Cindy Forbes

Dr Cindy Forbes

Senior Lecturer

Faculty and Department

  • Faculty of Health Sciences
  • Hull York Medical School

Qualifications

  • PhD / DPhil

Summary

Originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, I completed my Bachelor of Science in Human Kinetics at St Franicis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia and continued my graduate training at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta. After completing my PhD in 2015 in Exercise Oncology, I worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

In 2017, I was awarded a Visiting Research Fellowship with the University of Adelaide in Adelaide, Australia that was awarded as part of the Australian Government’s Endeavour Scholar program. In 2019, I was awarded a place as an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (ESPRC) funded GetAMoveOn Fellowship. The GetAMoveOn Network aimed to transform health through enabling mobility with the help of digital technologies.

MyTRANSFORM Career Development Research Fellowship looked at how physical activity can help improve quality of life and cancer-related outcomes in people living with and beyond cancer, and how digital technology can help support and maintain activity behaviours. My Senior Lecturership in HYMS is continuing this line of research whilst adding nutrition behaviour, equally important when considering benefit for physical function among people diagnosed with cancer.

I support HYMS with research-based learning in exercise oncology and self-management of chronic conditions using digital techology. I am lead of the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions module for the MSc in Palliative Care: Implementing Best Practice. Additionally, I supervise Postgraduate Research Students in areas that align with my research interests.

Recent outputs

View more outputs

Journal Article

Digital health interventions for all? Examining inclusivity across all stages of the digital health intervention research process

Krukowski, R. A., Ross, K. M., Western, M. J., Cooper, R., Busse, H., Forbes, C., Kuntsche, E., Allmeta, A., Silva, A. M., John-Akinola, Y. O., & König, L. M. (2024). Digital health interventions for all? Examining inclusivity across all stages of the digital health intervention research process. Trials, 25(1), Article 98. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-024-07937-w

Reducing intervention- and research-induced inequalities to tackle the digital divide in health promotion

König, L. M., Krukowski, R. A., Kuntsche, E., Busse, H., Gumbert, L., Gemesi, K., Neter, E., Mohamed, N. F., Ross, K. M., John-Akinola, Y. O., Cooper, R., Allmeta, A., Silva, A. M., Forbes, C. C., & Western, M. J. (2023). Reducing intervention- and research-induced inequalities to tackle the digital divide in health promotion. International Journal for Equity in Health, 22(1), Article 249. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-023-02055-6

Breathlessness limiting exertion in very old adults: findings from the Newcastle 85+ study

Johnson, M. J., Pitel, L., Currow, D. C., Forbes, C., Soyiri, I., & Robinson, L. (2023). Breathlessness limiting exertion in very old adults: findings from the Newcastle 85+ study. Age and ageing, 52(9), Article afad155. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afad155

Use of Wearable Activity-Monitoring Technologies to Promote Physical Activity in Cancer Survivors: Challenges and Opportunities for Improved Cancer Care

Keats, M. R., Yu, X., Sweeney Magee, M., Forbes, C. C., Grandy, S. A., Sweeney, E., & Dummer, T. J. (2023). Use of Wearable Activity-Monitoring Technologies to Promote Physical Activity in Cancer Survivors: Challenges and Opportunities for Improved Cancer Care. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(6), Article 4784. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20064784

Is the uptake, engagement, and effectiveness of exclusively mobile interventions for the promotion of weight-related behaviors equal for all? A systematic review

Szinay, D., Forbes, C. C., Busse, H., DeSmet, A., Smit, E. S., & König, L. M. (in press). Is the uptake, engagement, and effectiveness of exclusively mobile interventions for the promotion of weight-related behaviors equal for all? A systematic review. Obesity Reviews, Article e13542. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.13542

Research interests

My main area of research is examining the role of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and nutrition behaviour on quality of life and cancer-related outcomes among people living with and beyond cancer, recently among older adults and people with advanced or incurable disease. Additionally, I am looking at how digital technologies – for example, wearable activity trackers, smartphones, and other smart devices – can be used to deliver tailored wellbeing advice and support wellbeing self-management.

Lead investigator

Project

Funder

Grant

Started

Status

Project

A phase II, randomised feasibility trial of a tailored, home-based exercise programme on disease-free survival among early stage high-risk recurring cancers in Yorkshire

Funder

Yorkshire Cancer Research

Grant

£932,740.47

Started

1 September 2022

Status

Ongoing

Project

Digital and community-based, personally tailored activity support among older adults living with and beyond cancer

Funder

National Institute for Health Research

Grant

£500.00

Started

1 December 2019

Status

Complete

Project

Adapting a smartphone-based rehabilitation programme for older adults living with and beyond cancer: an intervention development study

Funder

National Institute for Health Research

Grant

£135,659.00

Started

1 April 2022

Status

Complete

Project

TRANSFORM - CanBenefit II: CANcer BEhavioural Nutrition and Exercise FeasIbility Trial among older adults with lung cancer

Funder

Yorkshire Cancer Research

Grant

£120,356.18

Started

1 September 2021

Status

Complete

Project

TRANSFORM: Effects of physical activity during the cancer journey

Funder

Yorkshire Cancer Research

Grant

£385,894.67

Started

1 June 2018

Status

Complete

Co-investigator

Project

Funder

Grant

Started

Status

Project

Understanding barriers and facilitators to implementing physical activity interventions for patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy: A qualitative study

Funder

Cancer Prevention and Management-ISBNPA

Grant

£1,015.31

Started

1 November 2023

Status

Ongoing

Project

Publication Costs Award: PC/46

Funder

Yorkshire Cancer Research

Grant

£1,540.00

Started

1 June 2018

Status

Complete

Project

YCR Publication Costs Award PC/52

Funder

Yorkshire Cancer Research

Grant

£1,620.00

Started

24 November 2021

Status

Complete

Postgraduate supervision

Exercise Oncology, Ehealth

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