Claire Benny, PhD

Area of Study / Keywords

injury research injury prevention social determinants of health causal inference epidemiology

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About

I am an Assistant Professor in the University of Alberta's School of Public Health, Scientific Director of the Injury Prevention Centre, and a Scientist with the Centre for Healthy Communities.

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellow, Public Health Ontario
• PhD in Epidemiology, University of Alberta
• MSc in Population and Public Health (Concentration in Epidemiology), University of British Columbia
• BHSc (Hon) in Community and Population Health, University of Northern British Columbia

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Research

My research program aims investigate how social, economic, and policy conditions shape injury risk across the life course, with a particular interest in populations facing structural disadvantages. Broadly, I aim to understand how social determinants of health and social inequities impact injury risk and severity. My work spans the injury spectrum, aiming to address a broad variety of conditions, ranging from motor-vehicle collisions to violence to workplace injury, etc. As an epidemiologist by trade, my research involves using complex epidemiological methods to inform injury prevention and risk reduction efforts. 

Current projects include:

• Understanding the impacts of social and economic policy changes on road safety and injuries attributable to traffic incidents
• Estimating the impact of workplace injury on psychological wellness in hard-to-reach populations
• Broadly investigating injury risk in structurally vulnerable populations and how injury prevention efforts may be better catered toward said groups

My work is generously supported by the: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Women and Children's Health Research Institute, Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Matters, Government of Alberta, among others.

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Teaching

Teaching information is available below. Open to guest lectures on topics closely aligned to my research interests.

Accepting inquiries from MSc students (primarily in Epidemiology). To inquire about available positions, please send an e-mail detailing your experience and research interests along with your most up-to-date CV.

SPH 300 - Applied Public Health and Epidemiologic Principles

Epidemiologic principles are used to understand the determinants of health and disease in populations. Through this comprehensive course, you will learn how those principles are applied when investigating, analyzing, and understanding the complex factors that are responsible for disease outbreaks, epidemics/pandemics, promotion strategies, and Indigenous ways of knowing, which are important applications in public health and One Health.

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SPH 535 - Using and Creating Evidence in Public Health Practice

Overview of evidence used by industry, communities, governments, health systems, and academics to inform public health actions. Covers practical contexts within which evidence is used, philosophical and disciplinary assumptions shaping views on what evidence is relevant for decision-making, and ethical and equity dimensions of evidence creation and use, specifically data sovereignty. Fundamental biostatistical, epidemiologic, and measurement concepts are introduced in the context of descriptive, analytic, and causal research questions, and study designs used to answer them. Prerequisites: SPH 530 and SPH 562 or consent of instructor.

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SPH 537 - Using and Creating Evidence in Public Health Practice II

Overview of evidence used by industry, communities, governments, health systems, and academics to inform population health related actions. Covers social science methods (surveys, analysis of qualitative evidence), sampling approaches, quality appraisal and synthesis of pre-existing evidence, and quantitative methods for identifying risk factors. Fundamental concepts used in program planning & evaluation, evidence transferability and scalability, and costs analysis are introduced. Prerequisites: SPH 535 and SPH 562 or consent of instructor.

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SPH 541 - Public Health Practice & Professional Skills I

Students work in teams to address complex public health scenarios, applying and building on foundational knowledge and skills from earlier coursework. Emphasizing critical thinking, reflection, collaboration, and ethical practice, the course fosters professional competencies essential to public health practice. Students engage in all stages of the assessment-planning-action-evaluation cycle, focusing on implementation and evaluation. Key areas include systems thinking, stakeholder assessment, governance, financing of health initiatives, resource planning, and communication. Prerequisite: SPH 536.

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Browse more courses taught by Claire Benny

Claire Benny, Kathy Belton

Accident Analysis & Prevention. 2026 February; 230

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Claire Benny, Erin Hobin, Alessandra T. Andreacchi, Naomi Schwartz, Brendan T. Smith

Drug and Alcohol Review. 2024 May; 10.1111/dar.13821

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Claire Benny, Arjumand Siddiqi, Roman Pabayo

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 2024 January; 10.1136/jech-2023-220900

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Claire Benny, Brendan T Smith, Elaine Hyshka, Ambikaipakan Senthilselvan, Paul J Veugelers, Roman Pabayo

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 2023 January; 10.1136/jech-2022-219630

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Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2022 March; 10.1002/14651858.cd011135.pub3

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Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2019 December; 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.107587

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Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2019 April; 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.12.025

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University of British Columbia. 2019 January; 10.14288/1.0387336

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Journal of Adolescent Health. 2017 July; 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.03.005

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