Dr. Gavin McCormack leads the Built Environment and Healthy Living Research Lab. He holds a faculty appointment as an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine (University of Calgary, Canada), and is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Faculties of Environmental Design and Kinesiology (University of Calgary, Canada). Recently, Gavin also became an Adjunct Researcher with the Faculty of Sport Sciences at Waseda University, Japan. Here, he works with the Health and Behavioural Sciences Laboratory.

​

He has an MSc in Sports Science (Exercise Physiology specialization; thesis: A comparison between conventional and holistic exercise interventions on physiological function in the elderly) from Edith Cowan University (Western Australia) and PhD in Public Health (thesis: Modelling the relationship between the built environment and psychosocial correlates of physical activity behaviour) from the University of Western Australia. Since 2014, he has been an Associate Scientific Editor for the Public Health Agency of Canada’s flagship journal “Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada”. Gavin has also been voted in Avenue Magazine's Top 40 Under 40 in 2014.

​

His research program is in the field of population and public health and focuses on the relationships between urban design and social environments and health including physical activity, diet, sedentary behaviour, and weight status among adults and children. Much of Gavin’s recent research has involved investigating the influence of neighbourhood urban form and parks on leisure and transportation walking, dog-walking, and other moderate and vigorous-intensity physical activities. His academic and research expertise are in public health and kinesiology and is informed by population health, active living and ecological relevant theoretical frameworks. He has expertise in leading, designing, and conducting quantitative and qualitative studies, survey research, questionnaire design, and observational studies including natural experiments