Catriona, a PACE Lab team member since August 2016, will be working at the NIH in the Human Cortical Physiology and Stroke Neurorehabilitation Section for this summer. This lab conducts research on health volunteers and stoke and traumatic brain injury patients using different stimulation, imaging, data analysis, and motor learning evaluation techniques. Catriona will be working specifically on a lab optimization project and an additional summer research project of her choosing. She will be returning to UGA in the fall where she will be working with us for her third and final year.

Ginny Lee Olivier, Rhiannon Euhus, and Catriona Geddes will present their research at the 2018 CURO Symposium today at the Classic Center. The three students will present findings from their original research study examining Vitamin D levels in African-American/Black College Women. The presentations are:

Rhiannon Euhus – The Effects of Studying Habits on Vitamin D Levels in Undergraduate Students

Ginny Lee Olivier – Outdoor Physical Activity in Relation to Vitamin D Status in African American College Women

Catriona Geddes – The Association between Knowledge of Vitamin D and Blood Levels of 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D among Black/African-American College Women

The PACE Lab is so excited and proud of these students for conceptualizing this study, coordinating all of the recruitment and data collection, and now sharing their findings!

This research was supported (in part) by a grant funded by the Department of Academic Partnerships and Initiatives in the Division of Student Affairs at the University of Georgia. 

Many congratulations to Dr. Erika Rees-Punia for successfully her dissertation this afternoon. Her study, “Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in the Cancer Prevention Studies” included three manuscripts; two assessing the reliability and validity of the Cancer Prevention Studies’ physical activity and sedentary behavior measures, and a third examining mortality risk reduction associated with sedentary behavior, light-intensity, and moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity in the Cancer Prevention Studies cohort. Dr. Rees-Punia’s committee was chaired by Ellen Evans, and included Jennifer Gay (PACE Lab), Michael Schmidt, and Alpa Patel. Dr. Rees-Punia will continue her research as a post-doctoral fellow with Dr. Alpa Patel at the American Cancer Society. Congratulations again to Dr. Rees-Punia!

Dr. Jennifer Gay, Director of PACE Lab, has been added to the faculty in the Institute for Artificial Intelligence at UGA. This affiliation allows her to mentor students and serve on committees within the Institute. Dr. Gay has collaborated with the Institute for Artificial Intelligence for several years, and has published three papers with other faculty and students there.

Today Marilyn Wolff defended her dissertation prospectus, titled, “Do Social Support and Physical Activity Impact Employee Job Stress, Burnout, and Well-Being?”. She plans to collect data from several hundred employees from the healthcare sector to examine the intersection of work and non-work social support and physical activity on employee health. Congratulations Marilyn!

A recent paper published by Dr. Jennifer Gay has been highlighted in the ASPPH Friday Newsletter. This study is part of a larger project examining the relationship between occupational physical activity and adiposity across a variety of labor sectors. Read the full article here!

Dr. Jennifer Gay and colleagues recently published an article in Preventive Medicine Reports that found, in a cross-sectional study, adults workers who do more light-intensity activity at work do less activity during their free time. Light-intensity activities at work can include walking from one office to another, from your car to your office, or going to meetings. However, workers who engaged in more moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity, like taking the stairs, did more activity outside of work. Something to think about when planning your next worksite wellness program! Full text of the article can be found here.