Shannon Struck

Hello, my name is Shannon Struck (she/elle) and I was part of the first cohort of SPECTRUM Fellows from September 2019 to December 2020.  I am currently working as an epidemiologist with the Public Health Agency of Canada in the Data, Surveillance and Foresight Branch. I am part of a capacity building team that works on projects to scale and spread innovation across the Agency. My time with SPECTRUM during its early phase reinforced the value of collaborative partnerships and listening to the voices of all stakeholders when attempting to build capacity to solve complex problems.

My career path has been a long and winding road, working as a SPECTRUM Fellow gave me the opportunity to pull together my academic knowledge, work experiences, and life learnings.   I completed my Baccalauréat ès Science from  the Collège Universitaire Saint-Boniface at the University of Manitoba in 1998. At the time I had planned to become a French immersion math teacher but was working part-time jobs in childcare during my studies.  This lead me to my second undergraduate degree in families studies and child development in 2002 (Bachelor of Human Ecology, UoM, 2002). After years of working in different roles that supported healthy parenting and early child development, I started my MSc in Community Health Science in 2017 and graduated in February 2021.  Drs Marni Brownell and Tracie Afifi supervised my thesis on the developmental health of children that attended a supported playgroup in infancy.  After defending my thesis I joined the Public Health Agency of Canada to provide surge support during the COVID-19 pandemic, and transitioned to my current position in March 2023.

Outside of work, I love to cook and garden. You will often find me cheering from the sidelines of my kids activities or at the dog park with my border collies.