Rachel Burns is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology. Her research focuses on health behaviour change and health outcomes. She leverages theory to identify the social and cognitive processes that shape how people manage their health behaviour and examine how these processes unfold over time. This information is used to inform, implement, and/or evaluate interventions, which, in turn, provide an evidence base to inform theory. She has a particular interest in the associations between mental health, health behaviours, and health outcomes in individuals with type 2 diabetes, though her interests are not limited to this population. Currently, her work examines habits for self-management behaviour, the influence of close others on health behaviour, and the application of theory to existing health behaviour change interventions.