Dr. Wilk’s research is focused on the health of children and youth. His current research includes studies on individual-, family-, and neighbourhood-level factors affecting health and wellness of Indigenous children living primarily in urban areas; these factors include social and cultural conditions unique to Indigenous children, as well as aspects of the social, economic and environmental contexts.
Collaborating with Dr. Cooke (Waterloo University), Dr. Wilk studies how a community-based intervention (Healthy Weights Connection) can reduce the risk of obesity among Indigenous children by improving the ability of local public health systems to provide culturally appropriate and effective services.
Working with Dr. Gilliland (Western University), Dr. Wilk evaluates the effectiveness of an intervention that offers a free pass to various facilities and programs (ACT-i-Pass) to increase physical activity levels among elementary school children.
Dr. Wilk received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1994, Master of Arts degree in 1999 and PhD in 2005 at Western University. He also spent one year as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University. He has worked in both academia and government.
His public service career includes several years with the Middlesex-London Health Unit where he worked as the Community Health Researcher and Educator in the Public Health Research, Education and Development program. He also worked in Health Division at Statistics Canada in Ottawa.
In 2009, he was appointed an Assistant Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at Western University.
