Dr. Gavin McCormack leads the Built Environment and Healthy Living Research Lab and is a Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. He is also a member of the O'Brien Institute for Public Health, the Libin Cardiovascular Institute, and the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute.

​

Gavin holds a BSc in Human Movement from The University of Western Australia, an MSc in Sports Science (Exercise Physiology specialization) from Edith Cowan University, and a PhD in Public Health from The University of Western Australia. His master's thesis focused on comparing conventional and holistic exercise interventions in elderly populations (A comparison between conventional and holistic exercise interventions on physiological function in the elderly), while his PhD research investigated the relationships between the built environment and physical activity in urban-dwelling adults (Modelling the relationship between the built environment and psychosocial correlates of physical activity behaviour). In 2014, Gavin was named one of Avenue Magazine's Top 40 Under 40.

​

Gavin’s research program explores the intersections between urban design and public health, particularly the ways in which built environments influence physical activity, diet, sedentary behavior, and health-related fitness among both adults and children. Gavin has expertise in quantitative and qualitative research methods, survey and questionnaire design and assessment, natural experiments, and epidemiology.