Dr. Catherine Tong draws on 16 years of health care research experience, principally using qualitative and mixed methods. Prior areas of focus have included: ethnicity and aging, home and community care, mobility and physical activity, geriatric models of care, care transitions, implementation science, and multilingual and accessible research design. 

Her most recent study, understanding the health care experiences of racialized older adults, was conducted in nine languages.

Catherine completed her PhD at the University of British Columbia, in the interdisciplinary studies graduate program (Home Department Family Medicine). She then went on to work as a research scientist with the Geriatric Health Systems Research Group at the University of Waterloo (2018-2023), where she also taught several courses on health and aging.

Catherine has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles, and her first co-authored book, Social Gerontology in Canada: Strength-based Approaches to Aging (Canadian Scholars Press), is forthcoming.