June 2022 – Samantha successfully defended her doctoral dissertation in March 2022, earning a result of no revisions. The Active Aging Research Team is very proud of her success.

Dr. Gray’s doctoral studies focused on how to implement and adapt an older adult health promotion program (Choose to Move) for scale-up across British Columbia, before and during COVID-19. Her work has been central to the scholarship of the Active Aging Research Team.

Dr. Gray looks forward to beginning a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Department of Biomedical Physiology & Kinesiology at Simon Fraser University in the Fall of 2022 under the supervision of long-time Active Aging Research Team collaborator, Associate Professor Dawn Mackey.

Together with Dr. Mackey and community-based senior serving organizations, Dr. Gray will work on adapting Choose to Move to reach more diverse populations of older adults, such as those marginalized by ethnicity, sex, and gender.

Dr. Gray’s studies were supported by the prestigious Four-Year Fellowship from UBC, as well as smaller Faculty of Medicine graduate awards, and travel awards from CIHR and UBC.

Dr. Samantha Gray’s doctoral research is available in the peer-reviewed literature:

• Gray SM, McKay HA, Nettlefold L, Race D, Macdonald HM, Naylor PJ, Sims-Gould J. Physical activity is good for older adults — but is programme implementation being overlooked? A systematic review of intervention studies that reported frameworks or measures of implementation. Br J Sports Med. 2021;55(2):84-91. doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2020-102465

• Gray SM, McKay HA, Hoy CL, Lau E, Ahn R, Lusina-Furst S, Sims-Gould J. Getting ready for scale-up of an effective older adult physical activity program: Characterizing the adaptation process. Prev Sci. 2020;21(3):355-365. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-019-01085-3

• Gray SM, Franke T, Sims-Gould J, McKay HA. Rapidly adapting an effective health promoting intervention for older adults—Choose to Move—for virtual delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Public Health. 2022;22(1172). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13547-5