Kathleen Dobson is a research associate at the Institute for Work and Health. Dobson’s research explores the interplay of health, socioeconomic attainment and work conditions using longitudinal methods. At the Institute, her research projects have focused on determining trajectories of health behaviours among working Canadians – such as smoking, alcohol use and body weight – and exploring how these trajectories are influenced by work environments. She has recently started working on a project exploring predictors and correlates of chronic pain among a population of Ontario workers who received lost-time claim benefits for a work-related injury. Dobson holds an MSc in health research methodology from McMaster University and is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in epidemiology at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, under the supervision of Dr. Peter Smith. Her doctoral thesis explores trends in the prevalence and economic consequences of mental illness among Canadian workers. Her doctoral studies are supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research doctoral scholarship and the IWH’s Syme Training Fellowship in Work and Health.