Jennifer Brunet

Jennifer Brunet is a full professor at the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. Her research seeks to identify innovative ways to promote physical activity (PA) in people at risk of or diagnosed with cancer. This has critical implications for individuals’ health and well-being, as data show unequivocally that PA reduces the risk of certain cancers, disability, morbidity and mortality.

As a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair, her research:

• Provides knowledge of the causes of physical inactivity, to guide planning and implementation of physical activity interventions
• Offers evidence of the benefits of physical activity
• Assists with national and international initiatives to create physical activity interventions
• Involves developing, implementing and evaluating hospital-, community- and home-based physical activity interventions for cancer prevention and control

Professor Brunet’s research is multidisciplinary, involves many different collaborators and  partners, and uses various study designs, as well as qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Affiliations

• Cross-appointed associate professor, School of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa
• Affiliated associated professor, Population Health PhD program, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa
• Research member at the Institut du Savoir Montfort, Montfort Hospital
• Affiliate Investigator at the Cancer Therapeutic Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI)

Professor Brunet  is accepting new students for thesis supervision for the following programs: Master of Arts in Human Kinetics (MAHK), Master of Science in Human Kinetics (MScHK), Doctorate of Philosophy in Human Kinetics (PhD), Combined Master and Doctorate in Experimental Psychology (MA-PhD in Experimental Psychology) and Master in Experimental Psychology with Major Research Paper (EXP. MRP) in the research areas noted below.

• Behaviour (e.g., physical activity interventions)
• Effects of physical activity on psychological (e.g., mental health, body image, quality of life, cognition), biophysiological (e.g., inflammation, fitness) and social (e.g., relationships) functioning and well-being
• Physical activity and cancer
• Determinants of physical activity (e.g., motivation, affect)
• Measurement and evaluation
• Patient-centred research and knowledge translation

Learn more about research in Professor Brunet’s laboratory.

Study designs include:

• randomized controlled trials
• other trial designs
• observational studies (e.g., cohort studies, cross-sectional studies)
• evidence synthesis

Current research projects involve:

• studying the effects of physical activity (including exercise)
• determining factors associated with PA behaviour
• helping people recover after treatment for cancer and improving long-term cancer survival
• applying technology to health behaviour change
• developing, implementing and evaluating behaviour change interventions to increase PA and, in turn, functioning and well-being

• Sharma S & Brunet J. (2024). Cognitive impairment in young adults after cancer treatment: a descriptive correlational study on levels and associations with disease-related, psychological, and lifestyle factors. J Psychosoc Oncol, 1-15.
• Price J, Harris C, Praamsma N, & Brunet J. (2024). Co-creating a yoga program for adults diagnosed with gynecologic cancer: a consensus study. Support Care Cancer, 32(10), 656.
• Brunet J, Sharma S, Zadravec K, Taljaard M, LeVasseur N, Srikanthan A, Bland KA, Sabri E, Collins B, Hayden S, Simmons C, Smith AM, & Campbell KL. (2024). Aerobic exercise and CogniTIVe functioning in women with breAsT cancEr (ACTIVATE): a randomized controlled trial. Cancer, 131(1), e35540.
• Baillot A, Asselin M, Bernard P, Lapointe J, Bond D, Romain AJ, Garneau PY, Biertho L, Tchernof A, Blackburn P, Langlois M, & Brunet J. (2024). Acceptability and feasibility of the telehealth bariatric behavioural intervention to increase physical activity before bariatric surgery: a single-case experimental study (Part I). Obes Surg, 1-14.
• Brunet J, Hussien J, Pitman A, Wurz A, Conte E, Polskaia N, & Seely D. (2024). Yoga therapy as an intervention to improve patient-reported outcomes among adults after treatment for cancer: preliminary findings from a trial using single-subject experimental design. Integr Cancer Ther, 23, 15347354241233517.
• Caru M, Wurz A, Brunet J, Barb ED, Adams SC, Roth ME, Winters-Stone K, Fidler-Bednaoudia MM, Dandekar S, Ness KK, Culos-Reed N, Schulte F, Rao P, Mizrahi D, Chang Swartz M, Smith M, Valle CG, Kadan-Lottic NS, Dieli-Conwright CM, & Schmitz KH. (2023). Physical activity and physical fitness assessments in adolescents and young adults diagnosed with cancer: a scoping review. Support Care Cancer, 31(10), 569.
• Brunet J, Sharma S, Price J, & Black M. (2023). Acceptability and usability of a theory-driven intervention via email to promote physical activity in women who are overweight or obese: substudy within a randomized controlled trial. JMIR Form Res, 7, e48301.
• Brunet J, & Sharma S. (2023). A scoping review of studies exploring physical activity and cognition among persons with cancer. J Cancer Survivor, 1-19.
• Baillot A, St-Pierre M, Lapoint J, Bernard P, Bond D, Romain AJ, Garneau PY, Biertho L, Tchernof A, Blackburn P, Langlois MF, & Brunet J. (2023). Acceptability and feasibility of the TELEhealth BARIatric behavioural intervention to increase physical ACTIVity (TELE-BariACTIV): protocol for a single-case experimental study. JMIR Res Protoc, 11(9), e39633.
• Brunet J, Price J, Srikanthan A, Gillison F, Standage M, Taljaard M, Beauchamp M, Reed J, & Wurz A. (2022). The physical aCtivity Counselling for young adult cancer SurvivorS (ACCESS) trial: a protocol for a parallel, two-arm pilot randomized controlled trial. PLoS One, 17(12), e0273045.
• Stearns J, Bélanger M, O’Loughlin JL, & Brunet J. (2022). Change in the social context of physical activity across adolescence and its association with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Psychol Sport Exerc, 60, 102170.
• Price J, & Brunet J. (2022). Understanding rural-living young adult cancer survivors’ motivation during a telehealth behavior change intervention: a single-arm feasibility trial. Health Inform J, 28, 14604582221075560.
• Black M, & Brunet J. (2021). A wearable activity tracker intervention with and without weekly behavioral support emails to promote physical activity among women who are overweight or obese: a randomized controlled trial. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 9(12).
• Brunet J, Price J, & Harris C. (2021). Women’s preferences for body image programing: a qualitative study to inform future programs targeting women diagnosed with breast cancer. Frontiers Psychol, 12, 720178.
• Wurz A, Ayson G, Smith A, & Brunet J. (2021). A proof-of-concept sub-study exploring feasibility and preliminary evidence for the role of physical activity on neural activity during executive functioning tasks among young adults after cancer treatment. BMC Neurol, 21, 300.
• Lambert M, Wurz A, Smith AM, Fang Z, & Brunet J. (2021). Preliminary evidence of improvement in adolescent and young adult cancer survivors’ brain health following physical activity: a proof-of-concept sub-study. Brain Plast, 19, 97-109.
• Brunet J, Price J, Wurz A, McDonough MH, & Nantel J. (2021). Boxing with Parkinson’s Disease: findings from a qualitative study using self-determination theory. Disabil Rehabil, 24, 1-10.
• Cox AE, Brunet J, McMahon AK, & Price J. (2021). A qualitative study exploring middle-aged women’s experiences with yoga. J Women Aging, 34, 460-472.
• Price J, & Brunet J. (2021). Feasibility and acceptability of a telehealth behavior change intervention for promoting physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption among rural-living young adult cancer survivors. J Psychosoc Oncol, 2, 1-17.
• Wurz A, Price J, & Brunet J. (2021). Understanding adolescents' and young adults' self-perceptions after cancer treatment in the context of a two-arm, mixed-methods pilot randomized controlled physical activity trial. Support Care Cancer, 29, 4439-4450.

Talks and presentations

• Brunet J, Zadravec K, Taljaard M, Sabri E, & Campbell KL. (2024). Effects of exercise during chemotherapy for breast cancer on patient-reported outcomes: secondary data analysis of a randomized controlled trial. Paper presented at the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (SCAPPS) Conference, Winnipeg, Canada.
• Brunet J, Asselin M, Bernard P, Lapointe J, Bond D, Romain AJ, Garneau P, Biertho L, Tchernof A, Blackburn P, Langlois M, & Baillot A. (2024). Physical activity counselling to support behaviour change in patients pursuing metabolic and bariatric surgery: a multicentre feasibility trial. Paper presented at at the European Congress of Sport and Exercise Psychology (FEPSAC) Congress, Innsbruck, Austria.
• Brunet J, Price J, Taljaard, M, Srikanthan, A, Gillison, F, Standage, M, Beauchamp, MR, & Reed, J. (2024). Exploring physical activity counseling for young adult cancer patients: insights from the ACCESS pilot randomized controlled trial. Paper presented at the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) Conference, New Orleans, USA.
• Sharma S, Brunet J, Jagannathan A, Bush K, Crack D, & Jaworska N. (2024). Feasibility of a two-arm aerobic exercise trial assessing clinical and neural outcomes in transitional-aged youth with depression. Paper presented at the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) Conference, New Orleans, USA.
• Price J, Westlake B, & Brunet J. (2024). Meeting their needs: acceptability outcomes of a co-created yoga program for adults diagnosed with gynecologic cancer. Paper presented at the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) Conference, New Orleans, USA.
• Brunet J, Hussien J, Pitman A, Polskaia N, Wurz A, Conte E, & Seeley E. (2023). Patient reported outcomes in cancer survivors: a single-subject exploratory experimental study of the effects of a yoga therapy intervention. Paper presented at the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (SCAPPS) Conference, Kingston, Canada.
• Sharma S, & Brunet J. (2023). Exploring links between physical activity characteristics and perceived cognitive impairment in young adults after cancer treatment. Paper presented at the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) Conference, Toronto, Canada.
• Brunet J, & Sharma S. (2023). An observational study on cognitive impairment in young adults after cancer treatment: levels and associations with disease-related, psychological, and lifestyle factors. Paper presented at the International Cognition & Cancer Task Force conference, San Diego, USA.
• Brunet J, Sharma S, & Kaddour R. (2022). A scoping review of studies exploring physical activity and cognition among persons diagnosed with cancer. Paper presented at the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (SCAPPS) Conference, Montreal, Canada.
• Brunet J, McDonough M, & Nantel J. (2022). A self-led Nordic walking program for adults with Parkinson’s Disease: an exploratory qualitative study of participants’ experiences. Paper presented at the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) Conference, Kailau-Kona, USA.