Dr. Ashleigh Domingo

My interest in the role of community leadership and strategies for health promotion reflects my passion for working with communities to strengthen capacity and identify solutions to catalyze change. My work considers the intersection between food, health, nutrition, and the environment to identify challenges and opportunities for collective actions on equitable food systems that can foster healthy communities. Using participatory approaches and implementation science, my research also aims to mobilize evidence into practice broadly related to health promotion and chronic disease prevention.

• HBSc – University of Toronto
• MSc – University of British Columbia
• PhD – University of Waterloo

Applying participatory approaches to meaningfully engage community partners in research and processes to mobilize knowledge into practice is a key focus of my community-based research portfolio. I regularly collaborate with Indigenous and racialized communities, community-based organizations and health centres on equity-centred and health-promoting initiatives.

Students interested in community health promotion, food security, food sovereignty, health equity, and implementation research are encouraged to contact me about graduate supervision and research opportunities.

Current research projects

Minwanjigewin: Towards food security and food sovereignty: Together with Cambium Indigenous Professional Services, Community partners, the University of Guelph, and the University of Waterloo, our research aims to enhance capacity for Community-led actions on food security and food sovereignty. This work is supported by the Ontario Agri-Food Research Initiative (2024-2027) jointly funded by the Governments of Canada and Ontario under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

Produce prescription program implementation and evaluation: In collaboration with Unison Health and Community Services, this project aims to strengthen a community-based food prescribing intervention for promoting healthy food access.

Connecting the Dots: Mobilizing rural knowledge to knowledge users: This initiative aims to advance connections between rural knowledge producers and end-users across rural Ontario. This research is funded by the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance, a collaboration between the Government of Ontario and theUniversity of Guelph.

Domingo, A., Yessis, J., Zupko, B., McEachern, L. W., Valaitis, R., Skinner, K., & Hanning, R. M. (2024). Scale up of the learning circles: a participatory action approach to support local food systems in four diverse First Nations school communities within Canada. BMC public health, 24(1), 2222. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-19391-z

Domingo, A., Little, M., Beggs, B., Brubacher, L. J., Lau, L. L., & Dodd, W. (2024). Examining the role of community health workers amid extreme weather events in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review. Public health, 236, 133–143. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2024.07.023

Domingo, A., Yessis, J., Charles, K. A., Skinner, K., & Hanning, R. M. (2023). Integrating knowledge and action: learnings from an implementation program for food security and food sovereignty with First Nations communities within Canada. Implementation Science, 18(1), 34.

Domingo, A., Charles, K. A., Jacobs, M., Brooker, D., & Hanning, R. M. (2021). Indigenous community perspectives of food security, sustainable food systems and strategies to enhance access to local and traditional healthy food for partnering williams treaties first nations (Ontario, Canada). International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(9), 4404.

Domingo, A., Spiegel, J., Guhn, M., Wittman, H., Ing, A., Sadik, T., ... & Batal, M. (2021). Predictors of household food insecurity and relationship with obesity in First Nations communities in British Columbia, Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario. Public Health Nutrition, 24(5), 1021-1033.

• SCMA*2110 Research Methods in Kinesiology
• HHNS*3000 Special Topics in Lifestyle Medicine