Dr. Marc A. Adams is an Assistant Dean of Education in the School of Technology for Public Health and Professor and Program Director of the PhD in Population Health in the College of Health Solutions. He is a behavioral scientist and epidemiologist with a background in psychology, behavioral science, and public health. His teaching interests are epidemiologic methodology and clinical trial design.

Dr. Adams’ research focuses on the intersection of digital interventions to promote physical activity and behavioral nutrition, and how these interventions unfold in the broader context such as the neighborhoods in which they are implemented. His NIH-funded research focuses on the intersection of neighborhood environments (i.e., urban planning) features and behavior change interventions for increasing physical activity and healthful eating across diverse populations. More recently he has developed AI/deep learning classifiers for mapping and discovering inequities in pedestrian environment features (e.g., sidewalks, crosswalks) in street view images across thousands of neighborhoods in the US. 

He is interested in behavior change theory/ecological model development and temporal and spatial measurement of behaviors and environmental determinants through public health technologies. He is a member of the International Physical Activity and Environment Network (IPEN) examining the influence of city design on physical activity levels across countries. 

Marc A. Adams, PhD, MPH

Professor

Senior Sustainability Scientist

Google Scholar Profile

Publication Highlights 

• Sallis JF, Cerin E, Conway TL, Adams MA, Frank LD, Pratt M, Salvo D, Schipperijn J, Smith G, Cain KL, Davey R, Kerr J, Lai PC, Mitáš J, Reis R, Sarmiento OL, Schofield G, Troelsen J, Van Dyck D, De Bourdeaudhuij I, Owen N.   Physical activity in relation to urban environments in 14 cities worldwide: a cross-sectional study.  The Lancet. 2016 Apr 1. pii: S0140-6736(15)01284-2. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01284-2.
   
• Patrick K., Raab F.,  Adams M.A., Dillon L., Zabinski M., Rock C.L., Griswold W.G., Norman G.J. A text message-based intervention for weight loss: A pilot study.  Journal of Medical Internet Research.  2009;11(1):e1
   
• Adams M.A. , Sallis J.F., Kerr J., Conway T., Saelens B.E., Frank L.D., Norman G.J., Cain K. Neighborhood Environment Profiles Related to Physical Activity and Weight Status: A Latent Profile Analysis.  Preventive Medicine. 2011;52(5):326-31.
   
• Adams MA, Bruening M, Ohri-Vachaspati P, Hurley JC.  Location of School Lunch Salad Bars and Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Middle Schools: A Cross-Sectional Plate Waste Study. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 2016 Mar;116(3):407-16. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2015.10.011. 
   

Current/Recent Grants and Projects

• Developing AI-measures of Pedestrian Environment Features for Physical Activity and Cancer Prevention in Rural Communities NIH/NCI, $413,673. This project aims to validate a new scalable tool for identifying rural pedestrian environment features (e.g., sidewalks, benches) and uncovering potential environmental and health-related disparities in diverse rural locales across the US. Results will inform larger-scale research that uses AI-measured PEF assessments to address physical inactivity and cancer-related health disparities. In turn, existing cancer prevention and PA promotion initiatives can intervene on lower-cost and modifiable neighborhood environment features.
   
• PED-PHAM: An Automated and Scalable Spatial Tool That Predicts and Monetizes Health Impacts of the Built, Natural, and Social Environment. Subcontract PI. NIH/NHLBI SBIR, $275,000. PEDestrian Public Health Assessment Model (PED-PHAM) will integrate AI-derived pedestrian environment features from digital street imagery, into physical activity and body mass index predictive models, thereby enabling analysts and decision makers at (1) public planning agencies (city, regional, state; (2) consulting firms supporting transportation, land use, and community planning; (3) private land developers; (4) health care providers; (5) lending institutions; and (6) research and big data entities (e.g., universities, Google, ESRI, etc.) to consider PEFs’ health impacts in order to make more informed policies and investments.
   
• Automating Neighborhood Street Audits.  NIH/NCI, $148,000. Principal Investigator. This project aims to develop computer vision models for detecting urban streetscape features that support walking using Google StreetView images. 
   
• Salad bars and students' fruit and vegetable consumption: a group-randomized trial with objective assessments. NIH/NHLBI, $2,843,186, MPI
   
• ​WalkIT Arizona: Neighborhood walkability and moderation of adaptive interventions for physical activity. NIH/NCI, $2,620,000, Principal Investigator. 
   
• Examining combined effects of walkability and recreation environments for physical activity across the life span. American Heart Association, $127,149, Principal Investigator.
   
• Behavioral Choice Theory Approach to Testing Exergames for Adolescent Physical Activity. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, $200,000, Co-Investigator.
   
• IPEN Adolescent: International Study of Built Environments and Physical Activity. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, $1,898,071, Co-Investigator.
   
• IPEN: International Study of Built Environment, Physical Activity, and Obesity. National Cancer Institute, NIH, Co-Investigator.