 Dr. Kue Young was born in Hong Kong and moved to Canada in 1966. He graduated from McGill University, Montreal, in 1969 with the Bachelor of Science (Honours Biological Sciences), and in 1973 with the Doctor of Medicine degree. After one year of internship at the Toronto General Hospital, he practised family medicine at the Community Health Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan during 1974-75. He then joined the University of Toronto’s Sioux Lookout Project in northwestern Ontario, a program of providing medical care to remote Aboriginal communities. For two years, he worked as a general practitioner in a small rural hospital and travelled to outlying communities by small airplane to hold clinics. It was there that he began his long-standing interest in community health, particularly cross-cultural health care in geographically remote and economically deprived communities. He realized he needed more formal training in public health and decided to obtain a Master of Science in Community Health from the University of Toronto.
In 1979, after completing his graduate studies, he went to Tanzania in East Africa as a volunteer with the Canadian University Service Overseas [CUSO]. There he was employed by the Ministry of Health in a training centre for "medical assistants", a cadre of front-line rural health workers who underwent an intensive 3-year course after secondary school in order to provide primary health care in the rural areas. His duties included both classroom and bedside teaching in clinical and community medicine, curriculum planning, and the design and supervision of projects in the villages.
After 2 years in Tanzania, Dr. Young returned to Sioux Lookout, Ontario, where he was appointed Medical Director for the Sioux Lookout Zone, a part of the Indian health services network operated by the Department of National Health and Welfare of the Canadian government. The Sioux Lookout Zone provided both curative and preventive health services to a population of some 12,000 people living in 25 isolated communities, through a network of health centres, nursing stations and a general hospital.
In 1983 he joined the Department of Community Health Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Manitoba as Assistant Professor. From 1988 to 1994 he was also Director of the Northern Health Research Unit. The Unit conducted community-based research, assisted Aboriginal communities and organizations in health planning and program evaluation, and provided consultation to government agencies involved in northern and Aboriginal affairs.
He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1987 and full Professor in 1992. He was admitted a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 1984. During 1992/93, he was on leave at the Institute of Biological Anthropology, University of Oxford, during which time he prepared a Doctor of Philosophy dissertation, which was successfully defended in October 1994 and the degree granted in May 1995. In June 1998, he was appointed Head of the Department of Community Health Sciences, a post he held until Dec 2001. In January 2002 he began his new appointment as Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences of the University of Toronto. In July 2004 he was appointed to the TransCanada Pipelines Chair in Aboriginal Health at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Young's major research interest is in the area of northern and Aboriginal health, particularly in the epidemiology and prevention of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. He has published over 100 articles in both the biomedical and social science literature and six books. He has been principal investigator of many research grants and contracts, totalling CDN$ 21 million since 1983. He was recipient of the National Health Research Scholar award for two 5-year terms and was recognized by the University of Manitoba for his research contributions by the Rh Award in 1988. Beginning in July 1998, he began a 5-year term as Senior Scientist of the Medical Research Council of Canada [renamed Senior Investigator of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research]. This was renewed for a second 5-year term from 2003-2008.
Dr. Young maintains his interests in international health and has served as a consultant for various international development agencies on assignment in the Philippines, India and Zimbabwe. He was World Health Organization Travelling Fellow in 1985 and visited Greenland and Alaska. He has also investigated Aboriginal health conditions in Arctic Russia and among Amazonian Indians in Brazil. In 1993 he was elected President of the International Union for Circumpolar Health. This is a federation of scientific organizations in Canada, USA, Scandinavia and Russia, devoted to improving the health of the populations in countries around the North Pole.
Education
| 1969 |
Bachelor of Science (Honours in Biological Sciences), McGill University, Montreal |
| 1973 |
Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery, McGill University, Montreal |
| 1979 |
Master of Science (Community Health), University of Toronto |
| 1984 |
Fellow and Certified Specialist (Community Medicine), Royal College of Physicians of Canada |
| 1995 |
Doctor of Philosophy (Biological Anthropology), University of Oxford |
Professional Employment
| 1973-74 |
Intern, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario |
| 1974-75 |
General practitioner, Community Health Centre, Regina, Saskatchewan |
| 1975-77 |
General practitioner, University of Toronto Sioux Lookout Project, Sioux Lookout, Ontario |
| 1979-80 |
Academic Coordinator, Medical Assistant Training Centre, Mbeya, Tanzania |
| 1980-83 |
Medical Director, Sioux Lookout Zone, Department of National Health and Welfare, Sioux Lookout, Ontario |
| 1983-87 |
Assistant Professor, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba |
| 1987-92 |
Associate Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba |
| 1988-94 |
Director, Northern Health Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba |
| 1992-present |
Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba |
| 1998-2001 |
Department Head, Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba |
| 2002-present |
Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto |
| 2004-present |
TransCanada Pipelines Chair in Aboriginal Health, University of Toronto |
Honours and Awards
| 1972 |
William Osler Medal, American Association for the History of Medicine |
| 1977-79 |
National Health Fellow, Department of National Health and Welfare of Canada |
| 1983-85 |
National Health Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of National Health and Welfare of Canada |
| 1985 |
World Health Organization Travelling Fellow |
| 1985-97 |
National Health Research Scholar, Department of National Health and Welfare of Canada |
| 1988 |
University of Manitoba Rh Award for outstanding contributions in interdisciplinary research |
| 1998-present |
Senior Scientist, Medical Research Council of Canada [now Senior Investigator, Canadian Institutes of Health Research] |
| 2000 |
JA Hildes Medal, International Union for Circumpolar Health |
Major Publications
Books:
- Young TK. Health Care and Cultural Change: The Indian Experience in the Central Subarctic. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988, 178 pp. [reprinted 1991]
- Young TK. The Health of Native Americans: Toward a Biocultural Epidemiology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994, 275 pp.
- Waldram JB, Herring DA, Young TK. Aboriginal Health in Canada: Historical, Cultural and Epidemiological Perspectives. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994, 334 pp. [reprinted 1997, 2000]; second edition 2006, 367 pp.
- Bjerregaard P, Young TK. The Circumpolar Inuit: Health of a Population in Transition. Copenhagen: Munksgaard International Publisher, 1998, 287 pp.
- Young TK. Population Health: Concepts and Methods. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, 315 pp. 2nd ed. 2005, 392 pp.
- Young TK, Bjerregaard P, eds. Health Transitions on Arctic Populations. Toronto: University of Toronto Pressm 2008, 485 pp.
Examples of more important articles:
- Bjerregaard P, Young TK, Dewailly E, Ebbesson SOE. Indigenous health in the Arctic: an overview of the circumpolar Inuit population. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 2004;32: 390-395.
- Liu J, Hanley AJG, Young TK, Harris SB, Zinman B. Characteristics and prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among three ethnic groups in Canada. International Journal of Obesity 2006; 30:669-676
- Young TK, Bjerregaard P, Dewailly E, Risica PM, Jørgensen ME, Ebbesson SEO.Prevalence of obesity and its metabolic correlates among the circumpolar Inuit in 3 countries. American Journal of Public Health 2007;97:691-695.
- Young TK. Are the circumpolar Inuit becoming obese? American Journal of Human Biology 2007;19:181-189.
- Young TK. Review of research on aboriginal populations in Canada: relevance to their health needs. British Medical Journal 2003;327:419-22.
- Bjerregaard P, Young TK, Hegele RA. Low incidence of cardiovascular diseases among the Inuit – what is the evidence? Atherosclerosis 2003;166:351-7.
- Young TK, Martens PJ, Taback SP, Sellers EAC, Dean HJ, Cheang M, Flett B. Type 2 diabetes mellitus in children: Prenatal and early infancy risk factors among Native Canadians. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 2002;156:
- Young TK, Mustard CA. Undiagnosed diabetes: Does it matter? Canadian Medical Association Journal 2001;164:24-28.
- Young TK, Kliewer E, Blanchard J, Mayer T. Monitoring disease burden and preventive behaviour for a total population using data linkage: Cervical cancer among Aboriginal people in Manitoba, Canada. American Journal of Public Health 2000;90:1466-1468.
- Young TK, Reading J, Elias B, O’Neil JD. Type-2 diabetes in Canada’s First Nations: Status of an epidemic in progress. Canadian Medical Association Journal 2000;163:561-566.
- Young TK, Dean HJ, Flett B, Wood Steiman P. Childhood obesity in a population at high risk for type-2 diabetes. Journal of Pediatrics 2000;136:365-9.
- Young TK, Gerrard JM, O’Neil JD. Plasma phospholipid fatty acids in the Central Canadian Arctic: biocultural explanations for ethnic differences. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 1999;109:9-18.
- Dean HJ, Young TK, Flett B, Wood Steiman P. Screening for type-2 diabetes in aboriginal children in northern Canada. Lancet 1998;352:1523-4.
- Hegele RA, Young TK, Connelly P. Are Canadian Inuit at increased genetic risk for coronary heart disease? Journal of Molecular Medicine 1997;74:364-70.
- Robinson JR, Young TK, Roos LL, Gelskey DE. Estimating the burden of diseases: comparing administrative data with self reports. Medical Care 1997;35:932-47.
- Young TK, McNicol P, Beauvais J. Factors associated with human papillomavirus infection detected by PCR among urban Canadian Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women. Sexually Transmitted Diseases 1997;24:293-298.
- Young TK. Obesity, central fat patterning and their metabolic correlates among Inuit in the Canadian Arctic. Human Biology 1996;68:245-263.
- Young TK. Sociocultural and behavioural determinants of obesity among Inuit in the central Canadian Arctic. Social Science and Medicine 1996;43:1665-1671
- Young TK, Gelskey DE. Is non-central obesity metabolically benign? Implications for prevention from a population survey of Canadians. Journal of the American Medical Association 1995;274:1939-1941.
- Young TK, Nikitin YP, Shubnikov EV, Astakhova TI, Moffatt MEK, O'Neil JD. Plasma lipids in two indigenous Arctic populations with low risk for cardiovascular diseases. American Journal of Human Biology 1995;7:223-226.
- Gelskey DE, Young TK, Macdonald SM. Screening with total cholesterol: determining sensitivity and specificity of the National Cholesterol Education Program's guidelines from a population survey. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 1994;47:547-553.
- Young TK, Moffatt MEK, O'Neil JD. Cardiovascular diseases in a Canadian Arctic population. American Journal of Public Health 1993;83:881-887.
- Young TK. Diabetes mellitus among Native Americans in Canada and the United States: an epidemiological review. American Journal of Human Biology 1993;5:399-413.
- Young TK, Mirdad S. Determinants of tuberculin sensitivity in a child population covered by mass BCG vaccination. Tubercle and Lung Diseases 1992;73:94-100.
- Young TK, Schraer CD, Shubnikoff EV, Szathmary EJE, Nikitin YP. Prevalence of diagnosed diabetes in circumpolar indigenous populations. International Journal of Epidemiology 1992;21:730-736.
- Young TK, Roos NP, Hammerstrand KM. Estimated burden of diabetes mellitus in Manitoba according to health insurance claims: a pilot study. Canadian Medical Association Journal 1991;144:318-324.
- Young TK. Prevalence and correlates of hypertension in a subarctic Indian population. Preventive Medicine 1991;20:474-485.
- Young TK, Szathmary EJE, Evers S, Wheatley B. Geographical distribution of diabetes among the Native population of Canada: a national survey. Social Science and Medicine 1990;31:129-139.
- Young TK, Sevenhuysen G, Ling N, Moffatt MEK. Determinants of plasma glucose levels and diabetes in a northern Canadian Indian population. Canadian Medical Association Journal 1990;142:821-830.
- Young TK, Sevenhuysen G. Obesity among northern Indians: patterns, determinants and consequences. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1989;49:786-793.
- Cohen M, Young TK, Hammerstrand K. Ethnic variation in surgical rates and outcomes: cholecystectomy in Manitoba, 1972-1984. American Journal of Public Health 1989;79:751-755.
- Young TK, Kaufert JM, McKenzie JK, Hawkins A, O'Neil JD. Excessive burden of end-stage renal disease among Canadian Indians: a national survey. American Journal of Public Health 1989;79:756-758.
- Young TK. Are subarctic Indians undergoing the epidemiologic transition? Social Science and Medicine 1988;26:659-671.
- Young TK, Hershfield ES. A case-control study to evaluate the effectiveness of mass BCG vaccination among Canadian Indians. American Journal of Public Health 1986;76:783-786.
- Young TK. Indian health services in Canada: a sociohistorical perspective. Social Science and Medicine 1984;18:257-264.
email: kue.young@utoronto.ca
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