Prof. dr. Greet Cardon

Prof. Dr. Greet Cardon has a master degree in Physical Education and in Physical Therapy, and a PhD in Movement Sciences. She is full professor and supervises the research group. Her research focuses on understanding the determinants of physical activity, as well as identifying the most effective ways to promote physical activity in different age groups, with a main focus on children and adolescents.. She is and has been involved in several European projects (e.g. Toybox, DEDIPAC, Feel4Diabetes, Smartlife).
Research interests:
physical activity, sedentary behavior, children, youth, prevention

Prof. dr. Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij

Prof. Dr. Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij is a clinical psychologist and obtained a PhD in Health Psychology. She is full professor and co-supervises the research group. Her research topics are the promotion of healthy eating and physical activity, including research on determinants and on developing and evaluating interventions to promote healthy behaviors in all ages. She is and has been involved as partner and/or work package leader in various European Commission funded projects including Pro Children, HOPE, ALPHA, TEENAGE, HELENA, IDEFICS, ENERGY, TOY BOX, SPOTLIGHT and DEDIPAC.
Research interests:
eHealth, built environment, health promotion, interventions, tailoring

Prof. dr. Sebastien Chastin

Prof. Dr. Sebastien Chastin has a BSc in metrology, a Master in Rehabilitation Sciences and a PhD in Non-linear physics. He is a Professor at Glasgow Caledonian University. His research focuses on human movement behaviour. Understanding why, when and how people decide to move or not, is crucial to promoting healthy movement behaviour. At the moment, he is guest professor in the research group, with a specific focus on research.
Research interests:
24 hour movement behavior across the life span;  cocreation of physical activity intervention

Prof. dr. Marieke De Craemer

Prof. Dr. Marieke De Craemer has a master degree and PhD in Physical Education. Her research focuses on the promotion of a healthy lifestyle in early childhood (e.g. ToyBox study) and she was part of the European Knowledge hub on Determinants of Diet and Physical activity (DEDIPAC). At the moment, she is guest professor in the research group, with a specific focus on teaching.
Research interests:
physical activity, sedentary behaviour, preschoolers, interventions

dr. Sofie Compernolle

Education
Master in Physical Education and Movement Sciences – Phd in Health Sciences  
Supervisors
Promotor: Prof. dr. Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij / Co-promotor: Prof. dr. Greet Cardon
Research project(s)
The title of her PhD was ‘Exploring sedentary behavior in adults: a socio-ecological perspective’. She studied intrapersonal and environmental correlates of adults’ sedentary behavior, examined the interplay between intrapersonal and environmental level correlates, and  investigated the role of sedentary behavior in the association with BMI. During her PhD, Sofie was involved in the cross-European SPOTLIGHT project (www.spotlightproject.eu). SPOTLIGHT stands for the Sustainable Prevention of Obesity Through integrated strategies, and was funded by the European Commission through its 7th Framework Programme.
Research interests
Sedentary behavior, determinants, physical environment, adults

dr. Ann DeSmet

Education
MSc in Psychology, MSc in Marketing Analysis and Planning, PhD in Health Sciences
Supervisors
Prof. Dr. Greet Cardon
Research project(s)
She acquired her PhD within the Friendly ATTAC project that developed a serious game against adolescent cyberbullying. Since then, she obtained an EU grant for the SmartLife project that develops an exergame tailored by the biofeedback from a smart T-shirt; and a fellowship from the Research Foundation Flanders (Healthy Worker study), in which combined patterns of sleep, physical activity and sedentary behavior are studied. These behaviors will be addressed in a mobile just-in-time adaptive intervention. She also supervises several projects in e-&mHealth.
Research interests
e-&mHealth; media psychology; serious games; wearables; mental health promotion via an active lifestyle; micro-randomized trials; Just-in-Time adaptive interventions (JITAI); Ecological Momentary Assessment  (EMA) 

dr. Lieze Mertens

Education
MSc in Physical Education and Movement Sciences, MSc in Health Education and Health Promotion in 2012, PhD in Health Sciences
Supervisors
Prof. Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij, Prof. Benedicte Deforche
Research project(s)
Lieze Mertens has expertise in the association between the physical environment and active transportation. Her PhD project used manipulated photographs to study those relationships. Currently, she is working on a project aimed to identify critical environmental street characteristics influencing the safety and appeal for active transport by manipulations of virtual reality 3D walk/cycle through environments.
Research interests
Active transport; Physical environment; Cycling; Micro-environment


 

dr. Jeroen Stragier

Education
Master in Communication Sciences, Master of Marketing analysis,  PhD in communication sciences Supervisors
Prof. Dr. Greet Cardon
Research project(s)
In his dissertation, he investigated the motivational affordances of Online Fitness Community features (Self-regulation, social interaction and gamification) and their potential to create engaging behavior change platforms.  Currently, he further explores his PhD findings in research projects concerning physical activity and exercising and the use of technology as support system (wearables, mobile apps, exergames,…). His research is focused on the potential of new media and persuasive technologies to induce behavioral change towards healthier and more sustainable lifestyles.


 

dr. Delfien Van Dyck

Education
Master in Physical Education and Movement Sciences, PhD in Physical Education
Supervisors
Prof. Dr. Greet Cardon
Research project(s)
Delfien Van Dyck’s area of expertise is on the associations of the built environment with physical activity and sedentary behaviors in different age groups (adolescents, adults, older adults). Her PhD was entitled ‘The built environment and its association with physical activity and sedentary behaviors in adults and adolescents’. She is part of the Belgian team for the IPEN adult and IPEN adolescent studies, two NIH-funded studies that examine the relation between the built environment and health in 12 countries worldwide. From 2012 until 2016, she worked as a post-doctoral researcher and examined the determinants of physical activity and sedentary behaviors in (recently) retired adults. During that project, she conducted an EHealth intervention in this target group, aiming to increase physical activity and decrease sedentary time. Her current research focuses on optimizing built environments for physical activity across the lifespan and on how to translate research findings into policy recommendations.
Research interests
physical environment – (older) adults – socio-ecological determinants of health behaviors – mediators and moderators

dr. Maïté Verloigne

Education
Master in Physical Education and Movement Sciences, Phd in Physical Education
Supervisors
Prof. Dr. Greet Cardon
Research project(s)
Her PhD was framed within the European ENERGY-project and focused on physical activity and sedentary behaviour (prevalence, determinants and intervention) in 10- to 12-year-old children. As a postdoctoral researcher, her first project was to develop and evaluate an intervention to promote physical activity in adolescent girls, using a participatory approach. Her second and current research project focuses on the implementation of standing desks in the classroom (primary and secondary schools).
Research interests
Interventions – Sedentary behaviour – Physical activity – Participatory research – Co-creation – School – Youth

Laurent Degroote

Education
Master of Science in Physical Education and Movement Sciences
Supervisors
Prof. Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij and Prof. Geert Crombez
Research project(s)
His research focuses on the use of an e- and mHealth intervention to promote physical activity in the general adult population. More specifically, he is working on the development and the testing of an app that uses self-regulation techniques, such as action planning, coping planning and self-monitoring. This app guides people during the process towards a physically active lifestyle. The context in which people show physical (in)active behaviour plays an important role. Therefore, this is also investigated and taken into account in this project.
Research interests
E- and mHealth, interventions, wearables, self-regulation

Nele Huys

Education
Master of Science in health education and promotion at Ghent University
Supervisors
Prof. Dr. Greet Cardon; Prof. Dr. Benedicte Deforche; Prof. Dr. Marieke De Craemer
Research project(s)
Nele is currently working on the Horizon 2020 funded European Feel4Diabetes-project. The Feel4Diabetes-project aims to develop, implement and evaluate an intervention program to prevent type 2 diabetes across Europe, primarily focusing on families (primary schoolchildren and their parents) from vulnerable groups. The intervention integrates three components (community, school and family) in a two-year intervention period (2016-2018), focusing on promoting a healthy lifestyle (i.e. sufficient physical activity, healthy diet, reduction in sedentary behaviour) and tackling obesity-related metabolic risk factors in the families.
Research interests
Prevention of Type 2 diabetes / Physical Activity / Families / Socio-economic Differences

Julie Latomme

Education
Master of Science in Experimental and Theoretical Psychology at Ghent University
Supervisors
Prof. Dr. Greet Cardon, Prof. Dr. Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij and Prof. Dr. Marieke De Craemer
Research project(s)
Currently, Julie is working on her FWO-funded research project (“Run Daddy Run”) aiming to develop and implement a multicomponent eHealth lifestyle intervention for fathers and their children, in order to prevent overweight and obesity in the family. More specifically, the intervention aims to increase co-physical activity (i.e. father and child engaging together in physical activity) and limit the time fathers and children spend together on watching TV through (inter-)active father-child sessions and an online (website) component.
Research interests
overweight, obesity, type 2 diabetes, prevention, intervention, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, men, fathers, children.

Louise Poppe

Education
Master's degree in Experimental and Theoretical Psychology at Ghent University
Supervisors
Prof. Dr. Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij, Prof. Dr. Geert Crombez, Dr. Maïté Verloigne
Research project(s)
The goal of her PhD is to develop and test a website and mobile application ('MyPlan 2.0') to support people with type 2 diabetes to increase their physical activity and to decrease their sedentary behaviour. MyPlan 2.0 is based on self-regulation principles and helps users to translate their intentions to specific plans for action.
Research interests
e- and mHealth; Diabetes type 2; Physical activity; Sedentary behaviour; Self Regulation Theory


 

Helene Schroé

Education
Master in Physical Education and Movement Sciences
Supervisors
Promotor: Prof. Dr. Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij; Co-promotor: Prof. Dr. Geert Crombez
Research project(s)
The aim of Helene’s PhD project is to evaluate an e- and m-health intervention ‘MyPlan 2.0’ (website and app) to promote physical activity and to reduce sedentary behaviour in adults. She uses self-regulation theory to guide people in their behaviour change process. More specifically, Helene aims to investigate which self-regulation techniques determine the effectiveness of the e- and m-health intervention. Furthermore, she will evaluate the effect of the e- and m-health intervention on behaviour change in an ecologically valid setting.
Research interests
Health promotion; E- and m-Health; Physical activity; Sedentary behaviour; Self-regulation theory

Ayla Schwarz

Education
Master of Science in Applied Communication Sciences – Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands
Supervisors
Prof. Dr. Greet Cardon; Dr. Ann DeSmet
Research project(s)
During her PhD, Ayla is involved in a H2020 EU project SmartLife (‘Smart Clothing Gamification to promote Energy-related Behaviours among Adolescents’). It is the project’s aim to develop and test a mobile exergame to promote more physical activity and less sedentary behaviour among adolescents. The game is paired with a smart shirt for behavioural monitoring and tailoring in-game activities. Thereby, it is expected to reach a more intense physical activity and effectiveness of the game. Ayla investigates different mechanism of engagement in games and explores how engagement in serious games can be increased among adolescents.
Research interests
Health promotion; Serious games; Engagement; Physical activity; Adolescents

Vicky Van Stappen

Education
Master in Physical Education and Movement Sciences – Physical Activity, Fitness and Health
Supervisors
promotor: Greet Cardon; Co-promotor: Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij
Research project(s)
Vicky’s main research interest  is the prevention of overweight and obesity in young children and their parents by improving the energy-balanced related behaviors (i.e. physical activity, sitting time and nutrition). She is currently involved in the European Feel4Diabetes-project (2014-2019) aiming to prevent overweight, obesity and type 2 diabetes in young vulnerable families (families living in low socio-economic areas). The Feel4Diabetes-intervention focused on three components (i.e. the school, community and family component) to improve the energy-balanced related behaviors in these vulnerable families.  
Research interests
Prevention of overweight, obesity and type 2 diabetes, children, parents, families, interventions, physical activity, sedentary behavior, healthy nutrition