As a clinical health psychologist, Bess Marcus has spent more than 25 years conducting research on physical activity behavior. She has published over 250 articles and book chapters, as well as three books on physical activity. Marcus has developed a series of assessment instruments to measure psychosocial mediators of physical activity behavior and has also developed low-cost interventions to promote physical activity behavior in community, workplace, and primary care settings. She contributed to new national recommendations for physical activity and contributed to the 1996 Surgeons General Report on Physical Activity and Health.

Bess H. Marcus, Ph.D., is Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and Professor of Behavioral & Social Sciences. She is a clinical health psychologist and her primary research interests are in the prevention of cardiovascular disease and the promotion of women's health. She has spent over 25 years conducting research primarily on physical activity behavior and has published over 250 papers and book chapters on this topic as well as three books. She has developed a series of assessment instruments to measure psychosocial mediators of physical activity behavior and has also developed low-cost interventions to promote physical activity behavior in community, workplace, and primary care settings.

She has participated in numerous national and international committees and review groups including the American Heart Association, American College of Sports Medicine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Institutes of Health. She has served on panels that have created new recommendations regarding the quantity and intensity of physical activity necessary for health benefits. She was also a contributing author to the Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health. She serves or has served on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Mental Health and Physcial Activity, the Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, Journal of Psychology of Sport and Exercise, Journal of Physical Activity and Health, and the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, as well as several scientific advisory boards. She serves on the national advisory panel for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) course on Physical Activity and Public Health.

She has also conducted a series of studies on the efficacy of physical activity to enhance smoking cessation and minimize weight gain in women smokers (e.g., CA50087; CA77249). She is currently principal investigator or co-investigator on 10 National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants on physical activity behavior including trials of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention in adults and older adults (e.g., HL128067; HL125405-02).

2011-2022

Principal Investigator. Promoting Physical Activity in Latinas Via Interactive Web-based Technology. National Cancer Institute #R01 CA159954. $2,173,220

2013-2018 

Co-Investigator/Consortium Principal Investigator. Randomized Lifestyle Intervention in Overweight and Obese Pregnant Hispanic Women. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. R01DK097011-01. $602,875

2014-2019 

Co-Investigator.  Peer Empowerment Program for Physical Activity in Low Income & Minority Seniors (PEP4PA).  National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.  R01 HL125405-02.  $3,908,781

2014-2019

Co-Investigator/Consortium Principal Investigator.  Unidas por la Vita: A Healthy Lifestyle Intervention for High-Risk Latina Dyads.  National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. R01 DK101623-02.  $206,063 

2015-2019

Principal Investigator.  Culturally and Linguistically Adapted Physical Activity Intervention for Latinas.  National Institute of Nursing Research.  R01 NR011295-05.  $2,402,661.

2015-2020 

Co-Investigator.  Treatment of Obesity Targeting Appetite and Cue Reactivity.  National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. R01DK103554.  $3,254,378

2015-2020 

Co-Investigator.  Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (PLUS): Bladder Health Clinical Center UC San Diego.  National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. U01 DK106827.  $2,482,819

2016-2021

Co-Investigator.  Effect of Treatment Dose on Childhood Obesity. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. R01 DK108686. $448,074

2016-2021 

Co-Investigator.  Parent training program to improve outcomes in childhood obesity treatment. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. R01 DK106157. $446,320

2016-2019

Co-Investigator/Consortium Principal Investigator. Increasing Physical Activity in Latino Men through Tailoring: Hombres Saludables. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. R34 HL128067. $25,566

President’s Lecture, 2015 Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, 2015

American College of Sports Medicine Citation Award, 2015

Editor’s Choice Award for Best Paper of the Year, American Journal of Public Health, 2015

UC San Diego Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action and Diversity Award, UC San Diego, 2013

“Women Who Mean Business” Award, San Diego Business Journal, 2012

Faculty Mentoring Award, Center for Excellence in Women's Health, Brown University, 2008

Lifetime Member, Manchester Who's Who Executive and Professional Registry, 2006

Faculty Mentoring Award, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, 2004

Active Living by Design Person of the Year, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2004

Invited Presentations:

-- Using Theory and Technology to Promote Physical Activity to Promote Physical Activity Adoption and Maintenance. Keynote Presented at the American College of Sports Medicine Health & Fitness Summit, San Diego, CA, April 2017. 

-- Academic Options and Professional Contacts Session. National Center for Leadership in Academic Medicine (NCLAM), San Diego, CA, March 2016.

-- Encouraging Latino Men to Exercise Using Text Messaging. Media Appearance at KUSI News, San Diego, CA, January 2016.

-- Overview of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Adults. NIH Workshop: Behavioral and Psychological Phenotyping to Understand Differences in Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Affecting Weight Management, Bethesda, MD, December 2015.

-- History and Current Status of Physical Activity Research in Latino Communities. Tutorial Lecture Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, San Diego, CA, May 2015.

-- Reaching the “Hard to Reach”: Integrating Theory and Technology to Promote Physical Activity in Underserved Populations. President’s Lecture Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, San Diego, CA, May 2015.

-- Exercise Interventions for Smoking Cessation. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, Orlando, FL, May 2014.

-- STEMM Panel: Leaning In and Managing Pushback. Invited Panel Presentation at the 6th Annual UC San Diego Women’s Conference, “(Re)Defining the UC San Diego Woman: Be the Change You Want to See." UC San Diego, San Diego, CA, May 2014.

-- The challenges of study design, implementation, and data collection for physical activity in urban Latino neighborhoods in the United States, Colombia, Mexico, and
Brazil. Presented at the Annual Conference of Active Living Research, San Diego, CA, March 2014.

-- Using technology to increase physical activity in underserved populations. Symposium paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, May 2013.

-- Increasing Physical Activity: Predictors and Effective Interventions. Presented at NIH Office of Disease Prevention: Physical Activity and Disease Prevention Workshop, Bethesda, Maryland, December 2012.

-- Non Face-to-Face Approaches to the Promotion of Physical Activity. Presented at the CDC Physical Activity and Public Health Course, Park City, Utah, September 2012.

-- Promoting Physical Activity: Challenges and Opportunities. Keynote Address at the San Diego Epidemiology Research Exchange, San Diego, California, April 2012.

 

National Advisory Panel for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Research Center at the University of South Carolina

Invited Member, Coordinating Committee for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Physical Activity and Public Health Course

Invited Member, National Physical Activity Plan Alliance

Invited Member, Diversity Committee for the National Physical Activity Plan Alliance

Core Faculty, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Chair, Physical Activity and Behavior Change Writing Group, American Heart Association

Member, Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy    

Member, American Psychological Association

           Division 35, Psychology of Women

           Division 38, Health Psychology

           Division 47, Exercise and Sport Psychology

Member, American Public Health Association

Member, American College of Sports Medicine

Member, American Heart Association

Fellow, Society of Behavioral Medicine

Member, Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Invited Member, Exercise is Medicine Science Committee, American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)

Editorial Board, Journal of Mental Health and Physical Activity

Editorial Board, American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine

2015-2017
Course Developer and Instructor, Physical Activity and Public Health: Local, National and Global (FPMU 87), UC San Diego

2014-2017
Guest Lecturer, Introduction to Biomedical Research (BILD40), UC San Diego 

2014-2017
Guest Lecturer, Seminar in Preventive Medicine (PH700G), UC San Diego 

2016

Guest Lecturer, Physical Activity and Public Health Course, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, University of South Carolina

2011-2016
Guest Lecturer, Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Behavioral Medicine T32 Training Grant Seminar Series, UC San Diego 

2008
Sedentary Behavior, CVD and Cancer. Lecture for the Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer Behavioral Medicine Seminar Series. Centers for Behavioral & Preventive Medicine, Brown University.

2008-2011
Masters in Public Health Small Group Leader, Department of Community Health, Brown University

2008-2011
Course Developer and Instructor: Physical Activity and Public Health (PHP2310), Department of Community Health, Brown University

2008-2011
Course Developer and Instructor: Environmental and Policy Influences on the Obesity Epidemic (PHP2320), Department of Community Health, Brown University.