PhD candidate Madeleine Orr and colleague launch blog for NASSM

March 19, 2019

Kinesiology PhD candidate Madeleine Orr, studying in the sport management emphasis, has launched a blog with fellow PhD student Walker Ross from the University of South Carolina on the topic of sport ecology for the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM). Their goal for the blog is “to advance the understanding that the relationship between sport and the natural environment is complex and dynamic, ever-present yet ever-changing, meriting a subdiscipline of its own.” Orr is an advisee of Yuhei Inoue, PhD, and her research interests are climate change and sport and sport events and legacies.

Walter and APAL colleagues publish research about visually induced motion sickness

March 15, 2019

Hannah Walter
Thomas Stoffregen, PhD
Chris Curry, doctoral candidate
Justin Munafo, doctoral candidate
Nicolette Peterson, graduate student
Ruixuan Li

School of Kinesiology doctoral candidate Hannah Walter lead authored the article, “Unstable coupling of body sway with imposed motion precedes visually induced motion sickness,” published in Human Movement Science. Walter is an advisee of Thomas Stoffregen, PhD, professor and director of the Affordance Perception-Action Laboratory (APAL). Stoffregen co-authored this article with Walter along with APAL members Ruixan Li, PhD, doctoral candidates Justin Munafo and Chris Curry, and School of Kinesiology graduate student Nicolette Peterson.

This new research exposes participants to both body sway and imposed oscillatory motion of the illuminated environment in order to examine whether individual differences in such coupling might be precursors of motion sickness. Results revealed that people can couple the complex dynamics of body sway with complex imposed motion, and that differences in the nature of this coupling are related to the risk of motion sickness. Read the full study here.

Greising and colleagues publish research about rehabilitation after muscle loss injury

March 12, 2019

Sarah Greising, Ph.D., assistant professor at the School of Kinesiology and director of the Skeletal Muscle Plasticity and Regeneration Laboratory (SMPRL), and colleagues published in Scientific Reports. The article, “PGC-1α overexpression partially rescues impaired oxidative and contractile pathophysiology following volumetric muscle loss injury” is collaborative work with the University of Georgia that evaluated limiting factors in a muscle’s adaptive capacity for rehabilitation after a multi-muscle volumetric muscle loss injury.

Volumetric muscle loss (VML) injury is characterized by a non-recoverable loss of muscle fibers due to ablative surgery or severe orthopaedic trauma, that results in chronic functional impairments of the soft tissue. Currently, the effects of VML on the oxidative capacity and adaptability of the remaining injured muscle are unclear. A better understanding of this pathophysiology could significantly shape how VML-injured patients and clinicians approach regenerative medicine and rehabilitation following injury. Read the full article here.

Konczak and Holst-Wolf received grant to continue research about limb position sense in children

March 8, 2019

Jürgen Konczak, PhD
Jessica Holst-Wolf, PhD

Jürgen Konczak, PhD, professor in the School of Kinesiology and director of the Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory (HSCL) and Jessica Holst-Wolf, PhD, postdoctoral associate of HSCL have partnered with Lucie Turcotte, MD, UMN Pediatrics Department and Hannah Block, PhD, Assistant Professor from the Department of Kinesiology of Indiana University.

This group received a grant to continue a project characterizing the development of limb position sense in children as part of the University of Minnesota’s Driven to Discover program at the 2019 Minnesota State Fair. HSCL lab members will be conducting a study during the Fair’s two-week run. Researchers will recruit children to measure how body awareness develops during childhood. HSCL has developed a set of tests that will show recruits how accurately they “know” where their hands or feet are in space. The young participants will get to experience being involved in a research project and earn a fun prize for participating.

Stoffregen and advisees Walter and Li publish in Human Movement Science

March 4, 2019

Tom Stoffregen, PhD, School of Kinesiology professor and director of the Affordance Perception Action Laboratory, and colleagues have published an article in the online publication, Human Movement Science. The article, Adaptive perception of changes in affordances for walking on a ship at sea, studied how subjects walking on a ship at sea experienced changes in judgments of their walking ability depending on sea conditions; results suggested that they adapted to those changes.

First author Hannah Walter is a doctoral candidate advised by Stoffregen. Ruixuan Li, PhD, received her doctorate in Human Factors from the U of M, and was also advised by Stoffregen.

Kinesiology doctoral student is lead author on article on BMI and blood pressure

February 25, 2019

Michelle Harbin, MS
Donald R. Dengel, Ph.D.
Nick Evanoff, MS

Michelle Harbin, MS and doctoral student in the School of Kinesiology is the lead author of an article published in the American Journal of Hypertension. The article, Measurement of Central Aortic Blood Pressure in Youth: Role of Obesity and Sex, provides evidence that obesity related impairments in central aortic blood pressure and increased cardiovascular disease risk appear to occur within the first two decades of life.

Compared with percent fat mass or visceral adipose tissue, body mass index was more strongly associated with central aortic blood pressure among children and adolescents, suggesting body size may be a more important determining factor than adiposity during childhood.

Donald R. Dengel, Ph.D., professor at the School of Kinesiology and director of the Laboratory of Integrative Human Physiology, and Nick Evanoff, MS, a current doctoral student in the School of Kinesiology, co-authored this article.

Dengel and Evanoff co-author article about correlation between muscle mass and cardiovascular health

February 25, 2019

Donald R. Dengel, Ph.D.
Nick Evanoff, MS

Donald R. Dengel, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology and director of the Laboratory of Integrative Human Physiology, is a co-author of an article published in the International Journal of Cardiology Heart & Vasculature.

The article, VE/VCO2 slope in lean and overweight women and its relationship to lean leg mass, suggests that the VE/VCO2 (Ventilation/carbon dioxide production) slope may not differentiate between low and high cardiorespiratory fitness in healthy individuals and that muscle mass may play a role in determining the VE/VCO2 slope, independent of disease. Nick Evanoff, MS, a current doctoral student in the School of Kinesiology, also co-authored this article.

MN Daily covers a new stretching program led by Kinesiology graduate students

February 20, 2019

Kinesiology majors stretch their knowledge to peers from the Minnesota Daily.

School of Kinesiology graduate students Andrea Santi, a Sport and Exercise Science MEd student, and Nael Banat, a Sport Management MEd student, are the co-leaders of a new early morning stretching program available to UMN employees. The program aims to help University faculty with physically demanding jobs stretch to prevent injury. Read the full story here.

Kinesiology doctoral student wins the 2018 NSCAF scholarship

February 19, 2019

Erica Roelofs, a School of Kinesiology graduate assistant and doctoral student, received the 2018 National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Foundation Women’s Scholarship. Roelofs was selected by the NSCA Foundation Scholarship Committee, receiving a $1,500 scholarship designed to support women entering the field of strength and conditioning.

Erica Roelofs, graduate assistant and Ph.D. student

“Congratulations to Erica for this well-deserved honor,” said Dr. Matt Stock, NSCA Foundation Board President. “She is an outstanding student with an extremely bright future. We are proud to support Erica in her studies to be a future leader of the strength and conditioning industry.”

Roelofs is being advised by Donald Dengel, Ph.D., School of Kinesiology professor and director of the Laboratory of Integrative Physiology. She earned her Master’s degree from the University of North Carolina in Exercise Physiology, and she is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and a Certified Sports Nutritionist (CISSN) through the International Society of Sports Nutrition. Her research interests include body composition, cardiovascular responses, nutrition, and exercise performance.

The National Strength and Conditioning Association Foundation was founded in 2007 with the aim of supporting the advancement of strength and conditioning practical applications. The NSCA Foundation is a non-profit organization committed to providing funding to NSCA members taking part in educational and research endeavors.

LaVoi featured in a National Girls and Women in Sports Day video

February 11, 2019

In celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, experts from the School of Kinesiology’s Tucker Center and Gopher Women’s Basketball talk about how female participation in sports has benefits that reach far beyond the court. Hear from Nicole M. LaVoi, Ph.D., senior lecturer and director of the School of Kinesiology’s Tucker Center, Lindsay Whalen, Gopher Women’s Basketball head coach, sport management alumni and former Tucker Center intern, and Kelly Roysland Curry, Gopher Women’s Basketball assistant coach, and sports management and applied kinesiology alumni.

Kihl named to the 2019 Play the Game Conference Program Committee

February 11, 2019

Lisa A. Kihl, Ph.D., School of Kinesiology associate professor, and director of the Global Institute for Responsible Sport Organizations (GIRSO), was named to the 2019 Play the Game Conference Program Committee.

Kihl and her program committee colleagues will be advising on themes and speakers for the 2019 Play the Game conference, taking place in Colorado Springs, CO, from October 13-16, 2019. Play the Game is an international conference and communication initiative aiming to strengthen the ethical foundation of sport, and promote democracy, transparency, and freedom of expression in sport. The program committee will also evaluate the conference. The board of Play the Game and the Danish Institute for Sports Studies appoints the committee.

Gao serves as lead guest editor at the Journal of Sport and Health Science

January 28, 2019

Zan Gao, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Kinesiology and director of the Physical Activity Epidemiology Laboratory, recently served as the lead guest editor for a special issue in the March 2019 Journal of Sport and Health Science.

The guest editorial, “Children’s Motor Skills Competence, Physical Activity, Fitness, and Health Promotion” aims to examine the effectiveness of participating in regular physical activity in the prevention of, and decrease in, childhood obesity and chronic diseases, thereby contributing to the prevention of chronic diseases later in adulthood. In addition, it investigates motor skills competence and physical activity in childhood through experimental and observational research.

Based on database findings from six separate studies, this issue discusses the following topics:

The effectiveness of various physical activity programs on preschool children’s health-related outcomes, motor skills competence, and perceived competence
Insight concerning the correlates and determinants of motor skills competence, physical activity, and sedentary behaviors in children
The current status of motor skills competence and fitness in children across various countries
Directions for future research and practice to improve motor skills competence and physical activity in childhood

Konczak receives CEHD Jump Start grant to further develop robotic rehabilitation technology

January 23, 2019

Jürgen Konczak, PhD, School of Kinesiology professor and director of the Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory, has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the CEHD Jump Start program. The grant will enable Dr. Konczak’s group to improve the technology of a wrist exoskeleton designed for the rehabilitation of wrist/hand function, with the aim to eventually commercialize the device and to make it available to rehabilitation hospitals and their patients.

Kinesiology PhD graduate Sanaz Khosravani accepts post-doc position at Harvard

January 23, 2019

Sanaz Khosravani, Kinesiology PhD ’19, a former advisee of Juergen Konczak, PhD, has accepted an offer for a post-doctoral position at Harvard Medical School. She will join the laboratory of Dr. Kristina Symonian, an otolaryngologist and expert in speech motor disorders. Sanaz will finalize her research activities in the Human Sensorimotor Control Lab next month and then move to Boston.

Barr-Anderson publishes about longevity of physical activity of African American Women

January 18, 2019

Daheia Barr-Anderson, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Kinesiology and director of the Behavioral Physical Activity Laboratory, co-published with colleagues in the December 2018 issue of the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. The article, “Positive Outliers Among African American Women and the Factors Associated with Long-Term Physical Activity Maintenance,” studies the behaviors and personal characteristics of African American women who have achieved long-term physical activity success, and compares characteristics with those who do not maintain recommended levels of physical activity. The findings identify factors that may be important for successful physical activity maintenance among African American women and may help to inform the development of effective behavioral interventions to promote sustained, long-term physical activity engagement in this population.

Wiese-Bjornstal and LaVoi co-publish in Current Sports Medicine Reports

January 14, 2019

Diane Wiese-Bjornstal, Ph.D., and Nicole M. LaVoi, Ph.D.

Diane Wiese-Bjornstal, Ph.D., associate director and professor in the School of Kinesiology, and Nicole M. LaVoi, Ph.D., senior lecturer in the School of Kinesiology, participated in the Ice Hockey Summit III and co-authored an article with Dr. Aynsley Smith, (lead author), a Ph.D. alum and former affiliated School of Kinesiology graduate faculty member, now associate professor of orthopedics, physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. The article, titled “Proceedings from the Ice Hockey Summit III, Action on Concussion,” was published in Current Sports Medicine Reports and examines the updated scientific evidence on concussions in hockey to inform five objectives:

Describe sport-related concussion (SRC) epidemiology
Classify prevention strategies
Define objective, diagnostic tests
Identify treatment
Integrate science and clinical care into prioritized action plans and policy

The published action plan evolved from 40 scientific presentations that took place at the Ice Hockey Summit III, and priorities were voted on by the 155 attendees, which included physicians, athletic trainers, physical therapists, nurses, neuropsychologists, scientists, engineers, coaches, and officials.

Action items:

Establish a national and international hockey database for SRC at all levels
Eliminate body checking in Bantam youth hockey games
Expand a behavior modification program (Fair Play) to all youth hockey levels
Enforce game ejection penalties for fighting in Junior A and professional hockey leagues
Establish objective tests to diagnose concussion at point of care (POC)
Mandate baseline testing to improve concussion diagnosis for all age groups.

The publication concludes that expedient implementation of the above action items, prioritized at the Summit III, is necessary to reduce the risk, severity, and consequences of concussions in the sport of ice hockey.

Dengel and associates publish in Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation

December 27, 2018

Donald R. Dengel, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology and director of the Laboratory of Integrative Human Physiology, is lead author of an article published in the journal Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. The article, “Vascular Structure and Function in Cancer Survivors After Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation,” examines the effects of hematopoietic cell transplantation and associated preparative regimens on vascular structure and function. The authors reported that hematopoietic cell transplantation preparative regimens containing total body radiation plus high-dose cranial radiation resulted in greater vascular dysfunction than those preparative regimens that consisted of only total body radiation or low-dose cranial radiation alone or combined.

APAL member Ruixuan Li awarded PhD in Human Factors

December 24, 2018

Ruixuan Li has completed the PhD in Human Factors at the U of M. Her dissertation, “Postural Time-to-Contact, Real-Time Visual Feedback of Postural Activity, and Motion Sickness,” has been accepted by the Graduate School. Dr. Li was a member of the Affordance Perception-Action Laboratory (APAL) in the School of Kinesiology for four years; her adviser was Dr. Tom Stoffregen, director of APAL. Dr. Li is the first person to earn a doctorate in Human Factors through APAL.

In memoriam: Victor S. Koscheyev, researcher, scientist, inventor

December 17, 2018

Victor S. Koscheyev, M.D., Ph.D., Sc.D., renowned researcher, inventor and scientist in the School of Kinesiology and at the University of Minnesota, passed away November 26 at the age of 79. Dr. Koscheyev was a senior fellow in the School and director of the Laboratory for Health and Human Performance in Extreme Environments.

Until his retirement in 2010, Dr. Koscheyev was a physiologist specializing in thermo-regulation. Much of his research centered on innovative approaches for the development and evaluation of protective clothing for space and other extreme environments. A great deal of his work focused on the physiology of human heat exchange and thermoregulation as related to individual protection and comfort management, and resulted in the development and refinement of space suits for extended extravehicular activity, concepts for the improvement of the space glove design through the application of physiological principles of heat transfer, and improvement of protective equipment for various industries.

Originally from Russia, Dr. Koscheyev held important posts in the Soviet space program and was one of the first medical officers on site to manage the Chernobyl nuclear accident. He continued his work in disaster medicine when he joined the U of M in 1992. His research program at the U of M was funded by NASA, and focused on the development of more effective protective garments for astronauts, firefighters, and other personnel dealing with hazardous materials. He was the author/editor of ten books, and numerous papers and patents.

Sport management B.S. student Sarah Heemstra receives William N. Wasson Student Leadership and Academic Award

December 11, 2018

School of Kinesiology sport management major, Sarah Heemstra, has been named winner of the William N. Wasson Student Leadership and Academic Award for 2018. This award, presented by NIRSA (National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association), recognizes top undergraduate and graduate students who participate in or are employed by a collegiate Department of Recreational Sports. The award will be presented at the NIRSA Annual Conference & Recreational Sports Expo in Boston in February, 2019.

CEHD News Kinesiology

CEHD News Kinesiology