TODAY: Support the First Annual BUSPH Research Day, Nov 14.
On Nov. 14, the School will hold its First Annual BUSPH Research Day, featuring examples of the first-rate research and scholarship being conducted by students, post-doctoral fellows, research staff and junior faculty.
Research day overview
Research and scholarship are central to the mission of the School of Public Health and occur in multiple areas, including risk assessment and tracking, health behavior change, environmental protection, and health policy. All departments contribute to this part of the mission. We want to celebrate our successes and support our junior colleagues with the First Annual BUSPH Research Day, which will include a keynote speaker on a topic of interest to faculty around the school, posters from trainees and junior faculty, and awards given for best posters in each category.
The event will be held from noon to 4 p.m. on November 14, 2012 in the Hiebert Auditorium.
Schedule of Events:
Noon – 1:00 PM — Poster set-up (presenters only)
1:00 – 2:00 PM — Keynote speaker
2:00 – 3:30 PM — Poster viewing and judging
3:30 – 4:00 PM — Awards presentation
*Light refreshments will be served during the poster viewing and awards presentation
Poster session
Posters featuring the diversity and excellence of research conducted by BUSPH trainees and faculty will be featured in a poster session after the keynote address.
Parent-Centered Community-Based Participatory Research and its Application to Childhood Obesity Prevention
Kirsten Davison, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Nutrition
Harvard School of Public Health
Kirsten DavisonKirsten Davison joined the Harvard School of Public Health in July 2011 as an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and as director of the Public Health Nutrition program. Kirsten completed her PhD at the Pennsylvania State University in Child and Family Development. Her research focuses on family and community factors linked with childhood obesity and the development of sustainable programs for obesity prevention.
Studies to date have examined familial clustering of risk behaviors linked with accelerated weight gain in children, psychosocial consequences of obesity in children, parenting strategies that promote active lifestyles in children, and developmental and contextual factors that explain declines in adolescent girls’ physical activity. Most recently, her research has focused on family-centered interventions to prevent child obesity in low-income populations. These interventions, which have been implemented in WIC and Head Start settings, are based on the principals of community-based participatory research and were developed, implemented and evaluated in collaboration with the target population.
Currently, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, she is leading the evaluation of a multi-sector community-based childhood obesity intervention funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In this study, evidence-based interventions will be implemented in WIC, child care centers, schools, afterschool programs and community health centers in two low-income communities with the goal of reducing obesity prevalence in children ages 2-12 years.