Dr. Curtis has developed various techniques to collect and analyze data at the scale of intervention. This includes the home, street, block and neighborhood; a scale at which problems are not just identified but can also be tackled through policy and action with expert collaborators. Within this broader agenda, his research follows three interrelated themes: spatial epidemiology, context-driven spatial data collection in challenging environments, and spatial confidentiality. Methodologically, his work usually involves a combination of field geospatial data collection and spatial analysis.
Previously, he was the Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Remote Sensing and Public Health housed at Louisiana State University. There he had the opportunity to work on various domestic and international health projects focused on health disparities at the neighborhood scale.
He continued this type of local spatial health work at the University of Southern California, and then Kent State University before joining the PQHS team in 2019. Most recently he and his team have provided geospatial support to Ohio regional hospital systems and public health departments responding to the Covid-19 pandemic
Teaching Information
Courses Taught
Research Information
Research Interests
- Spatial epidemiology
- Context enriched spatial data collection
- Fine scale mapping of risk
- Spatial Syndromic Surveillance of Disease
Publications
Dr. Curtis' publications.
Editorial roles
- Annals of the Association of American Geographers, editorial board
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: The Next Frontier in Health Geography: Context and Implications for Interventions (2018 Special Issue), Guest Co-Editor with J. Curtis
Education
Additional Information
Prior and present professional advising:
- Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency
- Portage County Public Health
- GIS advisor to Cambodia: Ministry of the Environment & Documentation Center of Cambodia
- GIS advisor to Summit County Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health Board
- GIS advisor to the American Red Cross Recovery Level 2 Process Team
- GIS advisor to Akron Children’s Hospital
- GIS advisor to Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services Mosquito Control Division
- GIS advisor to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Sexually Transmitted Disease Program
- GIS support for Healthy Start/CityMatch of Baton Rouge
- Director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Remote Sensing and GIS for Public Health
Contributions to science:
- Fine-scale spatial health disparities
- Spatial confidentiality in health research
- Context enriched spatial data collection
- Participatory research methodologies
- Covid-19 spatial syndromic surveillance
Student totals as Committee Chair, over full academic career:
- PhD: 10
- PhD graduates’ current careers:
- University of Florida, Associate Professor of Geography & Emerging Pathogens
- Ohio Northern University, Assistant Professor of Management & GIS
- George Gwinnett College, Assistant Professor of Geography
- University of South Alabama, Assistant Professor of Geography
- Leiden University College, Netherlands, Assistant Professor of Geography
- Case Western Reserve University, PQHS, Research Associate
Teaching and Mentoring:
- Example teaching responsibilities from all institutions:
- Course Director: Introduction to Geographic Information Science (GIS)
- Course Director: GIS & Health
- Course Director: GIS & Global Health
- Course Director: Medical Geography
- Plus 10 other courses