Healthy Regions and Policies Lab

12/02/2025

Check out Dr. Kolak's new publication defining "GIS & Health Geography" in the latest edition of The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Health, Illness, Behavior, and Society, Second Edition. Read more for a link to the full-text article!

Dr. Kolak’s chapter on GIS & Health Geography provides a background on how health geography emerged and was shaped as a field when connected with GIScience perspectives and GISystems, gen…

11/02/2025

At APHA? Find us at Booth #1418! Learn about the SDOH & Place Project & grab free swag while it lasts. On Monday, check out Dr. Kolak's talk, co-presented with Malaika Simmons, on building a new Community-level SDOH Ontology for Human & AI research.

It’s not our first time presenting at APHA, the nation’s premiere public health conference, but it is our first time at the Exhibit Hall! Find us at Booth #1418.

10/02/2025

Our editorial team (Dr. Kolak with Dr. Yanjia Cao and Dr. Michael Desjardins, Ph.D.) is thrilled to share that the our Collection at the Journal of Maps has been released, built and carefully curated over the past three years!! 😮 🤯 Check it out now at JOM....

Our editorial team (Dr. Kolak with Dr. Yanjia Cao and Dr. Michael Desjardins, Ph.D.) is thrilled to share that the our Collection at the Journal of Maps has been released, built and carefully curat…

09/11/2025

It's MONARCH SEASON, which means it's our seasonal migration to Riverside, Illinois to celebrate all things Monarch.

Join MWRD Commissioner Eira L. Corral Sepúlveda, , and the Village of North Riverside for a celebration of the monarch butterfly’s beauty and the role we all play in protecting pollinators and native plants, this Saturday!! There will also be fun summer activities, arts & crafts, kids’ activities, music, and environmental resources.

The Healthy Regions & Policies Lab will be there sharing info about Chives (chichives.com), a free environmental data science toolkit for Chicago communities, getting our nerd on. Talk data with us!

06/06/2025

We are seeking a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Healthy Regions & Policies Lab (Dept of Geography & Geographic Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). The postdoc will primarily work on an NIH/NIDA-funded project, the LOUD Study, that seeks to localize opioid use disorder response to increase medication access. Their work will focus on validating and refining multivariate,neighborhood-level accessibility measures (co-developed by the team) with community-level Medicaid claims data and existing spatial access and vulnerability measures....

We are seeking a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Healthy Regions & Policies Lab (Dept of Geography & Geographic Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). The postdoc wil…

06/02/2025

Exposure to heat remains a global challenge as the leading cause of weather-related deaths. In 1995 Chicago, it took over 500 lives in the city alone. On Global Heat Action Day, take a moment to learn about heat stress and what you can do to minimize its effect. If you're a resident of the City of Chicago, it's also a great day to share your feedback in the city's heat resilience program priorities survey.

Exposure to heat remains a global challenge as the leading cause of weather-related deaths. On Global Heat Action Day, take a moment to learn about heat stress and what you can do to minimize its e…

11/14/2024

Virtual NIDA Workshop on Geospatial Data Science Date: Tuesday, December 3, 2024 Time: 12-4PM EST (9-1PM PST) Register here | Agenda posted here Join the National Institutes on Drug Abuse in a virtual webinar to explore how we can harness the power of geospatial data science to advance our understanding of the epidemiology, prevention, and treatment of drug use and addiction!...

Virtual NIDA Workshop on Geospatial Data Science Date: Tuesday, December 3, 2024 Time: 12-4PM EST (9-1PM PST) Register here | Agenda posted here Join the National Institutes on Drug Abuse in a virt…

11/01/2024

The Health and Medical Geography Specialty Group (HMGSG) at the American Association of Geographers is thrilled to invite you to an upcoming online webinar! Join us for an hour of insightful discussion on a health geography topic of immense significance....

The Health and Medical Geography Specialty Group (HMGSG) at the American Association of Geographers is thrilled to invite you to an upcoming online webinar! Join us for an hour of insightful discus…

10/31/2024

Marynia Kolak, Keon Gilbert, Erica Walker, MSc, ScD, and moderator George Hobor shared insights on building data capacity at this year’s American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, improving data accessibility, and prioritizing community voice and engagement in the data collection process....

Marynia Kolak, Keon Gilbert, Erica Walker, MSc, ScD, and moderator George Hobor shared insights on building data capacity at this year’s American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, improvin…

10/21/2024

Find out with Dr. Marynia Kolak, PI of the Healthy Regions & Policies Lab, will be presenting at the next Pittsburgh Medicine Health Services Seminar! Don’t miss these geospatial insights—register now to join us on Zoom this Thursday, October 24th at noon EST. Register Now

Find out with Dr. Marynia Kolak, PI of the Healthy Regions & Policies Lab, will be presenting at the next Pittsburgh Medicine Health Services Seminar! Don’t miss these geospatial insights—regis…

10/03/2024

HeRoP Lab's director Dr. Marynia Kolak was a co-author on two studies recently published in JAMA Open. Both examined different dimensions of access to medications for opioid use disorder, for different populations....

HeRoP Lab’s director Dr. Marynia Kolak was a co-author on two studies recently published in JAMA Open. Both examined different dimensions of access to medications for opioid use disorder, for…