Contact Information
1301 West Green Street
Urbana, IL 61801
Research Interests
Geography of Health
Urban Geography
GIS and Spatial Analysis
Research Description
How do the places where we live, work and interact affect our well-being? This question underpins my work on topics ranging from spatial mismatch to access to health care to contextual influences on health. My current research investigates place-based inequalities in health and well-being and access to health services for women, immigrants and racial/ethnic minorities in the United States. My ongoing work examines the impacts of increasing economic inequality and residential segregation on women's commuting times and modes and on maternal and infant health outcomes. I also use and develop GIS and spatial analysis methods for examining health and social issues in cities and planning public health interventions. My books include GIS and Public Health (with Ellen Cromley), A Companion to Health and Medical Geography (with Tim Brown and Graham Moon), Geospatial Analysis of Environmental Health (with Juliana Maantay), Geographies of Women’s Health (with Isabel Dyck and Nancy Lewis), and Location Strategies for Retail and Service Firms (with Avijit Ghosh). I am currently an Associate Editor of Health and Place and serve on the editorial boards of Geographical Analysis, and Spatial and Spatiotemporal Epidemiology.
Education
Ph.D., University of Iowa
M.A., University of Iowa
B.A., Barnard College, Columbia University
Additional Campus Affiliations
Research Professor, Geography and Geographic Information Science
Recent Publications
Singleton, C. R., Gartner, D. J., Winata, F., Rose, D., Sheehan, K. M., & McLafferty, S. L. (2025). Exposure to Crime at Food Stores: Implications for Nutrition and Health among Black Americans. Journal of Community Health, 50(3), 499-506. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-024-01436-4
Winata, F., & McLafferty, S. L. (2025). Survey and questionnaire methods. In R. Lave, & S. Lane (Eds.), The Field Guide to Mixing Social and Biophysical Methods in Environmental Research (pp. 577-584). (Critical Physical Geography: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Nature, Power and Politics; Vol. 1). Open Book Publishers. https://doi.org/10.11647/obp.0418.43
Wakefield, M., Sankaranarayanan, J., Conroy, J. M., McLafferty, S., Moser, R., Murry, V. M. B., & Slifkin, R. (2024). National Institutes of Health pathways to prevention workshop: Improving rural health through telehealth-guided provider-to-provider communication. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 30(8), 1320-1326. https://doi.org/10.1177/1357633X221139630
Franklin, R. S., Delmelle, E. C., Andris, C., Cheng, T., Dodge, S., Franklin, J., Heppenstall, A., Kwan, M. P., Li, W. W., McLafferty, S., Miller, J. A., Munroe, D. K., Nelson, T., Öner, Ö., Pumain, D., Stewart, K., Tong, D., & Wentz, E. A. (2023). Making Space in Geographical Analysis. Geographical Analysis, 55(2), 325-341. https://doi.org/10.1111/gean.12325
McLafferty, S., & Preston, V. (2023). Geographies of Frontline Workers: Gender, Race, and Commuting in New York City. Sustainability, 15(4), Article 3429. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043429