CPRC

Past Research: Professor Rundle’s research centers on physical activity and obesity. Specifically, he focuses on both the social and built environment determinants of sedentary lifestyles and obesity and on the cancer-related health consequences of sedentary lifestyles and obesity. Rundle is Principle Investigator of an NIEHS R01 grant to identify built and neighborhood environment risk factors for obesity in a sample of 13,000 residents of New York City. His team has shown that urban design characteristics known to promote walking and active transport are inversely associated with BMI, after controlling for individual- and neighborhood-level demographic and socioeconomic factors. In addition, Rundle and colleagues have shown that the quality of neighborhood retail food environments also predicts BMI. Rundle also holds a K07 Career Development Award from NCI to develop molecular epidemiologic approaches to studying the mechanisms through which physical activity prevents cancer. Within the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer and Nutrition cohort, he has shown that physical activity in non-smokers, and after smoking cessation in ex-smokers, protects against lung cancer. This research was the first to incorporate molecular biomarkers into an epidemiologic study of physical activity and cancer to test mechanistic hypotheses. Lastly, Rundle is PI of a U54 collaborative research project on health disparities between the Columbia University Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center and Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus. This project seeks to address the fact that research on physical activity in urban populations is hampered because almost all prior physical activity questionnaires were developed and validated in primarily Caucasian, upper-middle class, suburban populations. The project has developed and validated a physical activity questionnaire for use in multi-ethnic, urban populations; during the course of this research, Rundle has identified patterns of activity, specific to urban residents, which are not represented on prior questionnaires currently used in field research.

Present/Future Research: Rundle is currently submitting grant proposals to fund a collaborative research effort with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) to study physical activity, diet and obesity patterns in neighborhoods across New York City. The DHMH conducts annual representative health surveys of 10,000 residents of New York City. The research team plans to pool four years of survey data to generate a sample of roughly 40,000 respondents with data on demographics, behavioral/lifestyle risk factors, socioeconomic status, physical activity, diet, and height and weight. Importantly, the survey collects data on the neighborhood in which the respondent lives and whether respondents exercise and purchase groceries in their neighborhood. This data set will be linked to Rundle’s extensive GIS dataset describing New York City neighborhoods. A Research Scholar application has also been submitted to the American Cancer Society, and an R01 proposal has been submitted to the NIDDK to support this research. Rundle has also begun to collaborate with John Beard at the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) to pool GIS datasets on neighborhood conditions and to conduct research on neighborhood context, physical activity and depression among older adults. The NYAM has provided initial support to inventory both groups’ datasets, amend current data-licensing agreements so both institutions can access data, and set up a central database and repository; Rundle and Beard are jointly submitting R01 grant proposals to support these research efforts.

Professor Rundle's Departmental Biography Page