HEAL Spotlight: Alexander ‘AJ’ Wray

Post by: Anastasia Soukhov
10:07AM Jul 06, 2026
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The HEAL Spotlight series is a monthly feature where we celebrate the people behind the research and highlight the diverse voices that make the HEAL such a vibrant community.

Meet Alexander ‘AJ’ Wray:
Hometown: Oshawa, Ontario
Hobbies: Cross-stitch, Magic The Gathering, Board and Video Games, Skiing, Fishing
Education: Honours BES in Planning (Co-op) from the University of Waterloo; MA and PhD in Geography from Western University
Current role: Assistant Professor of Community Health Education, Department of Nutrition and Public Health Sciences, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Joined the HEAL: September 2018

Research at HEAL:

AJ first worked on the SmartAPPetite project during his Masters, completing research on how outdoor advertising may correlate with food and drink purchasing decisions made by teenagers. This work was published in Health Promotion International, and Health & Place. At the same time, he led a group of HEAL students in completing a review for the Public Health Agency of Canada on interventions to promote physical activity and social connectedness among children and youth. During his PhD, he led the ParkSeek Canada project, which included developing a new software platform for geographic ecological momentary assessment studies.

Throughout both of his graduate degrees in the HEAL, he also contributed to HEAL’s community consulting work, supporting the Community Schools Alliance, City of London, Childreach, Southwestern Public Health, and Old East Village BIA with multiple program and policy evaluations. In 2023, AJ was recognized as a World Urban Parks Emerging Leaders Fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar, and in 2024 was invited to join the International Science Council’s Global Roster of Experts. In 2025, he secured a tenure-track position at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville in the Department of Nutrition and Public Health Sciences.

What AJ enjoyed the most about working with the HEAL:
My favourite part of working in the HEAL was the network of people you build to support you. You could always ask your fellow HEAL-affiliated students and staff to help on your projects, and also learn way more from helping out with theirs. Now as a HEAL Alumni and Faculty Associate, I benefit from relationships built around the lab, as well as, give back to current students like prior alumni did for me. The HEAL’s strength is how deeply embedded we are within the Southwestern Ontario community. Everyone is regularly volunteering for a local non-profit or charity. The lab is always working with a local government or community group to address a research or evaluation need. I would not have been so successful in my career, while also being so fulfilled from the work I do, without the training environment provided by the HEAL.

Categories: Newsletter

HEAL Spotlight: Alexander ‘AJ’ Wray

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