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Paul Peters

Associate Professor

• MES (University of Waterloo), PhD (University of Texas, Austin)
• Email Paul Peters

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Primary field of Specialization:

Population Health; Rural Health; Spatial Data Analysis; Health Geography

Research Interests:

Despite decades of universal healthcare in Canada and elsewhere, there still remains pronounced inequalities in the social determinants of health and in health outcomes. These inequalities are manifest between social groups across a range of factors, such as income, education, or ethnicity. At the same time, these inequalities are spatially evident, with differences between provinces, regions, villages, and neighbourhoods. Perhaps counterintuitively, the patterns and processes of these inequalities can be measured using large data sources, sometimes termed “big data.” The focus of my research is on these persistent social and structural inequalities of health in small places and small spaces.

The substantive areas of my research are varied, but they are connected methodologically by the use of linked administrative and survey data, whether analysing problems manifest in small areas, or in small places. I prefer research projects that are collaborative in nature and engage with diverse international colleagues across disciplines and domains. My active research projects include: small-area rate variation for high health system users in rural areas, agent-based models of population change in rural and remote communities; and, data methods for modelling environmental health. Each of these projects is grounded in a commitment to conduct research informed by the communities and the subjects under study.

Visit the Spatial Determinants Lab to learn more!

Select Publications:

McGaughey T & PA Peters. (2026). “Introducing the Canadian Accessibility and Remoteness Index (CARI+).”��Canadian Geographies��70:��70082.��.��

Wright, R, DeClercq V, Burton C, Roslin N, Chan A, Arnold P, Peters P, Schachar R, Crosbie R, & M Langille (2026) Population-based characterisation of child and adolescent oral microbiomes.��Microbiome.��.����

McGaughey T, Kephart G, Dang U, & PA Peters. (2025) “Creating an Inclusive Definition for High Resource Inpatient Hospital Users Between and Within Rurality.”��International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health��22(3), 381.��

Golestani R, Farahani K, & PA Peters. (2025) “Exploring Barriers to Accessing Health Care Services by Young Women in Rural Settings: A Qualitative Study in Australia, Canada, and Sweden.”��BMC Public Health. 25:213.��.��

McGaughey, T. & Peters, P. A. (2024) “Where should we go – Estimating travel times for modelling accessibility to 24-hour emergency departments in Canada.”��Scientific Data��11, 853.��.��

Dissanayake A, Dupuis A, Burton CL, Soreni N, Peters PA, Gajaria A, Arnold P, Crosbie J, & R Schachar. (2024) “Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Youth Mental Health Traits and Diagnoses within a Community-based Sample.”��Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.��.

Sheppard-Perkins M, McGaughey T, Peters PA & F Darroch. (2024) “Exploring the Use of Geographic Methods to Understand Sexual- and Gender-based Violence: A Scoping Review.”��Gender, Place & Culture. 1-29.��.��

Petrie S & PA Peters. (2023) “Health Service Implementation and Antifragile Characteristics in Rural Communities: A Dirt Research Approach.”��International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 20(14): 6418.��.��

LeBlanc M, McGaughey T, & PA Peters. (2023) “Characteristics of High-Resource Health System Users in Rural and Remote Regions: A Scoping Review.”��International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 20(7): 5385.��.��

Petrie S, Carson D, Peters PA, Hurtig A-K, LeBlanc M, Simpson H, Barnabe J, Young M, Ostafichuk M, Hodge H, Glademan J, Smale M, & M Gonzalez Garcia. (2021) “What a Pandemic Has Taught Us �Ӱ�ԭ�� the Potential for Innovation in Rural Health: Commencing an Ethnography in Canada, the United States, Sweden, and Australia.”��Frontiers in Public Health. 9: 768624��.��

Petrie S & PA Peters. (2020) “Untangling complexity as a health determinant: Wicked problems in healthcare.”��Health Science Inquiry. 11(1):131-135.��

LeBlanc M, Petrie S, Paskaran S, Carson DB, & PA Peters. (2020) “Patient and Provider Perspectives of Rural eHealth Interventions.”��Rural and Remote Health. 20(3): 5754.��

Peters PA, MT Hidalgo, & E Skop. (2020) “Building a Just City: A Retrospective of Social Segregation in Metropolitan Lima.”��Journal of Latin American Geography. 19(4): 269-279.��

Asher K & PA Peters. (2020) “Meat reduction, vegetarianism, or chicken avoidance: U.S. omnivores’ impressions of three meat-restricted diets.”��British Food Journal. 123(1): 387-402.��

Asher K & PA Peters. (2020) “Go the Whole Nine Yards? How Extent of Meat Restriction Impacts Individual Dietary Experience.”��Ecology of Food and Nutrition. 59(4): 436-458.��

Johnson M, Brook J, Brook R, Oiamo T, Luginaah I, Peters PA, & JD Spence. (2020) “Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Carotid Plaque Burden in a Canadian City with Low-Level Ambient Pollution.”��Journal of the American Heart Association. 9(e013400).��

Harris MA, MacLeod J, Kim J, Pahwa M, Tjepkema M, Peters PA, & PA Demers. (2020) “Use of a Canadian Population-Based Surveillance Cohort to Test Relationships Between Shift Work and Breast, Ovarian, and Prostate Cancer.” Annals of Work Exposures and Health. 64(4): 387-401. ��