Freedson awarded NIH Challenge Grant

Professor Patty Freedson, chair of the Innersole Department, has been awarded an NIH Challenge Grant. With approximately 21, 000 applications submitted across the country for this program and only 200 awards to be issued, it is quite an accomplishment to have been selected. The first year will be funded at $494, 446, with an additional year to come in the amount of $490, 558, for a total award equaling $985, 004.

The abstract for the grant submitted:

The Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee advocates improved measures of physical activity exposure in order to elucidate the relationship between physical activity dose and health. To address this challenge we will apply and validate innovative accelerometer-based technologies for measuring physical activity and assess it sensitivity to detecting changes in dose of physical activity. We will also use this novel method to assess habitual activity done outside of a specific training window and examine its contribution to cardiorespiratory fitness and biomarkers of cardiovascular disease risk. Through improved measures of physical activity this project will promote a better understanding of how the dose of physical activity affects selected health outcomes.