Kinesiology, Recreation & Sport

Dr. Tinius receives Bridge Funding Award from the NIH

Dr. Rachel Tinius, Associate Professor of Exercise Science, recently obtained a grant through the Bridge Funding Award Program of the Kentucky Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network. The National Institutes for Health is the primary sponsor of the program. The project, titled, “Increasing physical activity through a mobile health intervention among pregnant and postpartum women in a rural setting,” is an extension of Dr. Tinius’ clinical research with prenatal and postpartum women and their infants. The goal of Dr. Tinius’ work is to promote physical activity interventions to improve health outcomes for mothers and their babies in rural communities of Kentucky and beyond. Dr. Tinius and her research team, including Dr. Maire Blankenship, Associate Professor of Nursing, and Dex Wood, WKU Systems Engineer, have collaborated to develop a mobile app that can be used as a health intervention for pregnant and postpartum women. The app is designed to increase physical activity and improve health outcomes by providing healthy and safe physical activity options, tracking personal outcomes, and more. Providing a health intervention through a downloadable mobile application will allow women in rural settings to have easier access to healthy and safe pre and postnatal exercise options. The Bridge Funding Award Program will allow Dr. Tinius to continue app development, as well as pilot work for the next year. 

For more information on the Exercise Science Program, visit this link.

For more information on the School of Kinesiology, Recreation, & Sport, visit this link.