Kim M. Gans, PhD, MPH

Professor

Department of Human Development and Family Sciences

Research Overview

Dr. Gans research focuses on interventions in community-based settings with diverse populations to improve eating habits, increase physical activity and prevent/control obesity. She has created innovative health communication technologies to change behavior and she studies interventions to improve home, work and neighborhood environments and how these interventions interface with behavior change interventions to enhance obesity prevention. Another emphasis is on translational research to study the dissemination of effective interventions to various community and clinical settings. Her current research includes two NCI-funded studies using mobile produce markets and educational programs to increase fruit and vegetable consumption in worksites and subsidized housing sites; an NIDDK-funded study examining the effectiveness of a tailored lifestyle intervention in obese adults; a Tufts Health Foundation grant to improve the nutrition and physical activity of older adults in an assisted living community; a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant to disseminate a physical activity training program to physical education teachers; an NHLBI grant to improve the environments of family child care homes to reduce childhood obesity; and a community-based participatory research planning grant from NICHD to reduce childhood obesity in Providence. Her research interests include:

• Healthy eating/nutrition
• Obesity prevention and treatment
• Physical activity
• Community-engaged research
• Worksite, school and home-based interventions
• Low income and ethnic minority populations
• Innovative technology for behavior change
• Food environments/food access
• Translational/dissemination research
• Health literacy
• Physician education/training
• Dietary assessment

Education

Duke University, Biology, B.S., 1983
University of North Carolina, Nutrition, M.P.H., 1985
University of Rhode Island, Biological Sciences (Nutrition), Ph.D., 1992

Recent/Selected Publications

Google Scholar