He is also the President of the Canadian Academy of Psychiatric Epidemiology, one of the academies of the Canadian Psychiatric Association. His research interests include the epidemiology of mental health problems across the life span and the impact of childhood physical disability on psychosocial and physical development in children, particularly in Developmental Coordination Disorder. He has won many awards for his scholarly achievements and has been nominated twice for the prestigious Canada's Top 40 Under 40 Award. John is the first individual to be appointed to the McMaster Family Medicine Professorship in Child Health Research and will be working on research initiatives that will bring together researchers in multiple departments at McMaster and at CanChild.