معرفی
Dr. Kim M. Gans is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences at Brown University School of Public Health. She was Director of the Brown Institute for Community Health Promotion from 2009-2014 and Deputy Director from 2002-2009. She was a regular member of the Brown faculty from 1992-2014. Her extensive career spans over 30 years of intervention development and evaluation research focused on improving eating habits and preventing obesity, particularly among ethnic minority, low income, and low literate populations.
Dr. Gans earned her PhD from the University of Rhode Island in 1992 and an MPH from the University of North Carolina in 1985. She was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society in 1992 and was awarded a Master of Arts, ad eundem, from Brown University in 2000. Her educational background has provided a strong foundation for her work in public health nutrition and community-based interventions.
Dr. Gans' research focuses on developing and evaluating interventions to improve home, work, childcare, school, and neighborhood nutrition and physical activity environments. She has pioneered innovative health communication technologies including theory-based tailored print and video interventions using computerized expert systems. Her work emphasizes translational research to disseminate effective nutrition and obesity prevention interventions to various community and clinical settings. Much of her research targets ethnic minority, low income, and low literate populations, addressing health disparities through culturally appropriate interventions.
The trends in Dr. Gans' recent publications demonstrate a continued commitment to childhood obesity prevention, particularly through family-based approaches and interventions targeting childcare settings. Her work increasingly focuses on Hispanic/Latinx populations, developing culturally adapted interventions for Latina women, and examining ethnic differences in nutrition and physical activity practices. There is also a strong emphasis on translational research, examining how to sustain community-based interventions after research funding ends.
- Duke University Dean's list: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983; graduated cum laude in 1983
- Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, inducted in 1992
- Master of Arts, ad eundem, Brown University, 2000
- Providence Journal, 'Up and Comers in Rhode Island', January 2006
- American Public Health Association, Food and Nutrition Section's Mary C. Egan award, November 2013
Dr. Gans serves as an MPH thesis advisor and reader for Brown MPH and BSS Master's students, and as a senior honors thesis advisor for undergraduate students. She has received substantial grant funding for her research, including multiple R01 grants from the National Cancer Institute for projects like 'Innovative approaches to increase F&V intake thru worksites: The Fresh Initiative (Good to Go)' and 'Fresh to You: Multilevel approaches in low income housing to increase F&V intake.' Her work has also been funded by NIH/NHLBI for improving nutrition and physical activity environments in home-based child care.
Dr. Gans has established strong collaborative networks with community organizations and researchers across Brown University. Her 'Fresh to You' program created mobile fruit and vegetable markets in low-income neighborhoods, while her 'Healthy Start/Comienzos Sanos' study focused on improving nutrition and physical activity environments in family child care homes. She works closely with colleagues at the Brown School of Public Health, including Dr. Patricia Risica and Dr. Akilah Dulin-Keita, to develop and implement community-based obesity prevention interventions.
