Travis Saunders

Biography

Assistant Professor; Jeanne and J.-Louis Lévesque Research Professor in Nutrisciences and Health

BSc (Calgary); MSc (Queen's); PhD (Ottawa)

To date, I have been involved with a variety of research projects that fall under 3 general categories:

My primary research program focuses on the heath impact of sedentary behaviour (e.g. sitting, and activities done while sitting) in both children and adults. It is well-known that lifestyle factors such as physical activity and diet have an important influence on chronic disease risk in both adults and children. However, recent evidence suggests that the more someone sits, the greater their risk of death and disease – regardless of their diet or level of physical activity. In order to better understand the health impact of sedentary behaviour I use a variety of techniques ranging from lab-based interventions to population-level epidemiological studies and systematic reviews.

My goal is to develop lifestyle and public health interventions which reduce the health impact of sedentary behaviour in both pediatric and adult age groups. I am particularly interested in researching ways that reductions in sedentary behaviour (e.g. sitting less) can be used to improve health among people with chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.