Category: Health and Kinesiology

Healthcare mission drove Lynne Barnes to MHA program

Oct. 23, 2023 | Ethan Simmons

New Master of Health Administration director Lynne Barnes says, “After decades of working in healthcare, it’s really exciting for me to have the opportunity to impact the careers of future healthcare leaders.” Find out more about the past president of Carle Foundation Hospital and her move to lead the MHA program.

‘I’ll give them everything I’ve got,’ Lynne Barnes said about her new job.

A year of retirement felt like enough for Lynne Barnes, the longtime healthcare administrator.

After finishing her four-decade career at Carle Foundation Hospital as president, Barnes soon found herself auditioning for her newest challenge: directing the Master of Health Administration degree program in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois.

It was the third interview she’d ever taken, after her first Carle interview and her high school gig at the pastry chain Mister Donut.

Today, at 70, Barnes has “lots of energy, that’s a blessing,” she said. “I was ready to do something different.”

As the newest director of the six-year-old MHA program, Barnes brings an invaluable trove of administrative experience she hopes to impart to future healthcare leaders.

Barnes’s appointment officially began Aug. 1 when she succeeded two-year interim director Laura Rice.

“I’ll give them everything I’ve got, in terms of investing the program and helping it to grow in the ways that the university wants to see it grow,” Barnes said. “I want to see this program rise in the ranks of status.”

Raised in Catlin, Ill., Barnes was hired by Carle Health in January 1977 straight out of college as the system’s first occupational therapist. She went on to direct several departments and held numerous administrative roles before finishing her Carle career as president of the Urbana hospital.

“Throughout her career, Lynne has served the community and distinguished herself as a leader in healthcare innovation,” said Kim Graber, head of the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health. “Her background in clinical operations and occupational therapy, along with her distinguished experience as president of Carle Foundation Hospital, will provide graduate students in health administration with unrivaled leadership.

“Lynne has boundless energy and will help take our program to the next level.”

Barnes will continue to teach as a part-time clinical professor, a role she’s held at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since 2007. A frequent community volunteer, Barnes is board chair of the Stephens Family YMCA and Experience Champaign-Urbana, and previously served as a member of the United Way of Champaign County and Urbana City Council.

Barnes oversaw the growth of Carle Foundation Hospital’s therapy programs and clinical operations, leading the flagship location in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic before retiring in February, 2022.

“Everything I’ve done there is such a joy,” Barnes said. “I love healthcare, because all the time we’re just serving people, and serving people who are in a vulnerable situation.

“Nobody wants to have to go to the hospital. And I love the opportunity to serve people in that way and make that experience as palatable and positive as it can be under their circumstances. That is a joy.”

Barnes earned her bachelor’s degree in the emerging field of Occupational Therapy from the University of Illinois-Chicago in 1976, later obtaining her master’s degree in public administration from UIUC in 1988.

The MHA program was established in 2017 and accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health in 2019.

The opportunity to educate the next generation of healthcare leaders compelled Barnes to take the MHA directorship. She will work to develop the department’s new online MHA program and strengthen its position in the graduate landscape.

“The support has been terrific,” Barnes said. “I have no doubt we will be able to achieve these goals. I enjoy teamwork and I have already experienced that it is ‘all hands-on deck’ to continue to improve and optimize our educational opportunities for our students.

“After decades of working in healthcare, it’s really exciting for me to have the opportunity to impact the careers of future healthcare leaders.”

A gutsy start

Growing up the youngest of three, 30 miles east of the University of Illinois campus, Barnes said attending the U. of I. was basically inevitable.

Interested in taking a hands-on role within healthcare, Barnes enrolled in the new Occupational Therapy degree program, which sought to train physicians who could help patients with physical and sensory problems to regain their independence.

The program was run through the University of Illinois-Chicago, but the 10-student cohort studied on the Urbana-Champaign campus.

Upon graduating, Carle Hospital put out an ad for its first occupational therapist position. Half of Barnes’ class applied for the job, she said.

“The [physical therapy] director had a hard time figuring out who to hire,” Barnes said. “And he laid our resumes out on the table at home and his wife—who was the emergency department director at Carle—said, ‘Well, just pick the one that had the highest grade-point average.

“And I got the job.”

Barnes hit the ground running in Carle’s relatively small therapy department, back when the hospital only had about 150 beds.

I remember thinking, ‘I love this, I want to be a part of it.’ I’ve always had the desire to lead and share the enthusiasm and passion I have for whatever it is I’m doing. And I had that opportunity at Carle.”

Soon, her success led to a promising offer: work on her Ph.D. while teaching future occupational therapists on the UIC campus.

But Barnes went straight to administration and leveraged a proposal of her own. If she were to get a promotion, she’d grow her own occupational therapy department and stay at Carle Foundation. It worked.

“I was kind of gutsy, I had only been there a couple years,” she said.

Barnes quickly found an affinity for the business side of healthcare, growing the therapy department by about 60 employees before being promoted to Carle’s director of therapy.

Soon, the current CEO of Carle Healthcare, Jim Leonard, came to her office and asked if she’d like to be a vice president of the hospital.

“I was all about therapy, I was very focused on what I did,” she said. “But whether I could translate my leadership skills to other departments was unknown. They thought maybe I could, but they were taking a chance on me.”

The decision led to years of multifaceted administrative work for the Urbana hospital, while the system continued its growth trajectory, adding a handful of new hospitals across Illinois.

Barnes’ attention stayed fixed on Carle Foundation, where she took pride in handling complaints from patients and families in vulnerable situations.

“To me, a patient who’s had a complaint and had it successfully resolved is more loyal than a patient who’s never even had a problem. I’m competitive, and I like to win back people,” Barnes said.

“I love the atmosphere and culture of Carle, of always striving to fix things and make it better and push ourselves so we could be noted for having the best care around.”

Mission-driven healthcare leaders

While still at Carle, Barnes found a new passion bubbling up alongside her administrative duties. She took joy in passing on her knowledge to both peers and students.

Along with becoming teaching faculty at the College of AHS, she’s become a professional life coach, dispensing career advice for those inside her field and outside of it.

For the present and future students of the MHA program, Barnes wants to pass on the idea of healthcare as a mission-driven calling, not just a job.

“They’ve got to learn facts about what it’s like to run a healthcare system, but they also need what I would call the characteristics that make the kind of healthcare leader that you want. I try to blend them, and share with them the need for energy, for enthusiasm, the need for passion,” Barnes said.

With MHA embarking on the brand-new construction of an online degree, and the spotlight on healthcare after the COVID-19 pandemic, Barnes has high-minded goals for the future of the program.

“By the time I’m done, my goal is this place will be more well known and people will be clamoring to get their graduate degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign MHA program,” she said.

“That’s going to take work and it’s going to take connectivity, so I’m hoping I can use some of my healthcare connections to be able to get the word out.”

Editor’s note:

To reach Ethan Simmons, email ecsimmon@illinois.edu.
 

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Can the use of AI and predictive modeling speed up long waits at emergency rooms?

April 03, 2024 | Ethan Simmons

KCH Assistant Professor Hyojung Kang is a co-investigator on a nearly $100,000 Jump ARCHES grant to develop innovative models aimed at reducing ER wait times.

Pronounced staff shortages and a lack of hospital beds have led to prolonged wait times for patients in emergency rooms around the United States, recent studies show. Those studies also show that patient congestion is one of the main factors threatening efficiency, safety and quality of care.

Now two researchers, including one from the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois, are looking at ways to reduce emergency care wait times.

Hyojung Kang, an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health in AHS, is a co-investigator on a nearly $100,000 Jump ARCHES grant to develop innovative models aimed at reducing wait times. The Jump ARCHES program is a collaboration between OSF Healthcare, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria. It was established in 2014 by a $62.5 million gift to provide direct access and competitive grants to engineers and physicians working together to combat problems in the realm of health care.

Kang’s co-investigator is William Bond, an emergency department physician at OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria. 

“To acknowledge that suffering [in the waiting room] is to use compassion, which is part of us at OSF HealthCare, and to address those needs as quickly as we can; to acknowledge that timeliness is part of the quality of care and we really want to have as timely of care as we can for our emergency department patients,” Bond said.

Improving time to treatment

The project is called: STREAM-ED: Simulation to Refine, Enhance and Adapt Management of Emergency. The team is creating models to predict short-term, mid-range and long-term demand using historic data in de-identified electronic medical records. The goal is to combine machine learning prediction, discrete event simulation (a method to test processes and interventions ideally prior to intervention) and optimization techniques to determine best possible operational changes in emergency department management.

Kang specializes in discrete simulation, which provides a layered analysis of non-linear relationships among factors such as patient flow, availability of resources and operational policies that influence where patients are placed and for how long. The process provides a more comprehensive understanding of the way the system performs.

“Discrete-event simulation is a powerful technique used to model and analyze dynamic behaviors of complex systems, such as emergency departments,” Kang said. “In an ED DES model, individual entities like patients are simulated, along with their interactions with various resources like physicians and nurses.”  

Kang says the EMR information leveraged by researchers to create predictive models includes chief complaints, acuity levels, whether a patient was discharged, and timestamps collected throughout the patient’s time in the emergency department. They’ll also use data about physical resources and providers, including nurses and technicians who deliver assessments or care in different pods within the emergency department.

Bond says it also offers a way of testing interventions and timing without having to do it in real life. 

“Instead, we may find that staffing an area with a more balanced team is the thing to do, staffing the team earlier in the day or later in the day. These types of things may make significant changes in our ability to care for patients.”

Running those scenarios will help identify high-reward interventions that can make the biggest impact with the fewest resources to increase efficiencies that can also help providers from feeling burnt out.

There have been studies that use forecasting and modeling approaches in the past, but Kang says their practical application and integration into real-world operations have been limited. The project should result in helping decision-makers understand feasible actions they can take to improve emergency department flow.

“Our research team aims to empower [emergency department] leaders with the necessary, data-informed tools to navigate the complexities of resource allocation, making a tangible difference in the daily functioning of the ED,” Kang said.

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.
 

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Faculty Focus: KCH Assistant Professor Emerson Sebastião

Oct. 23, 2023 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Emerson Sebastião is joining the faculty of the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health as an assistant professor. Sebastião spoke about teaching at his alma mater, his research influences and the college’s diversity initiatives.

Q: You’re from Brazil and did your undergraduate work there. How did you end up at Illinois for your Ph.D.?

A: My story might not be different than many others. But I’ll tell you what happened. During my master’s in Brazil, I had a very important mentor [Sebastião Gobbi]. He was my advisor and he completed his Ph.D. abroad in Canada. But when he got back to Brazil to start his lab he would stop by every single day and say, ‘I’m not going to advise anybody for the Ph.D. You better go away, preferably abroad.’ I loved that idea, and I always wanted to know different places. When I was doing my master’s, we started looking at potential places and potential advisors. And, obviously, we started with Canada, where [Gobbi] completed his doctoral studies. But we were unable to find anything there. And then he ended up going to a conference in Tsukuba, Japan, back in 2008 where he met Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko. And Wojtek was presenting something related to older adults, and he ended up talking to Wojtek. And when he got back, he said, ‘I believe I found the perfect advisor for your Ph.D., so you’re going to Illinois.’ That’s how I ended up at Illinois. Things ended up being facilitated because of [KCH Associate Professor] Dr. [Andiara] Schwingel, as well. That’s how I ended up in Illinois, a world-class university, well-known researchers. So I was more than happy to join the cold land of Illinois.

Q: You’ll be teaching at your alma mater. Does that lower your anxiety about a new job?

A: I’ll tell you that does not lower my anxiety. It helps a little bit … I know that I’m coming back to a world-class university and a world-class program and that sets the bar pretty high, right? So it’s a different deal when you are a student. You are being trained and learning, so we are somehow protected. But as a faculty member, you are going to be involved in everything. You’re going to take part in big decisions not only at the department level but college as well—to fulfill the mission of the college, the university, the department. But I feel well-prepared for that. I believe that my five, almost six years at Northern Illinois provided me with the skills and abilities that I need to navigate all the things that I’m going to have to be doing as a faculty member at UIUC. And I love that. I love new challenges. To be honest, coming back to teach at Illinois and work at Illinois as a faculty is a dream come true. I’m going to work with people that have been really moving and shaping the field of kinesiology for many years. So I’m really happy and excited for that. 

Q: What influenced you to study your research field?

A: In Brazil, it’s different than in the United States. For specific areas, like kinesiology and many others, you don’t really have a career outside academia to do research or even to really apply your knowledge as a researcher in the industry. So it’s either you go to a practical field, like professional, or you go to academia. I was having a lot of doubts until my sophomore year before I was invited to be part of Dr. Sebastião Gobbi’s lab. I studied physical activity and aging which was connected to an outreach program that was attending over 300 seniors in the university. So that really sparked my interest because we were conducting research and putting the knowledge we were creating in the lab into the community. So that where I fell in love and said, ‘OK, academia is the right place for me because I like to teach, but I also like to do research.’ And academia, at least at that time in Brazil, was the only environment that you could be doing that.

Q: Has having Pedro Hallal (director of the MPH program) created a pipeline for Brazilians to come to Illinois and AHS?

A: We hope so. That pipeline already exists in other departments. If you look at the economics department, by the time I was part of the doctoral program, I learned about this pipeline from Brazil, particularly, I believe, the Federal University of Pernambuco. And now I hope that’s going to be the same with kinesiology and Applied Health Sciences with Pedro. Pedro is a great scholar, a well-known researcher. He really is a scholar that we look at when it comes to physical activity and health. He led a very important study in Brazil regarding COVID, and he has a lot of connections, not only where he completed his studies in Pelotas, but throughout Brazil and across the globe to be honest. So I believe that he being there, now, is going to draw even more attention to Illinois, and not only for Brazilians that want to come and work but for students, as well. That’s very important. Brazil has a really good, strong scientific program … they send visiting scholars and students for a short period of time—say, one year—to work and learn new techniques and come back to Brazil and apply that there, to help training the future researchers in the field. So I believe, with Pedro being there, that will increase drastically. 

Q: You look at the factors that influence physical activity participation and the consequences of physical activity. What were your influences to study that?

A: Since I was seven years old, I have been involved in sports—competitive sports, leisure sports. I come from a poor family, and growing up we did not have access to color TV or video games, VHS to watch movies. So most of the way I had fun was outside, mostly playing soccer, running around, those old-school type of activities, and I think that shaped me. Before college, I was thinking about something related to computer science—people said it was among the professions of the future. I wasn’t happy, and I found myself in kinesiology. And then my mom—my mom was almost 63 years old when I got into college. She had little time for leisure activity because she had to work. But she was always walking to everything—for work, to go to places. I saw how, based on the amount of movement that she had in her life compared to people at the same age, how different she was, physically different—being able to walk, do things, never getting so easily tired. So by the time I got into college, and I met Dr. Sebastião Gobbi, who was studying physical activity and aging and coordinating the physical activity program for seniors, I started to be more curious about it. What are the benefits of physical activity for older adults? Are these people participating because it is free of charge and close to their home or because of the social element involved in it? [Does] the environment matter? So all of these questions and talking to people and other researchers involved in that aspect shaped my interest to pursue this career. 

Q: The college has been more intentional in recent years to address the lack of people of color in faculty roles. Did that influence you in coming back to Illinois?

A: I am aware of the efforts that the college and university have been doing to address this issue. For me it is very important, and I’m happy that the college is taking those concrete steps, drawing upon the Office of the Vice Chancellor on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Representation is important not only for students but also for faculty and staff. So, yes! That did influence my decision to coming back to Illinois. In Brazil, for example, throughout my education, I noticed that I was the only [person of color] in my class. And that was not different during college. Although I had excellent teachers, not a single one of them looked like me. So I started being more curious about it, and wonder, why is that? So definitely, this is something that I looked at when I applied to Illinois. I think this is very important, not only to provide an environment that people feel more comfortable but also for, as you said, a diverse student body to recognize that they can follow that path. Being intentional about faculty hiring will help create a more diverse next generation of leaders and researchers. Applying for jobs in academia, people normally look at the directory, at least I did. And if you see diversity, you immediately link that to place committed to the cause, so probably it is a good environment to work. Knowing all the college efforts, I am happy to join the department/college and help support the initiatives, and put my ideas to help move that agenda forward. 

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.
 

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Faculty Focus: KCH Assistant Professor Shelby Keye

Oct. 23, 2023 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Shelby Keye in spring 2024 will join the faculty of the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health as an assistant professor after completing her doctoral degree. Keye spoke about teaching at her alma mater, her research influences and the college’s diversity initiatives.

Photo by caption

Q: Is there pressure to return as faculty after just completing your Ph.D., without going to a different university first?

A: I would say so. Some of that pressure is internal. I just want to do as well as a faculty member as I did as a student. When I was doing my interview for the job, I wanted to make sure that the faculty was seeing me as more than just a student. I wanted them to be able to envision me as a collaborator and not just on the same level as the other students. There was an added level of pressure there because they’ve seen me in the last four years as a student. So I had to essentially convince them that I could go beyond that, and they could become my colleagues. 

Q: Do you have any concerns about how students will approach you, given you are so close in age?

A: Sure. Keeping things professional is always good. I do think that beyond my age, there’s another added level to it is being a woman, too. There’s extra barriers required to have students view a young woman as their superior as a professional—strategies to just make sure that I keep up with my own coursework, making sure I’m on top of my own stuff, so they respect me. If I’m falling behind, then they fall behind as well. Making sure that I’m staying on top of lessons, grading, staying on track. It’ll be a challenge, and I’ll learn. 

Q: What are your research influences?

A: Probably a series of fortunate and some unfortunate events. I grew up as an athlete. I did gymnastics for most of my life, did cheerleading later on in high school and college. So I appreciate the positive benefits of staying active. I’ve always loved working with children. My first job was as a preschool teacher. Ever since then, I’ve just really enjoyed working with children. In terms of the cognitive health piece, I didn’t know much about it until I started working with [mentor and KCH Associate Professor] Naiman [Khan]. I was interested in working with children. I had worked with children in low-income schools during my master’s. Because of that relationship between cognition and academics, I was drawn towards working with Naiman. The unfortunate piece in terms of life is that I have a family history of obesity, heart disease, cancer and dementia. That all stems from poor health behaviors, poor diet, low physical activity. Those are some motivating factors with studying what I study. 

Q: How did you get connected with Naiman? 

A: That was just a cold email to him. I was in my master’s [program]. I was finishing up. I knew I wanted to do a Ph.D. My dad actually told me to look at schools in Illinois. He did some work at U. of I. while he was in his grad program. He did not graduate from here. But he had done some work here over the summers with a collaborating lab. And he just said, ‘Take a look at Illinois. They have good programs. They have a long history of excellent research.’ I looked at the kinesiology department, and Naiman was really the only person doing the type of work that I was interested in. And I sent him an email. Good timing [since] he was looking for someone that could help with running a summer physical activity program, and I was the person that he chose. 

Q: The college has the most diverse student body on campus, but is lacking in diversity in terms of faculty. Was that part of your decision-making process?

A: That’s a good question. I thought about it a little bit, but I can’t say it was a big, driving factor. That was actually something that I thought about more as a student when I was applying for Ph.D. programs. Two things, actually: being a female and then being a part of a marginalized group of color. That played a role in terms of where I chose to go to school. Dr. Susan Aguiñaga, who’s in KCH, she’s a [Latina], and she and I had a conversation briefly about it. We recognized there’s still room to grow. But I think part of that starts with us. I do think that moving forward, it would help the department if women like Susie and I recruited students that were of similar groups and encouraged them to apply for graduate schools and enter academia, too. I understand that from a student’s perspective, it can be discouraging. But you kind of have to have some courage to enter this space so other people can see you in that space. I did think about it briefly. But I thought about it more as an opportunity and not necessarily as a negative thing. I just thought, ‘OK, well, if they need somebody to represent my group, I can do that.’ And I want to do that. And hopefully, I can bring other women of color with me as I go through my academic journey. 

Q: What made you want to teach?

A: I don’t know. I’ve always wanted to work with kids. I’ve always liked to lead and share and learn. I think that the academic setting is the best place to do that. I come from a long line of teachers. My grandparents were teachers. A lot of my aunts and uncles are teachers. My dad taught a little bit while he was at the Naval Academy. Maybe it’s just something that’s in me. I enjoy learning. I’ve always liked school, and I like to share what I learn. And doing research is the learning part. And then teaching is sharing what I have learned. 

Q: What’s the most important thing you’ve learned from Naiman, as a mentor?

A: Something that comes to mind is Naiman is very self-aware. What I mean by that is that he knows what he’s good at, and he knows what he’s not so great at. He really hones in on those strengths and stays away from the weaknesses. But I think that makes him a really good mentor because he knows what he can do for us, and he is very honest. That’s just a level of humility that he has that I think is really good as a mentor and as a researcher, especially in a university where we have to write grants all the time to get funding for research. Humility is necessary with that because you’re getting denied almost all the time. It’s a field filled with ‘nos.’ What I’ve learned is to try to maintain my humility, and really hone in on my strengths, and focus on those, and build those up, and accept that I have weaknesses, but not to dwell on those because I can build my research around what I’m good at.

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.
 

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KCH Abroad: Students travel to Italy, Greece

ITALY

In May 2023, 24 students traveled to Italy in a faculty-led Study Abroad program focused on the Italian public health system. Students attended tours and talks at prestigious Italian sites in Rome and Florence, and also enjoyed some amazing cultural activities, including Italian cooking and art classes, guided tours to the main historical attractions in Rome and a visit to a winery. Some of the places visited were the Catholic University, the Italian National Institute of Health and the Department of Planning and Organization of the National Health Service, a regulatory agency within the Italian Ministry of Health.

KCH faculty members Andi Schwingel and Aline Lamas led the group. The students also visited Agenas, the Department of Planning and Organization of the National Health Service, a regulatory agency within the Italian Ministry of Health, which deals with regulating pharmaceuticals, medical devices and other health products. They met with AREU (Azienda Regionale Emergenza Urgenza), which handled the Covid pandemic in the Lombardy region, to learn about their emergency preparedness operations and experiences with Covid-19.

In addition, students visited the Sapienza Università di Roma and University of Florence in Florence to learn about their public health training programs. There they met with officials, professors and students. Additionally, they visited the University Hospital Meyer Children Hospital in Florence to learn about the work of this hospital, which is an official member of the European Network of Health Promoting Hospitals of the World Health Organization. Additional site visits included Community of San Egidio, Caritas Roma, First Med, Institute of Neuroscience/Tuscany Stroke Network and Terme dei Papi in Viterbo. Students also enjoyed some cultural activities including Italian cooking classes, guided tours in historical Rome and the Colosseum, a visit to a winery and art class.

GREECE

In the summer of 2023, students—led by KCH faculty members Kristin DiFilippo and Beth Frasca—embarked on a two-week tour of Greece for IHLT 498: Interdisciplinary Health in Greece.

Students spent two weeks exploring health from an interdisciplinary perspective. Participants experienced campus life at Perrotis College, connected with academic staff, and interacted with Greek culture. Greece provided an opportunity for students to experience the Mediterranean lifestyle while learning about health from the perspective of the whole person.

Participants toured cultural, historic and religious sites in Thessaloniki and Athens, learned about the public and private health systems, and gained knowledge of Greek culture through shared meals, winery visits and Greek dancing lessons. Greek experts on the Mediterranean lifestyle, olive oil and the healthcare system interacted with students. Undergraduate students who are interested in learning about health while exploring Greece gained an appreciation for the role that various dimensions of health and culture play in quality of life. Students took part in cooking classes and learned to make several different Greek foods. They also did an olive oil tasting and learned about the Mediterranean diet. Students also climbed Mount Olympus and visited the Parthenon.

Geiger to assess effects of some chemicals on children’s sleep

May 22, 2023 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Multiple studies have shown that children who regularly get an adequate amount of sleep have better overall mental and physical health. Not getting enough sleep can lead to high blood pressure, obesity and depression. KCH Assistant Professor Sarah Geiger wants to help mitigate those sleep issues

Multiple studies have shown that children who regularly get an adequate amount of sleep have improved attention, behavior, learning, memory, and overall mental and physical health. Not getting enough sleep can lead to high blood pressure, obesity and depression. An Illinois researcher wants to help mitigate those sleep issues. 

Kinesiology and Community Health Assistant Professor Sarah Geiger is planning to assess how the exposure to certain chemicals while in the womb affects child sleep later in life and can lead to poorer health outcomes. Geiger’s study is funded by an R03 grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Institutes of Health component dedicated to environmental health research. In the grant application, Geiger writes that “the potential for prenatal exposures to endocrine disrupting chemicals to adversely impact children’s health is a growing public health issue.” As Geiger explains, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances are EDCs found in many common household items and found in our blood.

“They’re so pervasive in terms of products,” said Geiger, who investigates environmental pollutants and chronic disease risk factors, including sleep problems, among children. “Studies have shown them to be found in foods (and) they’re notorious for these non-stick surfaces, but that’s really just one of so many types of things they’re in. Plastic water bottles, plastic fast food containers. They’re even in biomedical devices and things like IV bags and makeup, all sorts of cosmetics, nail polish.”

Geiger said her study is looking at the pregnant moms’ concentrations of those chemicals in their blood, and then looking at outcomes in children.

“We’re measuring her levels as a proxy of what they’re being exposed to,” Geiger said. “The idea is that developmental exposure in the womb to those chemicals that their mother has been exposed to is somehow altering their development and manifesting later as sleep problems. What we’re really interested in is looking at the association between the two. Are moms with higher levels of these chemicals in their blood more likely to have children who have poorer sleep quality? And if so, then we can think about maybe what is the mechanism that is causing that to happen?”

Geiger added that the study is not only looking at how chemical exposure in the womb affects child sleep later on, but also how stress and depression and other factors during pregnancy can affect child’s sleep later on. The study is important, Geiger said, because sleep, or the lack of it, is a predictor for health. Lack of sleep for a child can lead them to be unfocused and unproductive. And a lack of sleep in childhood is predictive of sleep issues in adulthood, she said, adding that sleep problems in adulthood cost the U.S. billions of in health care.

Another reason this research is important is how long certain PFAS can stay in a person’s body.

“They are sometimes called forever chemicals; they have an extremely long half-life compared to other types of endocrine-disrupting chemicals,” Geiger said. “The half-life might be like five years. Let’s say you have a certain level of this one chemical in your blood, after five years, half of it would have been metabolized or excreted from your body. To give you a comparison, like BPA (bisphenol A), another common endocrine-disrupting chemical, the half life is more like five hours.”

As important as the research is, Geiger is realistic that studies like hers and others are not likely to force companies to limit their use of PFAS.

“These are extremely powerful market forces … I would like to think that all of the research combined on sleep and other things may apply some pressure, but—and I do think that the end goal is to try to remove or limit these types of chemicals if they are harmful—but that’s much easier said than done. It’s a pretty difficult task. 

“There’s this push and pull with just the way the U.S. approaches chemical exposures. We don’t have a very proactive or cautious approach to it. In fact, quite the opposite. And so people in the area that I work in, we’re constantly having to chase down these individual chemicals and show that this is not safe for kids, or for anybody. And then–maybe then it’ll be replaced with, as I said, typically another chemical, and you do the same thing.”

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.
 

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Message from HK Department Head Kim Graber

May 22, 2023 | Kim Graber

It’s my pleasure to share with you the spring 2023 issue of KCH E-News. As you will see, we’ve had an eventful semester and academic year. I am extremely proud to be the head of a department in which scholars are making so many significant contributions to health, physical activity, and disability studies.

Many faculty in KCH consistently receive grants to help fund their research. For example, with support from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (the National Institutes of Health component dedicated to environmental health research), assistant professor Sarah Geiger will investigate how exposure to certain chemicals in the womb affect how children sleep later in life. 

In other research developments in the department, Assistant Professor Dominika Pindus recently published a study which found that adolescent girls who engage in more moderate and vigorous physical activity each day have better attentional control. Associate Professor Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo’s recent research explored the mental health of Black and Latina women during the pandemic lockdown and found increases in depression and anxiety.

Assistant Professor Rachel Hoopsick’s research showed that methamphetamine’s mortality rate increased fiftyfold between 1999 and 2021, with most of the added deaths also involving heroin or fentanyl. All of these findings have significant implications for designing effective interventions that improve health.

In this issue, you also will meet two of the newest scholars to join KCH, Assistant Professors Matt Hanks and Josh Leonardis. Both apply biomechanics to the study of shoulder pain and pathologies in people who use manual wheelchairs. While Josh’s goal is to fully understand why some users experience pain while others do not in hopes of creating more specific and effective treatments, Matt’s research focuses on the role of physical activity in addressing the problem.

The Department of Kinesiology and Community Health is strong. Our faculty’s productivity and innovation in classrooms and laboratories ensure that our students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels are receiving a world class education that is research-based and on the cutting edge of knowledge. I am committed as head of this department to providing faculty, students, and staff with the resources they need not only to succeed but also to excel. I hope if you are ever on campus, you will stop by to say hello and see this commitment in action.

Kim Graber
Professor and Department Head

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New KCH faculty members study biomechanics of shoulder pain

April 03, 2024 | Anna Flanagan

According to an article published in 2020 in Clinical Rehabilitation, up to 71 percent of manual wheelchair users report that they have experienced shoulder pain at some point in their lives. There is no question that manual wheelchair propulsion puts stress on the upper extremities. But if the pain is related only to the repetitive motion of wheelchair propulsion or overuse, why don’t all manual wheelchair users experience shoulder pain? Why are adults who began using a wheelchair in adulthood more likely to experience pain than adults who began using a wheelchair in childhood, despite significantly fewer years of wheelchair use? Why do female wheelchair users experience shoulder pain at twice the rate and intensity of males? What are the most effective ways of treating shoulder pain? What role does physical activity play in reducing pain and pathology?

These are some of the questions two of the newest scholars in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health hope to answer through their research. Assistant Professors Matt Hanks and Josh Leonardis joined KCH last fall. Both had just completed post-doctoral research fellowships at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Technology. 

The Biomechanics of Shoulder Pain

As a doctoral student in kinesiology at the University of Michigan who focused on shoulder biomechanics and neuromuscular control, Leonardis had been investigating shoulder morbidities in breast cancer survivors. Treatments for breast cancer are highly invasive to the shoulder joint complex and upper extremity musculature. “There are a lot of downstream effects that are underappreciated because the focus is on beating breast cancer,” he said. “As breast cancer becomes an increasingly survivable disease, the focus needs to shift to what life is like after the fact.” A small percentage of biomechanics literature focuses on the shoulder, he added, because it’s difficult to study. 

When he began looking for a post-doctoral position, he wanted to study shoulder biomechanics in a new population in which pain and pathology were ongoing secondary problems. He chose to complete a post-doctoral fellowship in rehabilitation engineering in the Mobility Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where studies of wheelchair propulsion biomechanics and shoulder pain and pathology in pediatric and adult populations were underway.

“It felt as though I was given the opportunity to contribute toward improving the quality of life of a couple of different populations, and that was important to me.” Leonardis said.

He describes his general research interest as the adaptability of the neuromusculoskeletal system. One question he will pursue is whether the absence of shoulder pain in some wheelchair users with pediatric-onset disabilities and the presence of pain in others is related to adaptations to the neuromuscular and musculoskeletal systems that occur during the transition from childhood to adulthood, a period between the ages of 8 and 21 when bodies grow and change tremendously. He currently is investigating the possibility of sex-specific adaptations during this period that might contribute to females experiencing pain more frequently and more intensely than males. Similarly, he also believes adaptation might explain why pain is more common in people who begin using wheelchairs as adults when compared to adults who began using wheelchairs as children and adolescents.

The Role of Physical Activity

Matt Hanks, who completed his Ph.D. in Kinesiology at Auburn University, had been investigating the biomechanics of sports-related movement, primarily overhead throwing, in adapted and traditional sport athletes. Working as an athletic trainer with wheelchair athletes sparked his interest in understanding the shoulder biomechanics of manual wheelchair users during activities of daily living and in sport and their association with the development of shoulder pain and pathology. He pursued this during his post-doctoral experience in Milwaukee by investigating shoulder biomechanics during wheelchair propulsion and adapted sport among children and adults with spinal cord injuries. His particular focus is on the potential effects of physical activity to mitigate shoulder pain and pathology in manual wheelchair users by examining changes in shoulder musculoskeletal development and biomechanics as a result of engaging in physical activity during childhood and early adulthood.

“Manual wheelchair users, particularly children and young adults, are populations that are largely understudied in the physical activity realm,” he said. “Of the research that does exist, there is not a clear consensus on the benefits and drawbacks of physical activity. Is it helpful or hurtful? How much makes a difference? How much is too much? When should it begin? A lot of the broad questions remain to be answered.”

Hanks believes children and adults perceive physical activity differently, which can impact motivation and adherence to physical activity. Children are typically motivated by the opportunity to play, have fun, and interact with others socially. Adults often are more motivated by aesthetics and health. They want to look or feel better, or their doctor has encouraged them to be more active. Using a manual wheelchair can certainly make engaging in physical activity more complicated.

“Now you introduce the obstacles of accessibility, the need for adapted equipment and facilities, and adapted educators—people who understand you and are qualified to give you sound advice based on research,” Hanks said.

Both Hanks and Leonardis observe that the biomechanical study of manual wheelchair users is relatively young. As techniques and technology evolve, they said, the means for identifying factors that go into shoulder pain and pathologies as well as effective interventions get better and better. They will pursue answers to their various research questions individually and in collaboration. Hanks is the director of the Disability and Movement Biomechanics Laboratory. His team’s multimodal approach to investigating the role of physical activity on shoulder health in manual wheelchair users utilizes motion analysis and biomechanical modeling, diagnostic and quantitative imaging, and upper extremity strength testing. Leonardis directs the Musculoskeletal Morphology and Biomechanics Laboratory, where he and his team investigate the intimate relationship between musculoskeletal structure and function using traditional biomechanical technologies, computational evaluations of neuromuscular control, and quantitative musculoskeletal imaging techniques. They also co-direct the Movement Analysis Laboratory, a state-of-the-art space equipped for the biomechanical evaluation of various populations across the lifespan. 

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KCH professors get funding to help workers with disabilities transition out of subminimum wage jobs

Oct. 22, 2022 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

David Strauser and John Kosciulek received funding to help workers with disabilities transition out of subminimum wage jobs.

The idea of a subminimum wage—enacted in 1938 as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act—was originally intended to serve as a transition for the large number of soldiers with disabilities returning from war. However, that classification has become permanent for many workers with disabilities.

The U.S. Department of Education Rehabilitation Services Administration Disability Innovation Fund is seeking to improve access to better-paying jobs for individuals with disabilities, and a project from two Illinois faculty members was among those recently funded.

David Strauser and John Kosciulek, both professors in the Dept. of Kinesiology and Community Health within the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois, received funding for their project, “From Subminimum Wage to Competitive Integrated Employment for Illinoisans with Disabilities: An Innovative & Collaborative Project Partnership (SWTCIE Illinois).”

According to the Strauser and Kosciulek, SWTCIE Illinois will increase opportunities for Illinoisans with disabilities to transition from subminimum wage employment to competitive integrated employment (CIE) and redirect to CIE those individuals contemplating subminimum wage employment for the first time.

The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Education—Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) through the Illinois Division of Rehabilitation Services in the amount of $13,943,946 for five years from October 2022 to September 2027.

Competitive integrated employment ensures that workers are compensated at or above the minimum wage, and allows both workers with and without disabilities to receive the same benefits and wages for performing the same duties, as well as being given the same opportunities for advancement.

The KCH professors said their first step will be to work with the Illinois Division of Rehabilitation Service and 14(c) organizations in Illinois to develop a new vocational rehabilitation service model that enables individuals with disabilities to transition from sub-minimum wage jobs to CIE. A 14(c) organization is one that has obtained federal government authorization to pay subminimum wages to workers with disabilities that impair their productivity in the work they perform.

The project’s main goals are to expand opportunities for Illinoisans with disabilities to obtain high-quality CIE that leads to economic security and assist and encourage employers in Illinois to fully include individuals with disabilities in their workforce.

Meanwhile, 14(c) organizations will benefit from their involvement in SWTCIE Illinois because they will be provided resources, training, and special expertise to help the organization assist individuals with disabilities to transition from sub-minimum wage jobs to CIE.

About these grants, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said, “President Biden always says that a good-paying job is about more than a paycheck, it’s about dignity, and that’s why we can no longer accept a status quo in which so many individuals with disabilities are segregated from the workforce and relegated into poverty-wage jobs that offer no pathway to higher earnings. These grants will support innovative efforts underway across the country to provide educational opportunities to youth and adults with disabilities so they can secure better-paying jobs, build economic security, and lead more fulfilling, independent lives.”

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.
 

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