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.
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