Researcher

Title

• Assistant professor, Ingram School of Nursing, McGill University (2018-present)
• Associate researcher, McGill University Health Center Research Institute – Child Health and Human Development (2018-present)

• Post-Doctoral Fellowship (Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University and Centre de recherche du CHU Sainte-Justine, 2014 – 2017)
• Doctorate in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology, PhD (Université de Montréal. 2014)
• Master of Science in Public Health, MSc (Université de Montréal, 2007)
• Bachelor of Science in Nursing, BScN (McGill University, 2003)

Professor Van Hulst's research program focuses on identifying familial and environmental risk factors for obesity and cardiovascular and metabolic health in pediatric populations, including among young people and their families living in vulnerable social and economic contexts. Her research draws on clinical expertise in person- and family-centered nursing, as well as extensive training in epidemiology and population health research. Using data from population-based cohort studies and studies of young patients followed in various clinical and community programs, her research aims to better understand the role of the family and residential neighborhood environments in the prevention and management of pediatric obesity, with a view to identifying strategies for obesity prevention and the promotion of health and healthy lifestyle habits.

• Obesity and cardiometabolic health
• Lifestyle behaviours
• Environments and health (e.g., built environments, family environments)
• Family systems interventions
• Social determinants of health
• Longitudinal studies

Career Summary

Andraea Van Hulst trained as a nurse and in public health and epidemiology. Early in her career, she gained experience in emergency nursing and in community health. Since 2018, she is a professor at McGill University's Ingram School of Nursing. To date, she has trained and supervised students with interests in cardiometabolic health in youth, built environments influences on health, family systems interventions and community health programs in perinatal and social pediatrics. She is a researcher at the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center (Metabolic and Cardiovascular Health Axis), where she studies pediatric obesity and cardiometabolic health, as well as socio-environmental determinants of health, including among equity-seeking populations. She is also a researcher with the HeLTI (Healthy Live Trajectory Initiative) consortium, where she contributes to the development of early childhood obesity prevention strategies.

Awards and Distinctions

• Rosemary Wedderburn Brown Prize, McGill Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, in recognition of outstanding academic potential and demonstrated research excellence early in the career of a faculty member. Amount: $10,000. October 2022.
• Junior Scholar 1, Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec, 2020-2024.
• Danish Diabetes Academy, Diabetes Winter School, Malaga (Spain), winner of the "Most Promising" team in a challenge on the use of precision medicine for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes. March 2017.

Presentations

• Van Hulst A & Harnois Leblanc S (2024). Longitudinal analyses: an overview of approaches and applications in nursing. Webinar presented for the Quebec Nursing Intervention Research Network.
• Van Hulst A (2023). Early life influences on childhood obesity: from etiology to community health practices. Webinar presented at the Healthy Early Life Trajectories (HeLTI) International Consortium Research Seminars.
• Van Hulst (2023). The Built Environment and Obesity in Youth – Evidence, Opportunities, Challenges. Symposium presented at the 2023 Canadian Obesity Summit, Whistler, Canada.
• Van Hulst (2023). The Canadian Pediatric Weight Management Registry (CANPWR): An Update. Symposium presented at the 2023 Canadian Obesity Summit, Whistler, Canada.
• Syragakis KM, Van Hulst A, Harnois-Leblanc S, Barnett TA, Mathieu ME, Benedetti A, Henderson M. Neighbourhood Environments and Lifestyle Behaviours in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes. Poster presentation at the 2023 Diabetes Canada/Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism (CSEM) Professional Conference (Vascular 2023), Montreal, QC, October 25-29, 2023.

Publications

• Wills-Ibarra N, Chemtob K, Hart H, Frati F, Pratt KJ, Ball GD, Van Hulst A. Family systems approaches in pediatric obesity management: A scoping review. BMC Pediatrics, 2024, in press.
• Harnois-Leblanc S, Van Hulst A, Lucibello K, Harbec MJ, Sabiston C M, Maximova K, Sylvestre M-P, Henderson M. Associations between weight-loss attempts, weight-related stress, and body image during childhood and adolescence in children with parental obesity. Childhood Obesity, 2024. doi: 10.1089/chi.2023.0082.
• Sohi, DK, Van Hulst A, McNealis V, Simoneau G, Drapeau V, Barnett TA, Mathieu ME, Paradis G, Tremblay A, Benedetti A, Henderson M. Early lifestyle determinants of adiposity trajectories from childhood into late adolescence. Childhood Obesity. 2023 Dec 13, doi: 10.1089/chi.2023.0062.
• Woronko C, Merry L, Uckun S, Cuerrier A, Li PT, Hille J, Van Hulst A. Prevalence and determinants of overweight and obesity among preschool-aged children from migrant and socioeconomically disadvantaged contexts. Preventive Medicine Reports. Sep 9;36:102397. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2023.102397
• Harnois-Leblanc S, McNealis V, Friedrich MG, Bigras J-C, Van Hulst A, Nuyt AM, Barnett TA, Benedetti A, Mathieu ME, Drapeau V, Sylvestre M-P, Henderson M. Vascular and Myocardial Structure and Function in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes: The CARDEA Study. Pediatric Diabetes, 2023. doi: https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/8662038
• Van Hulst A, Jayanetti S, Sanson-Rosas AM, Harbec M-J, Kakinami L, Barnett TA, Henderson M. 2023. Adolescents’ reports of chaos within the family home environment: investigating associations with lifestyle behaviours and obesity. PLOSone. 18(1): e0280737. doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280737
• Harnois-Leblanc S, Sylvestre MP, Van Hulst A, Barnett TA, Mathieu MÈ, Mesidor M, McGrath JJ, Tremblay A, Drapeau V, Paradis G, Henderson M. 2022. Estimating causal effects of physical activity and sedentary behaviours on the development of type 2 diabetes in at-risk children from childhood to late adolescence: an analysis of the QUALITY cohort. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. Nov 7:S2352-4642(22)00278-4. doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(22)00278-4.
• Harnois-Leblanc, S., Van Hulst, A., Ybarra, M., Barnett, T., Mathieu, M-E., McGrath, J., Tremblay, A., Paradis, G., Drapeau, V., Sylvestre, M-P & Henderson, M. 2022. Natural history and determinants for the development of dysglycemia in Canadian children with parental obesity from ages 8-10 to 15-17 years: The QUALITY Cohort. Pediatric Diabetes. 23(3):274-285. doi : 10.1111/pedi.13315.
• Van Hulst A, Wills-Ibarra N, Nikiéma B, Kakinami L, Pratt K, Ball GDC. 2022. Associations between family functioning during early to mid-childhood and weight status in childhood and adolescence: findings from a Quebec birth cohort. International Journal of Obesity. 46(5):986-991. doi : 10.1038/s41366-021-01041-8
• Barnett TA, Ghenadenik A, Van Hulst A, Contreras G, Cloutier M-S, Kestens Y, Chaix B, & Henderson M. 2021. Neighborhood built environment typologies and adiposity in children and adolescents. International Journal of Obesity. Mar;46(3):588-596. doi: 10.1038/s41366-021-01010-1