TUESDAY, MARCH 1, LSC GRAND BALLROOM CHHS Research Day Keynote Speaker - Dr. Rebecca Hasson
Rebecca E. Hasson, Ph.D., FACSM, serves as Associate Professor in the School of Kinesiology, Director of the Childhood Disparities Research Laboratory, and Director of Active Schools & Communities at the University of Michigan. She delivered the keynote address titled “Merging Implementation Science and Health Equity Research to Eliminate Youth Physical Activity Disparities” at the CHHS Research Day on March 1.
As Director of the Childhood Disparities Research Laboratory, Dr. Hasson has rigorously examined the effects of built and social environments on pediatric physical activity and child health disparities. She has actively provided mentorship and training to Ph.D. students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty in health disparities research at the University and nationally, many of whom have secured tenure-track faculty positions. As Chair of the American College of Sports Medicine Strategic Health Initiative for Health Equity, she has also contributed to physical activity and health policy decisions. Her expertise in pediatric physical activity, implementation science, and health equity research have uniquely prepared her to examine that causes and consequences of childhood obesity disparities and develop behavioral interventions to mitigate these disparities.
For the past eight years, Dr. Hasson’s research has focused on the development and implementation of physical activity interventions in school and home environments, especially for low-income and ethnic minority pediatric populations. As Principal Investigator of the “Interrupting Prolonged sitting with ACTivity” (InPACT) program, she has rigorously tested the feasibility of implementing InPACT activity breaks in classroom settings; tailored InPACT to enhance implementation fidelity and flexibility; augmented InPACT sustainability by strengthening district wellness policies; and adapted InPACT for dissemination in the home environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her next steps are to conduct a cluster randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of InPACT to increase total daily physical activity and further her long-term research goals of improving child health and well-being through classroom-based physical activity programming.
Dr. Hasson enjoys using her expertise in pediatric physical activity, implementation science, and health equity research to improve the health and well-being of children and their families across the state of Michigan.
Funding for Dr. Hasson’s talk was provided by the Mary Scott Lecture Series in the College of Health and Human Sciences.
Tuesday, March 1, LSC Grand Ballroom Faculty Lightning Talks - Research Innovation
The CHHS Lightning Talks featured faculty from each academic unit, as well as our two graduate student Dean’s Fellows, giving short talks highlighting scholarly activities in the College of Health and Human Sciences. Your colleagues and professors shared their research innovation, integration, and impact.
