About
Dr. Furman received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Minnesota. Her doctoral research focused on the dynamics of motivation across contexts and over time, including how affective and social cognitive processes shape long-term engagement in routine health behaviors. She applies these insights to develop sustainable physical activity interventions for midlife adults that reduce chronic disease risk. When asked why she wanted to join the Roybal Center, she said, “My work aims to make physical activity more enjoyable, rewarding, and personally meaningful while addressing the practical barriers that make it difficult to fit into everyday life. I am excited to collaborate with an interdisciplinary team working toward similar goals of developing scalable, sustainable interventions that promote healthy aging.” When asked why she wanted to join the Roybal Center, she said, "A central focus of my work is how interventions can facilitate the transition out of structured programs by fostering intrinsic motivation and maintaining contextual stability and continuity in behavior settings. This motivates my interest in leveraging existing commercial, digital, and community-based platforms as scalable infrastructures for embedding behavioral principles beyond the active intervention period. I am especially interested in collaborating with an interdisciplinary team focused on developing innovative, low-friction interventions that are sustainable in daily life and support healthy aging."