College of Public Health

'Fitness orientation' and social support among predictors for long-term bariatric success

For those who have bariatric surgery procedures, increasing physical activity post-surgery is an important component of maintaining weight loss. But patients don’t always engage in enough physical activity to receive the full benefits of the surgery. A study led by Sara Kovacs, assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Kinesiology, examined what factors influence participation in physical activity among people who have had bariatric procedures. The research found the strongest predictors of increased physical activity were an increased “fitness orientation,”...

CORE

Obesity

Doctoral research on physical activity in Asian American communities earns APHA recognition

The American Public Health Association has named Temple researcher Aisha Bhimla winner of the Best Student Poster Presentation award (in the Physical Activity section) at October’s APHA Annual Meeting. Bhimla, who earned her PhD in kinesiology at the College of Public Health earlier this year, is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Asian Health in Temple’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine. At the APHA conference, held virtually this year, she presented her research about how the physical activity of Asian Americans in urban environments is affected by the way they percei...

Students

Awards

Explore the Fall 2020 issue of Temple Public Health

In this year’s Temple Public Health magazine, you’ll read about how the college turned a challenging year into opportunities for great change: how we adapted our classrooms and research efforts, how we shared our expertise to inform the public, and how our students and faculty supported relief efforts on the front lines. You’ll also learn about the many ways the college’s research thrived despite these challenges, as we collaborated across our 20 disciplines to connect individual well-being with societal change. Explore the magazine below:...

A guide to CPH at the APHA annual meeting

Faculty and students in the College of Public Health will deliver more than 50 presentations at this year’s APHA Annual Meeting, October 24-28. Presentations come from across the college’s numerous research labs, as well as from the Center for Obesity Research and Education, the Collaborative on Community Inclusion, and the Center for Public Health Law Research. A full list of sessions from the College of Public Health and Temple University is listed below. The 2020 annual meeting, held entirely online, includes a mix of live virtual sessions and on-demand recordings focu...

Research

College welcomes new chairs and senior leadership

The College of Public Health has added new senior leadership to its faculty, welcoming new chairs in the Department of Kinesiology and Department of Health Services Administration and Policy, as well as an associate dean for clinical affairs and interprofessional practice, a position new to the college. “We are tremendously fortunate to have attracted a stellar group of new colleagues who are joining us this summer and fall," said Laura A. Siminoff, dean of the College of Public Health. Susan VonNessen-Scanlin, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs and Interprofessional Prac...

Faculty

Staying fit while staying at home

Staying physically active can stave off anxiety, stress, and depression. That makes exercise an important part of personal health defense in these days when people are anxious and isolated at home, says Daniel Rosney, assistant professor of instruction in kinesiology at Temple's College of Public Health. Rosney, an Army veteran and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, has observed the broad health benefits of exercise through academic studies as well as professional and personal training situations. His most recent published study showed that sedentary adults benefi...

Coronavirus

Class teaches skills to fight back against assailants

Sixteen students enrolled in Personal Defense for Women, a two-credit class in the College of Public Health’s Kinesiology Department, form a large circle around instructor Jeff Chapman in a gymnasium at the back of McGonigle Hall. The young women are wearing their regular classroom clothes. Having trained for weeks, they’re ready to fight. “We’re going to do some striking drills, and then I’m gonna use this dummy to attack them,” Chapman says. He points to the dummy, a thick red pad that’s in the shape of a human torso. The women shadow-box moves that they...

Physical Activity

Classes

Exercise video games may reduce caregivers' stress

Caregivers who need to spend a significant amount of time caring for family members who are elderly, ill or living with disability often neglect their own health. It’s been demonstrated that regular exercise can improve a person’s health and relieve stress, depression and fatigue, but often caregivers don’t feel comfortable leaving homebound loved ones alone so they can hit the gym or the running track. “Caregivers may feel guilty about going out, and that can increase their stress,” says Daniel Rosney, assistant professor of instruction in kinesiology. In earlier res...

Exercise

Caregivers

AHA-funded study explores how and why exercise leads to positive health outcomes

It’s well known that exercise can improve a person’s health: weight management, mood improvement, and heart disease prevention are common outcomes for regular exercise. But though these effects are documented, scientists don’t exactly know how and why regular exercise can produce these outcomes, especially related to heart disease prevention. In an effort to better understand exercise and heart disease prevention on a molecular level, postdoctoral fellow Junchul Shin is embarking on a research project with two-year, $110,000 funding from the American Heart Association (AH...