Join us Tuesday, December 16 at 1 PM ET for the CLSA webinar “The relationship between immigrant status, cultural/racial background, and hypothyroidism among middle-aged and older Canadians: an analysis of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.” The webinar will be presented by Judy Deng, MD candidate in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta, and Karen Davison, Optimal Health Program Lead at the Institute for Life Course & Aging at the University of Toronto
The presentation will provide an overview of recent research using CLSA data to explore associations between immigration recency, cultural/racial origin, and hypothyroidism. Analyses were conducted to examine associations between hypothyroidism and sociodemographic factors including immigrant status, immigrant’s cultural/racial origin, and health and dietary intake covariates.
Findings showed that immigrants who arrived <20 years ago had significantly lower odds of hypothyroidism, but longer-term immigrants were comparable to those born in Canada. These findings are in keeping with the healthy immigrant effect.
Judy Deng is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Alberta with a strong interest in family medicine and health equity. She hopes to integrate social epidemiology research into her future clinical practice, using the insights it provides to better advocate for and serve diverse patient populations. Before entering medical school, she earned her Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Science from McGill University. Outside of healthcare and research, she can often be found immersed in novels at all hours of the day or happily trying her best not to get lost in foreign countries.
Karen Davison is a nutrition researcher and clinical practitioner whose work focuses on the determinants of health as they relate to physical, mental and cognitive health. Her clinical work focuses on Veteran and first responder populations, as well as individuals whose primary diagnosis included a traumatic brain injury or neurodegenerative condition.
As a health educator, practitioner, and researcher, Karen has been involved with several initiatives that have advanced health practice among diverse populations. She is an alumna of two Canadian Institutes for Health Research fellowship programs, Fulbright Canada Research Chair Program, and Canada Research Chair Program. She has been the recipient of Popular Science’s Magazine Clinical Leader Recognition Award and the Dietitians of Canada Peer Recognition Award for her work in nutrition and mental health. Currently, her research and clinical work focuses on mental health and nutrition, particularly in veteran, first responder populations as well as individuals where the primary diagnosis is a traumatic brain injury or neurodegenerative condition.
