FOCUS
Andrea Duran’s research interests include the endocrine and immune responses to acute and chronic sedentary behavior, physical inactivity and exercise in individuals with and without obesity in underrepresented communities. She aspires to translate her research into effective inter-disciplinary behavioral programs for obesity and cardiometabolic disease prevention at different sociological levels.
MORE ABOUT ANDREA
Andrea earned her PhD in Kinesiology and was a pre-doctoral research and teaching fellow in the Biobehavioral Sciences Department at Teachers College, Columbia University. In addition to her coursework, Andrea instructs the Applied Physiology labs in her department and is part of an interdisciplinary research team at the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health at the Columbia University Medical Center. Andrea completed her BS and MS in Kinesiology, with an emphasis in clinical exercise physiology, at California State University, Fullerton. Andrea grew up in a small town in northern California (Grass Valley, California). During her graduate studies, Andrea had the opportunity to be an integral part of the Prader-Willi Syndrome, Childhood Obesity and Physical Activity Studies research team, which investigated the effectiveness of a home-based physical activity intervention program in children with congenital and non-congenital obesity. Andrea’s experience with Prader-Willi Syndrome fueled her research interests to explore the endocrine and immune responses to exercise in children with excess adiposity, whether syndromic or nonsyndromic in origin. After her graduate studies, Andrea advanced her biomedical research skill set as a Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training scholar, where she studied molecular level health disparities at King’s College London during the Summer of 2014. Andrea’s well-rounded research experiences have channeled her passion for human movement and physiology into a career path that is fulfilling and advances a Culture of Health.
