Projects per year
Personal profile
Research Interests
My work primarily involves investigating how we can improve our urban environment for better population health and planetary health. I am particularly interested in research at the intersection of public health and planetary health. My work involves the application of systems-thinking and complexity science methods, as well as social network analysis, causal inference and computer vision methods. I have secured > £12M in research grants from the UKPRP, NIHR, MRC, ESRC and GCRF-British Council.
Current research projects include:
- Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for research and training on complex systems and network science for Noncommunicable Disease (NCD) prevention and control
- UKPRP GroundsWell Consortium which applies systems science to maximise the contribution of Urban Green and Blue Space to the primary prevention of, and reduction of inequalities in, non communicable diseases (NCD) in urban settings. Find out more here - https://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/groundswell/; @GroundswellCon
- SPACE project (funded by the ESRC) to investigate the impacts, and possible mechanistic pathways, of urban environments on healthy
ageing and cognitive health, through the novel integration of multi-omics,
lifestyle behaviour and environmental exposures from urban environments, to ensure that we create healthy active places
that are supportive, attractive and accessible to people as they age. Find out more here: https://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/space/ ; @spacequb
- Development of systems-oriented interventions to reduce car dependency in Belfast (funded by MRC PHIND). Find out more here: https://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/cardep/
- A vision of healthy urban design for NCD prevention (funded by UKRI and NHMRC) focuses on generating new evidence from the application of state-of-the art computer vision techniques for analysing urban form and connecting this information to measures of population health. Digital technologies will be used to generate evidence and create tools to support urban planners, working with the health sector, to design urban spaces that improve public health, rather than cause health problems. Find out more here: https://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/CentreforPublicHealth/News/AvisionofhealthyurbandesignforNCDprevention.html
Membership: I am a member of the Public Health Research funding panel for the NIHR and the MRC Public Health Intervention Development (PHIND) panel. I am a member of the WHO expert panel on urban green space interventions, Non Communicable Disease prevention, Health and the SDGs and other aspects of urban environment and health, and an executive board member for WHO Belfast Healthy Cities and Connswater Community Greenway Trust.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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R1351CPH: SPACE: Supportive environments for Physical and social Activity, healthy ageing and CognitivE health
Hunter, R., Duong, T. Q., Ellis, G., Garcia, L., Kee, F., McGuinness, B., McKinley, J., McKnight, A. J. & O'Reilly, D.
23/02/2021 → …
Project: Research
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R1152CPH: Increasing physical activity among people with visual impairment: intervention development
McCorry, N., Dempster, M., Ellis, G. & Hunter, R.
21/01/2020 → …
Project: Research
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R1014CPH: Transdisciplinary Research for the Improvement of Youth Mental Public Health (TRIUMPH) Network
11/08/2019 → …
Project: Research
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A call for natural experiment guidance for planetary health
Hunter, R. F., Hassan, S., Whitmee, S. & Haines, A., 28 Mar 2023, In: BMJ. 380, p. 668Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › peer-review
Open Access -
Advancing urban green and blue space contributions to public health
Hunter, R. F., Nieuwenhuijsen, M., Fabian, C., Murphy, N., O'Hara, K., Rappe, E., Sallis, J. F., Lambert, E. V., Sarmiento, O. L., Sugiyama, T. & Kahlmeier, S., Sep 2023, In: The Lancet Public Health . 8, 9, p. e735-e742 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile6 Downloads (Pure) -
Built environment and obesity prevention research: moving from niche to norm
Salvo, D., Kepper, M., Hunter, R. & Jáuregui, A., 01 Sep 2023, In: The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. 11, 9, p. 631-633Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review
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Capturing the whole-school food environment in primary schools
Moore, S. E., Brennan, S. F., Lavelle, F., Dean, M., McKinley, M. C., Olgacher, D., McCole, P., Hunter, R. F., Dunne, L., O'Connell, N. E., Elliott, C. T., McCarthy, D. & Woodside, J. V., 05 Jun 2023, (Early online date) In: Public Health Nutrition. 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile7 Downloads (Pure) -
Comparative analysis of deep learning and statistical models for air pollutants prediction in urban areas
Naz, F., Mccann, C., Fahim, M., Cao, T-V., Hunter, R., Trung Viet, N., Nguyen, L. D. & Duong, T. Q., 23 Jun 2023, In: IEEE Access. 11, p. 64016-64025 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile25 Downloads (Pure)
Prizes
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"Best Paper" in the International Journal for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (IJBNPA)
Hunter, Ruth (Recipient), 20 Jun 2017
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Career Development Fellowship
Hunter, Ruth (Recipient), 01 Jan 2015
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively
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Chartered Society of Physiotherapists (CSP) "Best Student" Award
Hunter, Ruth (Recipient), 20 Jun 2009
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Shortlisted for the 2021 Vice-Chancellor’s Research Prizes competition in the Research Engagement category for Project Daire
Woodside, Jayne (Recipient), McCarthy, Danielle (Recipient), Brennan, Sarah (Recipient), Moore, Sarah (Recipient), Lavelle, Fiona (Recipient), McCole, Patrick (Recipient), Cardwell, Christopher (Recipient), Elliott, Christopher (Recipient), McKinley, Michelle (Recipient), Hunter, Ruth (Recipient), O'Connell, Niamh (Recipient), Dean, Moira (Recipient) & Dunne, Laura (Recipient), 2021
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Vice Chancellors Early Career Researcher Impact Prize
Hunter, Ruth (Recipient), 23 Nov 2013
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
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Webinar: Complex Systems in Public Health; QUB ECIT
Declan Bradley (Invited speaker), Ruth Hunter (Invited speaker) & Leandro Garcia (Invited speaker)
30 Nov 2021Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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Complex systems science methods in public health research
Ruth Hunter (Invited speaker), Declan Bradley (Invited speaker) & Leandro Garcia (Invited speaker)
26 Oct 2021Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited or keynote talk at national or international conference
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6th International Congress of Behavioural Medicine 2021
Ruth Hunter (Member of scientific committee)
07 Jun 2021 → 11 Jun 2021Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
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A qualitative exploration of the mechanisms, pathways and public health outcomes of a city centre 20mph speed limit intervention.
Claire Cleland (Presenter), Frank Kee (Contributor), Graham Baker (Contributor), Kieran Turner (Contributor), Ruth Jepson (Contributor), Glenna Nightingale (Contributor), Karen Milton (Contributor), Michael P. Kelly (Contributor) & Ruth Hunter (Contributor)
06 Apr 2021Activity: Talk or presentation types › Oral presentation
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Smoking, friendship networks and norms: A tale of two cities, March 2021
Ruth Hunter (Organiser)
24 Mar 2021 → 25 Mar 2021Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in workshop, seminar, course