Ann Fox

Associate Professor & Chair
207
J. Bruce Brown Hall
(902) 867-2192
afox@stfx.ca

Degree : BAA, MHSc, PhD, PDt

Background:

Ann Fox is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Human Nutrition at St. Francis Xavier University on the unceded territory of the Mi’kmaw people. She completed her undergraduate degree in Food and Nutrition at Ryerson University and a dietetic internship at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. She is a graduate of the MHSc (now MPH) Community Nutrition Program at the University of Toronto, where she also completed a PhD in the Department of Nutritional Sciences. Ann is a graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, Education Scholars Program, which ignited her ongoing interest in the scholarship of teaching and learning in the health professions.

Ann has worked in a variety of community, clinical and academic settings. The common thread throughout her career has been a focus on education, including the development and management of women’s health programs, chronic disease prevention and management, and advocacy for enhanced access to these services within communities. Ann served as the director of the Tri-Hospital Diabetes Education Centre (TriDEC) in Toronto where she was involved in local, provincial, and national strategies to address diabetes.

As a member of the Pan-Canadian Public Health Nutrition Task Force, Ann played a key role in establishing competencies and education materials to promote public health nutrition practice in Canada. She has worked with colleagues in Australia and Scandinavia to advance public health nutrition workforce development.

Prior to joining StFX, Ann was the director of the Master of Public Health Program in Nutrition and Dietetics, and the graduate coordinator for the MPH degree program, at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (University of Toronto).

Ann aims to be a community ally and is committed to working towards reconciliation in the classroom, community and dietetics profession, and respects the knowledge and experience of Mi’kmaw leaders in guiding these practices.

Teaching

Fall Term:

HNU 142  Intro to Food & Health

Winter Term:

HNU 475 Effecting Change

Recent Publications

Fox, A. (2021). Digesting a pandemic: Exploring food and nutrition responses to the COVID-19 outbreak, (Editorial). Journal of Critical Dietetics, Special Issue.

https://criticaldieteticsblog.com/2021/05/12/our-2nd-special-issue-digesting-a-pandemic/

Choi, B., Pakes, B., Graham, K, Gupta, N., King, A., Dimeras, H., Wei, X., Gibson, B., Reynolds, D., Morris, S., Selby, P., Harvey, B. Fox, A., Rachlis, B., Buiyan, S., Nnoron, O. & Upshur, R. (2021). Defining clinical public health. Clinical Investigative Medicine, 44(2).

Fox, A. (2019). Kuwa Tayari (Be Prepared): Incorporating global climate change into an undergraduate food and nutrition course. Journal of Critical Dietetics, 4(2), 51-57.

MacCharles, L and Fox, A. (2019). Exploring food guidance approaches for seniors in Antigonish: Is there still gold at the end of the rainbow? Canadian Journal of Dietetic Research and Practice. 80 (3) 137-139.

Fox, A., Currie V. and Brennan, E. (2018). Exploring the impact of community-based arts programming on determinants of health using secondary evaluation data. Canadian Journal for the study of Adult Education 30 (2), 57-68.

Currie, V., Fox, A. & Brennan, E. (2017). Exploring Arts-based programming in health and wellbeing. A project evaluation literature review and summary report. In house publication, St Francis Xavier University. Available at www.Artshealthantigonish.org.

Fox, A., Gillis D., Anderson B., and Lordly, D. (2017). Stronger together: Use of storytelling at a dietetics conference to promote professional collaboration. Can J Diet Pract Res 78: 32-36.

Research Interests

Ann focusses on community-based initiatives and supporting health professional practice.

Community-based projects include:

  1. Land2Lab project

This intergenerational project brings together Mi’kmaw Elders and youth to share knowledge and skills related to Traditional foodways. The project is offered through a partnership between StFX Department of Human Nutrition and The Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq (CMM). The Land2Lab project is supported through grants from the Centre for Employment and Innovation, and Mitacs.

  1. Food guidance for seniors

Fourth year honours students at StFX explore how seniors in Atlantic Canada understand and use food guidance tools.

  1. Arts-informed health promotion

Ann works in partnership with Arts Health Antigonish (AHA!), to understand the impact of arts programming on community health and wellness.

Health Professional Practice:

Catalysing Dietetics

This project brings together dietetic leaders from Acadia, Mount Saint Vincent and StFX Universities, Nova Scotia Health, and the Department of Labour and Advanced Education, to explore the impact of Covid-19 on dietetic practice in Nova Scotia. This research project is funded by a SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant.

Current Interests

Ann is interested in innovation in health professional teaching and learning. She aims to explore the intersections between education and practice, classroom and community, and arts and science, with an ultimate view to blurring these boundaries, building meaningful education and community initiatives, and helping learners make a difference in their chosen fields. Ann is committed to supporting underrepresented community members in pursuing postsecondary and dietetic education.