Gareth Leung

At the time of the QE Scholarship, Gareth was a Bachelors of Health Sciences student at McMaster University. As a Community Food Advisor for Durham Public Health, he educated the public about healthy eating, food safety, and food-borne illnesses. Through his research with the Canadian Study of Determinants of Endometabolic Health in Children Study at the McMaster Children’s Hospital and the Red Meat Systematic Review with the Health Research Methodology Program at McMaster University, Gareth gained a keen interest in nutritional research. After realizing a need for healthier foods on campus, Gareth founded the McMaster Nutrition Club that presented healthy eating workshops in Toronto and Hamilton. Moreover, Gareth was an enthusiastic Teaching Assistant for the Department of Anatomy and has a passion to inspire students to improve their learning and academic potential. 

As an outbound Queen Elizabeth Scholar, Gareth travelled to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Trinidad and Tobago. He was excited to be part of the team developing a Regional Food Safety Policy and a Food and Nutrition Surveillance Bulletin Report to improve population health. In collaboration with the Information Technology, Health Information, Communicable Disease and Emergency Response Units, Gareth analyzed the best available research evidence to inform clinical practice to address food safety concerns. He aspired to utilize this experience to learn more about the impact of health policy on improving the health of individuals, globally.