Weiyun Chen is Associate Professor of Health and Fitness and Director of the Physical Activity and Health Laboratory at the U-M School of Kinesiology. Her research primarily focuses on developing innovative and effective school-based physical activity intervention strategies for promoting daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, health-related physical fitness, motor skill competency, and intrinsic motivation for physical activity. She also focuses on identifying behavioral and psychosocial mechanisms of promoting and maintaining physically active habits and healthy weight in youth. She has been the principal investigator of two three-year U.S. Department of Education Carol White Physical Education Program (PEP) grant projects, which examined how school-based comprehensive physical activity programs facilitated elementary school students in developing healthy habits. She earned a PhD in Physical Education Pedagogy at the University of Alabama.
Natalie Colabianchi is a Professor of Applied Exercise Science and Director of the Environment and Policy Laboratory at the U-M School of Kinesiology. She also holds a dual appointment as Research Professor in the Survey Research Center at the U-M Institute for Social Research. Dr. Colabianchi’s research focuses on the role of environments and policies in facilitating physical activity behavior in children and adults. She has completed a number of federally-funded studies that have examined the influence of parks and playgrounds as well as school and neighborhood environments. She is also interested in physical activity measurement including accelerometry and direct observation. A social epidemiologist by training, Dr. Colabianchi earned a MA in the Social Sciences from the University of Chicago and a PhD in Epidemiology at Case Western Reserve University.
Rebecca Hasson is an Associate Professor of Movement Science and Director of the Childhood Disparities Research Laboratory at the U-M School of Kinesiology. She also holds an appointment as Associate Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the U-M School of Public Health. Her research focuses on identifying the causes and consequences of pediatric obesity in multiethnic populations, and examining the social and behavioral determinants that contribute to ethnic differences in obesity-related disease risk. Dr. Hasson received her BA, MS, and PhD from the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. After graduating, she completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Southern California’s Childhood Obesity Research Center, and a second postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California at San Francisco’s Center on Social Disparities in Health as a W.K. Kellogg Health Scholar.
Leah Robinson is a Professor of Movement Science and directs the Child Movement, Activity, and Developmental Health Laboratory at the U-M School of Kinesiology. Her research agenda takes a developmental approach to three complementary areas: motor skill acquisition/coordination, physical activity, and developmental health in pediatric populations. She seeks to understand the underlying mechanisms of motor skill acquisition because these salient skills are needed to be physically active across the lifespan. Her work also explores the association of motor skills/coordination to health-related constructs and the effects of motor skill interventions on developmental and behavioral health outcomes. Overall, her research explores how motor skill interventions contribute to children’s developmental trajectories. Dr. Robinson received her BS from North Carolina Central University and her MS and PhD in Sport and Exercise Science from Ohio State University.
“It is great hearing and discussing the results of research related to childhood obesity from such creative, cross-disciplinary researchers.”
Dale Ulrich is a Professor Emeritus of Applied Exercise Science and Movement Science at the U-M School of Kinesiology. His interests include motor behavior and development in infants and children with Down’s Syndrome and autism; assessment of motor behavior and performance in children; designing and testing interventions to maximize physical activity; and other related studies. He received a BS (1972) and MEd (1977) from West Chester University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in Kinesiology from Michigan State University (1981).