Dr. Sallis pioneered the study of health effects of policies and practices in the transportation, city planning and park and recreation fields. For over 30 years he has been a leading researcher of physical activity, and recently received the Lifetime Achievement award from the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. He founded HERA to bring the lessons and rigor of research to the practice of public health, transportation, and city planning so that health outcomes can be adequately considered in planning, and improvements can be targeted to areas and populations of greatest need. Dr. Sallis and HERA are well qualified to assist your organization in becoming a leader in using research to improve transportation, land use, the environment and health.
Our team is at the forefront
We have been at the forefront of pioneering multidisciplinary research showing how land use and transportation decisions are related to physical activity, obesity, and overall quality of life.
we developed collaborations among planning and health disciplines
we developed concepts and measures used nationally and internationally
ours was the first study to be funded by the National Institutes of Health to document the relation of the built environment to physical activity
we are the most widely cited scientists in this emerging field
Our team at HERA is ready to apply our skills and experience to assisting MPO’s and public health departments around the country to gather local data that can be used to make decisions that will meet the housing and transportation needs of the population, while improving health.
What we have done
We have conducted a series of studies over 10 year funded by the National Institutes of Health to help us understand how walkable communities are related to health and quality of life outcomes. Our multidisciplinary team uses the highest quality measures of physical activity and land use, and we have intensively studied over 5000 people ranging from children to seniors in several regions of the United States. We are now coordinating international studies of built environments in more than 10 countries. Because of our experience in the development of this field and the quality of our research, our work is cited in all major reports and has resulted in about 40 scientific publications so far. Our studies have produced results that are being used by the county governments and MPOs where the data were collected. We have a long history of collaborating with city officials and government agencies, from local to national to international.
What does HERA mean?
Hera was the Greek goddess of marriage, and we take the name to indicate the marriage of research and action for healthy environments. In our logo we incorporate Hera’s symbols of the sandal and the pomegranate to show our expertise in active living and healthy eating.
