Drs. Steve Elmer and John Durocher will be the session chairs for the Featured Symposium, “Research and Teaching during COVID-19: Challenges, Opportunities, and Lessons Learned”, at the Annual APS Michigan Physiology Society meeting this Thursday, June 24th from 2-4pm.
There is no need to register for the event – it is free to all MPS members and conference presenters; a Zoom Link will be shared with the membership and participants.
The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners for the World Water Day Coursework/Informational Award were all students in Dr. Kelly Kamm’s Epidemiology course this past semester. Congrats to Thomas Basala, Kailee Doak and Mary Lyons!!
The AKA Kinesiology Today Spring 2021 issue highlighted an article written by KIP Assistant Professor Dr. Kelly Kamm and her students about the importance of staying active during COVID-19
Please join our Academic Advisor, Tayler Haapappuro, on April 20th at 7pm via Zoom. Tayler will provide information about the MTU- CMU Doctorate in Physical Therapy (DPT) program held here at Michigan Tech. The physical therapy program offered through The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions at CMU is a professional graduate curriculum three years in length. Graduates of the program are awarded a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree (DPT). The program has received approval by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). Please RSVP to Tayler at tmhaapap@mtu.edu for Zoom meeting address and password.
This is from last weeks COVID-19 Town Hall Series regarding health disparities. Obesity and lack of activity contributing to COVID. Read more here.
Houghton, MI – Michigan Tech University is one of only 153 universities and colleges around the world to be honored by Exercise is Medicine® for its efforts to create a culture of wellness on campus. Michigan Tech’s “UP and Moving” Program played a large part in helping the university to earn a silver level designation from the Exercise is Medicine® On Campus (EIM-OC) program and the COVID Conqueror badge, a new honor given to campuses that demonstrated creative adaptations to physical activity programming during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are thrilled to recognize these campuses’ commitment to make movement a part of daily campus culture and equip students with tools to cultivate lifelong physical activity habits, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Robyn Stuhr, vice president of Exercise is Medicine. “These campus programs are nurturing future leaders who will advance a key tenet of Exercise is Medicine: making physical activity assessment and promotion a standard in health care.”
The UP and Moving program offers free virtual home-based physical activity workouts to keep students, staff, faculty, and community members physically active during the COVID-19 pandemic. Steven Elmer, Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology, emphasized, “Physical activity is a critical strategy to combat COVID-19. Engaging in regular physical activity is considered as a “form of medicine” that can promote good physical and mental health, bolster immune function, and potentially improve prognosis in those individuals infected with COVID-19.”
Currently, the UP and Moving community-based physical activity program offers guided live workouts six days a week through Zoom and Facebook Live. Workouts are led by a team of graduate students at Michigan Tech and range from muscle strengthening exercise (i.e., weightlifting) to aerobic exercise (i.e., walking) to yoga and everything in between. The live workouts are also recorded and available to watch anytime on the program’s website, designed by Jamie Phillips, a master’s student in Kinesiology. The program goal is to help adults stay physically active during the pandemic. For substantial health benefits, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that adults engage in at least 150 min of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity each week and limit the amount of time spent sitting. Team member, Isaac Wedig, a doctoral student in Integrative Physiology, emphasized, “Any amount of weekly physical activity, even levels below this range, are still beneficial compared to no activity.” The home-based workouts do not require any specialized equipment and are easily adapted to fit a wide range of ages and ability levels. “Moving forward, the UP and Moving program at Michigan Tech has expanded their efforts to deliver workouts on local TV (ABC 10) and even include a DVD option for community members who are without internet,” explained Jenna Phelps, a master’s student in Kinesiology.
Of the 153 campuses recognized this year, 73 received gold, 59 silver and 21 bronze. All gold, silver and bronze universities and colleges will be officially recognized in June as part of the 2021 virtual Exercise is Medicine World Congress, held in conjunction with the American College of Sports Medicine’s Annual Meeting. Professor Caryn Heldt, Director of the Health Research Institute at Michigan Tech, said, “We could not be prouder of Dr. Elmer and the Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology students who are having a positive impact on Michigan Tech. Through two initiatives on campus, the Michigan Tech Forward Initiative in Health and Quality of Life and the Health Research Institute, we are promoting a culture of health and well-being for all and this award exemplifies that we are making positive progress.
EIM-OC calls upon universities and colleges to promote physical activity as a vital sign of health and encourages faculty, staff, and students to work together to improve the health and well-being of the campus community. EIM-OC launched its recognition program in 2014 to honor campuses for their efforts to create a culture of wellness. Schools earn gold, silver or bronze status based on their activities. Gold level campuses have created a referral system where campus health care providers assess students’ physical activity and refer students as necessary to a certified fitness professional as part of medical treatment. Silver campuses engage students, faculty and staff in education initiatives and make movement part of the daily campus culture while bronze level campuses promote and generate awareness of the health benefits of physical activity.
View a complete list of EIM-OC recognized schools and learn more about the UP and Moving program at https://www.exerciseismedicine.org/support_page.php/eim-on-campus/
About Exercise Is Medicine
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) co-launched Exercise is Medicine® (EIM) in 2007 with the American Medical Association. ACSM continues to manage the global health initiative, which seeks to make physical activity assessment and promotion a standard in clinical care, connecting health care with evidence-based physical activity resources for people everywhere of all abilities. EIM is committed to the belief that physical activity promotes optimal health, is integral in the prevention and treatment of many medical conditions and should be regularly assessed and included as part of health care. Visit www.ExerciseisMedicine.org for additional information.
About the American College of Sports Medicine
The American College of Sports Medicine is the largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world. More than 50,000 international, national and regional members and certified professionals are dedicated to advancing and integrating scientific research to provide educational and practical applications of exercise science and sports medicine. More details at www.acsm.org
The Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology Department is recruiting people with or without Type II Diabetes for a new remote research study. Do you want to help understand the relationship between Type II Diabetes and physical activity? See flyer for details and then contact Dr. Duncan to see if you are eligible to participate.
Note: Enrollment is ongoing and will continue until we have enough participants.
Please join Dr. Qinghui Chen on Thursday, March 4th @ 3pm via Zoom. He is an Associate Professor in our department and is an Affiliated Associate Professor in both Biological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering.
Congrats to Joshua Gonzalez on receiving the 2021 CNS Steven M. Horvath Professional Opportunity Award from #APSPhysiology. He’ll present his abstract here: http://apsebmeeting.org/eb2021/session.cfm?id=1286
Steven M. Horvath, Ph.D. was a 64-year member of the American Physiological Society, joining in 1943. Dr. Horvath obtained a B.S. in chemistry from Oberlin College, a B.A. in chemistry and physical education, as well as an M.S. in physiology from Miami University of Ohio. In 1939, Dr. Horvath commenced his Ph. D in Biological Sciences at the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory, under the tutelage of Dr. D. Bruce Dill. Dr. Horvath worked on the proposal to establish the Center for Aging Research at University of California, Santa Barbara. In 2001, Dr. Horvath became Professor Emeritus at the University of Buffalo, SUNY. Dr. Horvath took great pride in the achievements of his students, post-docs and colleagues, and during his career he authored over 550 book chapters and peer-reviewed manuscripts.
The Steven M. Horvath Professional Opportunity Award was established by his three children after his passing on March 21, 2007. This award provides funds for junior physiologists to attend and participate fully in the Experimental Biology meeting, and is granted to the top ranked underrepresented minority graduate student or postdoctoral fellow applicants of the Caroline tum Suden/Frances Hellebrandt
Professional Opportunity Awards.
Join us for an in-depth look at all facets of the pandemic . The Town Hall will be presented monthly, January-April on the last Thursday of each month. The Town Hall this Thursday, February 25th at 7 p.m. will focus on “Mental Health and Well Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic”. https://mtu.edu/health-research/covid19townhall/…