Ph.D. Research Profile: Laura Miller
Population Mixing and Health in New Zealand
Qualifications
University of St Andrews , Scotland : MA Honours Geography
University of Sheffield , England : Masters in Human Geography Research
Research Interests
- Spatial epidemiology
- Migration and health
- Geographical health inequalities
PhD Research
The health effects of small area population mixing in New Zealand This research aims to determine the health effects of population mixing in New Zealand, concentrating on acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and type 1 diabetes in those diagnosed aged 0 to 15 years.
Objectives:
- Determine and compare the geographical epidemiology of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and type 1 diabetes in New Zealand.
- Determine the extent to which these diseases vary by age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation quintile and urban/rural status.
- Assess geographical and temporal changes in incidence and determine whether there are space-time clusters of each disease in New Zealand.
- Create and compare various measures of population mixing for small areas across New Zealand and assess how they change over time.
- Model whether there is a statistically significant relationship between these measures of population mixing and both leukaemia and type 1 diabetes incidence at the small area level.
- Determine whether other potential risk factors are influential in explaining these diseases in the New Zealand setting (e.g. tourist flows, social deprivation, overcrowding, and population density etc.)
Supervisor
Dr Jamie Pearce
Director, GeoHealth Laboratory
Department of Geography
University of Canterbury
Co-Supervisor
Associate Professor Ross Barnett
Department of Geography
University of Canterbury