Trainees

Andrea T. Duran, PhD, is an associate research scientist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, as well as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholar Alumna. She completed her MPhil and PhD in Kinesiology at Columbia University, with an emphasis in clinical exercise physiology, sedentary behavior, and cardiovascular disease. Her pre-doctoral research examined the characterization and predictors of sedentary behavior in adults with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), as well as investigated novel underlying physiological mechanisms that link sedentary behavior to heart disease. For her post-doctoral training, Dr. Duran transitioned into the field of implementation science under the direction of Dr. Nathalie Moise, with the goal to work at the intersection of kinesiology and implementation science.

Her current research focuses on developing theory-informed, multilevel implementation strategies and experimental designs for integrating evidence-based physical activity and sedentary behavior interventions into healthcare and community settings. During her first year, Dr. Duran was awarded an NHLBI Postdoctoral Research Supplement (3R01HL141609-03S1) to examine multi-level barriers and facilitators to implementing home-based cardiac rehabilitation among ACS patients, as well as develop multilevel implementation strategies to improve CR participation in different environmental contexts. She also serves as a Stage I pilot study principal investigator for our Columbia Roybal Center for Fearless Behavior Change (P30AG06498), where she plans to test the feasibility of an innovative interoceptive bias reduction training intervention designed to reduce fear of exercise among ACS survivors. In addition to her research efforts, Dr. Duran also founded and leads our Center’s “Keeping the Momentum” Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Initiative to combat institutional racism and promote social justice, which received an Addressing Racism Seed Grant from the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement to support this work.