Steven N. Blair, PED, FACSM
Steven N. Blair is Professor in the Departments of Exercise Science and Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina; and Executive Lecturer in the Department of Kinesiology, Health Promotion, and Recreation, University of North Texas. He also is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the College of Education at the University of Houston. Dr. Blair is a past-president of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity, and the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education.
He has received awards from many professional associations, including a MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health, ACSM Honor Award, Robert Levy Lecture Award from the American Heart Association, and is one of the few individuals outside the U.S. Public Health Service to be awarded the Surgeon General's Medallion.
His research focuses on the associations between lifestyle and health, with a specific emphasis on exercise, physical fitness, body composition, and chronic disease. He has published over 390 papers and chapters in the scientific literature, and was the Senior Scientific Editor for the U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health. Dr. Blair is a member of the Exercise is Medicine Task Force.
Barbara Fletcher, RN, MN, FAAN
Barbara Johnston Fletcher is currently Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Nursing, College of Health, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, Florida. As a clinician and researcher in the field of cardiovascular nursing, she has conducted seminal studies on activity for cardiac patients, which evolved into a steady trajectory of scholarly inquiry into exercise behaviors and outcomes for different patient populations. She has led multidisciplinary research projects as a co-principal investigator of federally funded studies addressing cardiovascular risk factors.
Barbara has consistently disseminated her expertise and research through more than 40 publications in peer-reviewed journals and books,. Her leadership in the American Heart Association's Council on Cardiovascular Nursing led directly to innovative health policy activities, increased visibility for nursing science, and expanded the scope of nursing's influence in important patient care and research issues. Her innovative and creative contributions to nursing, health care, and the public are exemplary.
Timothy Church, M.D., M.P.H, P.h.D
Dr. Church is a Professor, the John S. McIlhenny Endowed Chair of Health Wisdom and is the director of the Laboratory of Preventive Medicine at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dr. Church earned his Medical Degree and PhD (structural and cellular biology) from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans. He completed a residency in preventive medicine at Tulane during which time he obtained a Masters in Public Health. He is Board Certified in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine.
He is a PI, Co-I, or investigator on a number of NIH grants, most of which address issues related to exercise and health including exercise and the treatment of depression, exercise and cancer survivorship, and exercise and maintenance of function in the elderly. Dr. Church has a particular interest in the role of exercise in the modulation of nontraditional CHD risk factors such as C-reactive protein, heart rate variability, and visceral fat.
He is an author on more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, has received several awards for his research and co-authored the book Move Yourself. Dr. Church is frequently used as an expert on national interviews regarding exercise and obesity, and has been interviewed by such outlets as NBC's Today show, USA Today, TIME magazine, the Washington Post, Oprah's the Magazine and CNN. Further Dr. Church has completed two ironman distance triathlons.
