programs for vulnerable populations. She has had hands-on experience planning, implementing and evaluating health promotion and public health programs that contribute to population level health goals.
Brenda has an interdisciplinary background with a Bachelor of Health & Physical Education from the
As the Operational Director of CUHI, Brenda is responsible for the day to day management and operations of the research development centre. She provides leadership in planning, implementation and evaluation of all centre activities including research capacity building in emerging areas of urban health, training and mentoring of students, knowledge exchange and collaboration with community stakeholders. She has been instrumental in building partnerships between researchers across disciplines in universities and community based organizations with stakeholder users of research. Brenda has played a key role in the development of new interdisciplinary research programs and she brings strong policy and community stakeholder perspectives to our Centre’s work.
Research Interests: Participatory planning and evaluation of policy, health care and health promotion programs; development of program logic models; knowledge transfer for informed decision making; evaluation of maternal/child population level health and health promotion programs.
Stacey Creak (Centre Coordinator)
Biography: Stacey joined CUHI in October 2009 as the centre’s coordinator. Stacey has a Bachelor's Degree in Communications from Simon Fraser University and is currently pursuing her Master of Social Work at the University of Toronto. Previously, Stacey was the Project Coordinator and Research Assistant with the Division of Health Care Communication, College of Health Disciplines at the University of British Columbia. As Project Co-ordinator for the Community Partnerships for Health Professional Education research project, she assisted with the development and investigation of community-led workshops for interdisciplinary groups of health professional students, utilizing Participatory Action Research methods. Stacey also has experience supporting Advisory Boards and research teams with proposal writing; liaising with networks of community partner organizations; promoting knowledge exchange and organizing special events.
Stacey is the financial, human resource and public relations contact person for the Centre. As the coordinator Stacey will be organizing our monthly Spotlight on Urban Health forums, student forums, annual policy forum and managing the centre’s listserv and membership correspondence.
Dr. Dennis Magill (Managing Director)
Biography: Dennis Magill has been filling a managing role at CUHI since its inception in 2003. As a Professor Emeritus and former Director of the Health Studies program at the University of Toronto, Magill has connected CUHI with a number of departments in the social sciences and facilitated the partnership that we have with the Health Studies program and University College. He has a long and distinguished record as a strong community activist and public leader in connection with such organizations as the Toronto Historical Board, Wellesley Central Hospital, Homewood Housing Coop and Sherbourne Health Centre. He is the Vice-Chair of the Board for the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network and has received the Award of Merit from the City of Toronto. These accomplishments have made tangible differences to the health of urban communities in downtown Toronto.
Toronto City Council Names New Park In Honour of Wellesley Central Hospital and Community Leader – Dennis Magill
Dr. Peter Warrian, Chair Wellesley Institute, the Board of Directors, and Rick Blickstead, CEO, are pleased to announce that Toronto’s newest park located on the former site of the Wellesley Central Hospital has been designated by Toronto City Council as the “Wellesley Magill Park”. It honours the hospital’s men and women who so well served the community for over 90 years, the Southeast Toronto community that supported the hospital, and Dennis William Magill, a founder of the Wellesley Institute. The park was designed by Cornelia Oberlander, Canada’s leading landscape architect and a member of the Order of Canada.
Dr. Magill is an active community leader who consistently follows the Wellesley Hospital’s motto – “Jamais Sans Esperance”. He was the first community Director of the Wellesley Hospital, the Chair of its “Staying Alive” campaign, and Chair of the Wellesley Institute for over seven years. In recognition of his contribution, the Board of Directors elected him to a lifetime position as Chair Emeritus.
He had a distinguished academic career as a sociologist at the University of Toronto, and was honoured as Professor Emeritus. In addition, he has held numerous board positions including the Toronto Historical Board, Sherbourne Health Centre, Rekai Centre for Long Term Care, Wellesley Central Residents Inc., Centre for Urban Health Initiatives (University of Toronto), Community Campus Partnerships for Health, and the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network.
Under his leadership, the Wellesley Institute has been committed to transforming the hospital lands into a positive engine of change for the community of southeast Toronto. The site now comprises private and not-for-profit housing, a long-term care centre, and a supportive housing facility in addition to the park.
The Wellesley Institute is Canada’s leading progressive urban health institute exploring solutions to housing and homelessness, newcomer health, health reform, and social innovation, within the focus of health equity.