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Difference in arterial health seen in highly active college-age people compared to inactive peers

Dr. Joel Stager

Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington researchers found that people in their 20s already began to demonstrate arterial stiffening -- when arteries become less compliant as blood pumps through the body -- but their highly active peers did not.

The researchers made a similar discovery with middle-age men and women, finding that highly active study participants did not show the arterial stiffening that typically comes with aging, regardless of their gender or age. A reduction in compliance of the body's arteries is considered a risk factor, predictive of future cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure and stroke. This new study is the first to examine arterial stiffening in a young, healthy population.

"It was surprising," said Joel Stager, professor in the Department of Kinesiology in the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington. "The college-age group, which reflected the general population, already showed a difference in the health of their small arteries. Compliance of the small arteries, in particular, is seen as an effective predictor of future cardiovascular disease."

Elite athletes often shine sooner or later -- but not both

Dr. Robert Chapman

An Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington study that compared the performance of elite track and field athletes younger than 20 and those 20 and older found that only a minority of the star junior athletes saw similar success as senior athletes.

The researchers think physical maturation is behind the disparity, with athletes who mature early reaping the benefits early, seeing their best times, jumps and throws at a younger age than Olympians, many of whom mature later.

Pedometer program helps motivate participants to sit less, move more

Dr. Jeanne Johnston

Indiana University researchers found that a simple program that uses pedometers to monitor how much people move throughout the day was effective at increasing physical activity, decreasing sitting time, a particular problem for office workers, and helping participants drop some pounds.

"Even if somebody works out 30 minutes a day, the fact that they're sitting and not moving for long periods of time for the rest of the day is in and of itself detrimental to their health and well-being, physiologically," said Saurabh S. Thosar, an associate instructor at the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington and one of the study's researchers.

Unique omega-3 supplement effective at reducing exercise-induced asthma symptoms

Dr. Timothy Mickleborough

An Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington study has found that a unique omega-3 supplement derived from the New Zealand green-lipped mussel significantly improved lung function and reduced airway inflammation in asthmatics who experience exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, also called exercise-induced asthma.

Timothy Mickleborough, professor in the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington, said his findings are similar to his studies involving fish oil but required a much smaller dosage of the supplement. His new study, appearing online in the journal Respiratory Medicine, found a 59 percent improvement in lung function after an airway challenge, and a reduction in airway inflammation, asthma symptoms and use of emergency medication.

"Not only does it reduce symptoms, which will make you feel better, but it potentially could improve athletic performance," Mickleborough said. "Any time you can reduce medication is good."

Professor Masul Rowatt selected for IU’s Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching

Dr. Rasul Mowatt

An assistant professor in the School of Public Health-Bloomington's Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies, Mowatt has taught courses on leadership strategies and diversity applications, leisure, health and the human experience. He also has taught a course for the Intensive Freshman Seminar program on violence in sports and modern society.

His research focuses on pedagogical topics including the use of visual materials and visual methodology. He incorporates service learning when designing his courses to encourage social responsibility among students.

"By developing student learning environments that require commentary, critique and creative problem-solving, the highlighted social issues can be used as focusing points on how students' future actions as professionals can address social ills," Mowatt said.

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Faculty receive Faculty Research Support Program (FRSP) Awards

IU School of Public Health-Bloomington faculty members, Dr. Lisa Kamendulis and Dr. Barbara Hocevar have been awarded  Faculty Research Support Program (FRSP) Awards by the  Office of the Vice Provost for Research at IU Bloomington Provost for 2012-2013. 

The Office of the Vice Provost for Research at IU Bloomington supports research and creative activity developed by individuals and by teams of researchers from diverse disciplines through a variety of internal funding programs.

The Faculty Research Support Program seeks to support research that develops innovative and transformative ideas to the point where they can successfully garner new external funding.

Both Dr. Kamendulis and Dr. Hocevar are faculty in the Department of Environmental Health in the School of Public Health-Bloomington. 

Faculty honored with Beth Wood Distinguished Service-Learning Award

Four faculty members from the IU School of PublicHealth-Bloomington have been recognized for their significant contribution to service-learning and its impact on and off campus by the IU Center forInnovative Teaching and Learning Service-Learning Program.

The faculty members are:

• KatieGrove

• Joanne Klossner 

• Rasul Mowatt 

• Krisha Thiagarajah  

The Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL), a partnership between the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and University Information Technology Services, provides comprehensive services in support of excellent teaching and learning at Indiana University Bloomington.

New HIV testing guidelines helpful, but access to screenings still an issue

Beth Meyerson, health policy expert at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, said the new screening guidelines by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force represent an important shift in HIV testing and will result in more HIV screenings because they will now be reimbursable. But the availability of the tests remains a big unknown.

"We do not know enough about clinician behavior, whether and how they offer the HIV test," Meyerson said. "There have been a few studies, and the results have been discouraging. Today's final guidelines, paired with CDC's 2006 recommendations to offer routine HIV testing in clinical settings, is an important step toward encouraging clinician engagement with patients to offer the test."

Gamers recognize college football players in video games

The compensation of college athletes -- illegally and potentially -- is a contentious issue and the subject of a lawsuit challenging the use of college athletes' likenesses in video games. An Indiana University study found that many video gamers not only recognize athletes in the games but erroneously think the amateur athletes endorse the games.

"The results paint a picture of a college football video game experience which exists as a virtual mirror image of the 'real' college football world, containing not only the officially licensed and easily recognizable marks and logos of the NCAA and its members, but also the recognizable, but unlicensed, likenesses of college football players," Galen Clavio and Patrick Walsh, assistant professors in the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington, wrote in "Digital Representations in College Sports Video Games," published in the Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics.