Monique Simons

Biography

Monique Simons has a background in Human Movement Science. Before she started working at the Utrecht University she worked as a researcher at TNO, Expertise Center Life Style. At TNO she worked on multiple projects on physical activity promotion and prevention of overweight and gained a special interest in using interactive technology for promoting a healthy lifestyle. Her interest in interactive technology for health promotion motivated her to do her PhD on active video games at the VU University Amsterdam, the EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, TNO and Body@Work TNO-VUmc. In 2011 she obtained an EMGO+ travel grant and visited professor Thomas Baranowski at the Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, Texas), where she worked on one of the largest research project on video games for a healthy lifestyle in children. In 2015 she started working as a postdoctoral researcher at Tranzo (Tilburg University) on the ‘Move your Neighborhood’ project, evaluating the effects of policy-induced changes in the environment on physical activity in primary school children. In April 2015 she started at Utrecht University as a postdoctoral researcher within the research program Healthy Urban Living. Here, she is working on research proposals to continue her research on how interactive technology can be harnessed for promoting a healthy lifestyle in a fun and effective manner.

Research Interest

Healthy Urban Living