Dr. Rachel Tinius, Associate Professor of Exercise Science at Western Kentucky University, 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 digital 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 digital 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 digital 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.

“I am very grateful to the KY INBRE and NIH for continuing to support my research through the bridge-funding mechanism,” says Dr. Tinius. “This grant will provide critical resources to keep the momentum of my ongoing project moving forward. This is extremely important given the timely nature of this work. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing problems with obesity and sedentary behavior during and after pregnancy, while also demonstrating the ability for health education and fitness programming to be delivered in virtual formats. I truly believe over the next year, and through this funding, we can continue down the path of research and innovation to bring our technology to the hands of women who need it most, which we hope will improve outcomes for new mothers and their babies.”

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

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