A Church-Based Intervention To Increase Physical Activi*

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DESCRIPTION (Applicant's abstract) The candidate, Melicia Whitt, Ph.D., is trained in Exercise Physiology and Epidemiology, with a subspecialty in physical activity (PA) epidemiology. She is currently engaged in a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), where she is involved in a pilot weight gain prevention program for African American (AA) women and an ancillary study of PA measurement methods among AA women. Dr. Whitt has a strong interest in pursuing an academic career in research related to PA with a focus on issues related to minority populations, including associations between PA and health, PA determinants, and understanding the design and conduct of programs to increase PA and promote health. Dr. Whitt's initial training focused on the assessment of physical activity. The proposed training will provide the additional exposure and experience necessary to support a career as an independent and productive researcher in other areas related to PA and will focus on analyses of determinants of PA in both observational and intervention settings, and the design, conduct, and behavioral outcomes of PA interventions. The specific aims of the training program are: 1) to fill in gaps in knowledge of critical content areas related to the epidemiology of CVD and approaches to related to publication and grantsmanship. The training program will include continued participation in and analysis of several ongoing and pending lifestyle change projects (e.g., weight management programs for AAs; evaluation of programs to increase PA and healthy behaviors), development, implementation, and analysis of an independent church-based PA intervention, manuscript preparation, additional course work at Penn, attendance at specialty courses (e.g., independent R01 proposal during year 5). Dr. Whitt will be mentored by Dr. Shiriki Kumanyika, an established nutrition epidemiology researcher with specific expertise in lifestyle behavior change interventions among AAs. She will also have an advisory committee of established researchers in the areas of PA determinants, statistics, lifestyle change interventions, and issues related to adherence to behavioral change. This award will be carried out in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB) at the Penn School of Medicine. CCEB faculty includes M.D. and Ph.D. epidemiologists and biostatisticians. Research programs include observational studies and clinical trials addressing diverse clinical and public health problems. Dr. Whitt will be able to collaborate formally with faculty through courses and seminars offered by the CCEB.