NUSHRAT NAZIA

Dr. Nushrat Nazia is an Assistant Professor in the Master of Health Care Management program at the University of Niagara Falls Canada (UNF). She holds a PhD in Public Health Sciences from the University of Waterloo and has completed postdoctoral research training at McMaster University and the University of Waterloo.

Her research focuses on health equity and the social determinants of health, particularly how socioeconomic, geographic, environmental, and health care system factors contribute to differences in health outcomes across populations and communities. Her work integrates population health, epidemiology, health data analytics, and statistical and spatial modelling to address complex health challenges. Her research has examined COVID-19, influenza, Lyme disease, opioid-related mortality, and other population health issues, with experience working across Canadian and global health contexts.

Dr. Nazia brings extensive teaching experience across public health, health systems, environmental health, GIS, and applied health analytics at both undergraduate and graduate levels. She has taught in Canada and internationally and has contributed to curriculum development, student mentorship, and applied learning. Her current academic interests also include health care management, health economics, digital health, and emerging applications of machine learning and AI in health care.

Across her research and teaching, she is particularly interested in translating evidence into equitable health care decisions and improving health outcomes for diverse populations and communities.

Drawing on her teaching and research experience across public health, health care systems, and data-driven disciplines, she encourages students to connect theory with real-world health care challenges through case studies, discussion, problem-solving, and collaborative activities. Health equity and the social determinants of health are important lenses in her teaching, encouraging students to consider who benefits from health care decisions, who may be disadvantaged, and why. She strives to create an engaging learning environment where diverse perspectives are valued and students develop the confidence to become thoughtful, evidence-informed health care leaders.

Courses taught

Health Care Systems, Health Economics and Financing, Technology Applications in Health Care Management, Emerging Topics in Health Care Management.

Areas of academic interest

Health equity and the social determinants of health, population and public health, health care systems and management, equitable access to health care, health policy, digital health and emerging technologies, health economics, health care innovation, and evidence-informed decision-making.

Areas of specialization

Health equity and population health research, epidemiology, social and geographic determinants of health, health disparities, health data analytics, statistical and spatial modelling, quantitative research methods, and machine learning and emerging AI applications in health care.

Awards

• Postdoctoral Fellowship, Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences (2023)
• Applied Health Sciences Graduate Scholarship, University of Waterloo (2019)
• Graduate Research Studentship, University of Waterloo (2018)
• International Doctoral Student Award, University of Waterloo (12 terms)

Publications

• Nazia, N., & Butt, Z. A. (2026). Dual epidemics in Toronto: Shared and divergent neighborhood risks of COVID-19 and opioid mortality from a joint spatial and temporal analysis. Journal of Urban Health, 103(4), 689–699. DOI: 10.1007/s11524-026-01113-y
• Nazia, N., Pullenayegum, E., & Loeb, M. (2026). Individual and environmental factors influencing influenza transmission: A multilevel analysis. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, 20(2), e70232. DOI: 10.1111/irv.70232
• Nazia, N., & Dean, C. B. (2025). Joint spatial modelling of COVID-19 severity among seniors: A Bayesian shared component approach using health administrative data from Ontario, Canada. Annals of Epidemiology, 111, 120–128. DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2025.10.004
• Nazia, N., Law, J., & Butt, Z. A. (2023). Modelling the spatiotemporal spread of COVID-19 outbreaks and prioritization of the risk areas in Toronto, Canada. Health & Place, 80, 102988. DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.102988
• Nazia, N., Law, J., & Butt, Z. A. (2022). Spatiotemporal clusters and the socioeconomic determinants of COVID-19 in Toronto neighbourhoods, Canada. Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology, 43, 100534. DOI: 10.1016/j.sste.2022.100534
• Nazia, N. (2022). Spatial variations of COVID-19 risk by age in Toronto, Canada. Geospatial Health, 17(s1), 1100. DOI: 10.4081/gh.2022.1100
• Nazia, N., Butt, Z. A., Bedard, M. L., Tang, W.-C., Sehar, H., & Law, J. (2022). Methods used in the spatial and spatiotemporal analysis of COVID-19 epidemiology: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(14), 8267. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19148267
• Nazia, N., Law, J., & Butt, Z. A. (2022). Identifying spatiotemporal patterns of COVID-19 transmissions and the drivers of the patterns in Toronto: A Bayesian hierarchical spatiotemporal modelling. Scientific Reports, 12, 9369. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-13403-x
• Nazia, N., Ali, M., Jakariya, M., Nahar, Q., Yunus, M., & Emch, M. (2018). Spatial and population drivers of persistent cholera transmission in rural Bangladesh: Implications for vaccine and intervention targeting. Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology, 24, 1–9. DOI: 10.1016/j.sste.2017.09.001
• Ali, M., Goovaerts, P., Nazia, N., Haq, M. Z., Yunus, M., & Emch, M. (2006). Application of Poisson kriging to the mapping of cholera and dysentery incidence in an endemic area of Bangladesh. International Journal of Health Geographics, 5, 45. DOI: 10.1186/1476-072X-5-45