October 2025

• New publication "Measurement Properties of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors in Heart Failure: A Systematic Review" in the Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science journal. Congratulations Jonathan and team!

September 2025

• New publication "Leisure-Time Physical Activity Mediates the Association Between Subjective Social Status and Health-Related Quality of Life in Middle-Aged and Older Women" in the Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences. Well done team!

August 2025

• We are thrilled to welcome a new member to our lab - Eunsoo Park, a new Ph.D. student! Eunsoo earned her M.S. in Sports Science from Sungkyunkwan University, where she conducted her thesis under the guidance of Dr. Pyun titled “Are Korean Fans Loss Averse? Evidence from YouTube Esports Highlight Comments.” We are excited to have Eunsoo join us on this new journey and look forward to seeing her growth and contributions throughout her Ph.D. studies!

• We are happy to welcome back our returning undergraduate intern, Oscar! Oscar will be completing HPEX 395 this Fall (2025), assisting with the Healthy Aging Study. It is great to have you with us again, Oscar!!

July 2025

• Jisu published a manuscript entitled "The Validity of the V̇O2 Master Pro for Measuring Oxygen Consumption During Sedentary Activity and Treadmill Walking and Jogging" in the Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism journal, in collaboration with Dr. Lee's team in Kyunhee University, South Korea. Congratulations team!

June 2025

• Congratulations to Jisu on another manuscript accepted for publication in Geriatrics & Gerontology International. The paper, titled "Are Circadian Rest-Activity Rhythms Sex-Specific Markers of Frailty Risk in Older Adults?: A Narrative Review", provides an up-to-date review of the literature on the potential role of circadian rest-activity rhythms and mechanistic hypotheses explaining frailty risk among older adults. Congratulations!

May 2025

• The PAHP team (Dr. Kim, Jisu, and Jess) participated in the 2025 American College of Sports Medicine Conference in Atlanta, GA, presenting three posters. Well done, team!

• Congratulations to Jonathan, a 5th-year doctoral student, and Jisu, a 3rd-year doctoral student, for receiving departmental awards for Excellence in Research Presentation (Jonathan) and Excellence in Published Research Paper (Jisu)! Both were recognized at the CHS Award Ceremony. Way to go!

• Our undergraduate student interns, Seban and Brianna, have been awarded UROP Summer Fellowships. Under the mentorship of Dr. Kim and PHAP doctoral students, they will be conducting year-long research projects on the following topics: longevity and physical activity considering genetic susceptibility (Seban), and healthy lifestyle behaviors and academic success among college students (Brianna). Congratulations, Seban and Brianna!

• Dr. Kim has been awarded research funding through the First-Generation and AAPI Student Success Grant from the You First at VCU First-Generation Student Success and Research Center. A doctoral student, Jess, will serve as the lead investigator, examining barriers to academic success among first-generation college students, with a focus on the role of healthy lifestyle behaviors. Congratulations to the team!

April 2025

• Our doctoral students, Jisu and Jess, successfully presented their research posters at the 2025 KHS Research Day and the 2025 VCU Graduate Symposium. Congratulations to both!

• Our 3rd year doctoral student, Jisu Kim, has successfully defended her oral dissertation proposal! Her study will examine rest-activity circadian rhythms in relation to physical frailty among community-dwelling older adults, while exploring the role of social determinants of health in explaining this complex association. Congratulations Jisu!!

Jan 2025

• We are excited to welcome new and returning undergraduate student interns for Spring 2025: Joshua, Matt, Oscar, Brianna, and Seban!

• A manuscript is accepted for a publication in PloS ONE journal. Congratulations Jisu! "Validity of the ActiGraph-GT9X accelerometer for measuring steps and energy expenditures in heart failure patients"

Dec 2024

• Congratulations to our undergraduate student interns, Isabella and Nick, on their graduation! We wish you continued success in all your future endeavors!

Nov 2024

• Congratulations to Jisu, our doctoral student, on publishing a manuscript entitled “Sex Differences in the Association Between 24-hour Rest-Activity Rhythms and Frailty Among U.S. Older Adults: Findings from NHANES 2011–2014” in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences!

Oct 2024

A manuscript led by our lab, titled "Disrupted Rest-Activity Circadian Rhythms Are Associated with All-Cause Mortality in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease" has been accepted for publication in Chronobiology International. This work is the result of our ongoing collaboration with Dr. Kirkman in the KHS department. Congratulations to the team!

Sep 2024

• We are excited to welcome new and returning undergraduate student interns for Fall 2024: Nick, Isabella, Josh, and Ndia!

• We also warmly welcome a new doctoral student, Jessica Geller. Jess graduated from the University of North Florida, where she completed her thesis project titled, "Examining Potential Causal Associations of Sedentary Time and Physical Activity with Heart Failure Using Subjective and Objective Measures: A Mendelian Randomization Analysis." 

July 2024

• Dr. Kim is a co-investigator of the research project recently funded by the VCU QUEST Fund ($50k), entitled "Tracking the Trajectory of Physical Recovery: A Study Examining Physical Impairment in Survivors of Critical Illness" (PI: Dr. Proffitt in the VCU School of Nursing. Dr. Kim and the PAHP tem will provide expertise in assessing objectively measured physical activity using an accelerometer during the course of the project. Congratulations Team!

• A manuscript from our lab, titled 'Comparison of Subjectively and Objectively Measured Sleep-Wake Patterns Among Patients with Primary Brain Tumors' has been published in the Neuro-Oncology Practice journal in collaboration with Dr. Loughan's team from the VCU School of Medicine.

• Our 4th-year doctoral student, Jonathan Kenyon, is a co-first author of a manuscript recently published in Respirology journal, titled "COPD is Associated with Increased Cardiovascular Disease Risk Independent of Phenotype". This work was conducted in collaboration with the team at the VIP laboratory at VCU. Dr. Kim is a co-corresponding author of the manuscript with Dr. Rodriguez-Miguelez in the KHS department.

May 2024

• The PAHP team (Jisu on behalf of the team) participated in the 2024 ACSM Conference in Boston and delivered three poster presentations during the event. Well done, team!

• Congratulations to our undergraduate and graduate student interns on their graduation! Shafia has been accepted into the Joint Degree program for Physician Assistant and Master of Public Health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. James will begin his Master of Public Health degree at the VCU School of Public Health in Fall 2024. Congratulations to both of them!

April 2024

• Undergraduate student interns Shafia, James, and Nick presented their research projects at the 2nd KHS Research Day as well as the VCU Undergraduate Research Symposium. Well done, team!

March 2024

• Our 2nd year doctoral student, Jisu Kim, has been awarded an American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Foundation doctoral student research grant for her study "Association between rest-activity rhythm and frailty in the elderly: Exploring the role of social determinants of health.". Jisu will examine the rest-activity circadian rhythm as a potential predictor of a critical aging-related health problem, frailty, while exploring the role of social determinant factors throughout the ongoing research project, Healthy Aging Study, under mentorship of Drs. Kim and Kirkman in the KHS department. Congratulations Jisu!!

• Our 4th-year doctoral student, Jonathan Kenyon, has successfully defended a dissertation proposal entitled "Compositional Data Analysis of 24-hour Movement Behaviors in Adults with Heart Failure." Jonathan's project will leverage the world's largest biomedical data, the UK Biobank, to elucidate the important connections between 24-hour movement behaviors and clinical/fitness outcomes among heart failure patients. Congratulations, Jonathan!

January 2024

• We welcome Nick Griepentrog, a new undergraduate student, who is joining us as a student intern for Spring 2024. Shafia, James, Justin, and Ridge will continue working with us.

October 2023

• Dr. Kim is a co-investigator of the research project recently funded by the Department of Defense ($1.5M), studying the efficacy of non-pharmacological treatments for insomnia among patients with brain cancer. Dr. Kim and the PAHP team will provide expertise in assessing objectively measured sleep health using an accelerometer during the course of the project. 

August 2023

• We welcome four undergraduate students (James, Justin, Helen) and one graduate student (Ridge) who have joined us as student interns for Fall 2023. Shafia will continue to work with us on her research project. Additionally, we welcome a new member, Zainlab, who recently graduated with a B.S. in Kinesiology and Health Sciences from the College of William and Mary. She will be a volunteer research intern for Fall 2023. Welcome, everyone!

June 2023

• Dr. Kim is appointed to serve as a 3-year term Section Editor in the Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science (MPEES) journal.

• Dr. Kim's and graduate student's offices are moved to the 6th floor of the new STEM building. The PAHP research lab will remain in the 500AC building.

May 2023

• Leena Kethu, an HPEX undergraduate student, has joined the lab for a summer internship. Leena will be assisting with data collection for an ongoing research project involving patients with heart failure. We warmly welcome Leena to the team!  

• VCU PAHP team successfully presented the research at 2023 ACSM conference in Denver, CO. 

April 2023

• Jonathan, Jisu, and Arby made an excellent research presentation at the KHS Student's Research Day!

• Arby made a poster presentation in the VCU Undergraduate Research Symposium. Well done Arby!

• Shafia Khan, HPEX undergraduate student in Health Science, received the VCU First Generation Emerging Scholars Fellowship! Shafia will work with Dr. Kim for a research project entitled "Examining Health Risk Behaviors Among Adolescents from Immigrant Families: Exploring the Moderating Role of Socio-Demographic Characteristics".

• Dr. Kim is appointed to the Research Review Committee in the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). Dr. Kim will begin his service from 6/1/2023 and continues through 5/31/2026.

March 2023

• Three abstracts are accepted for a poster presentation at the 2023 ACSM Annual Meeting in Denver, CO. 

  • Jonathan - Cardiorespiratory Fitness And The Reallocation Of Time Between Daily Movement Behaviors In Heart Failure

  • Jisu - Validity Of The Actigraph GT9X Accelerometer For Measuring Step-counts And Energy Expenditure In Patients With Heart Failure

  • Dr. Kim - Comparison Of Subjectively And Objectively Measured Sleep-Wake Patterns Among Patients With Primary Brain Cancer

January 2023

• Arbi, Tasnim, and Zeleiyah will continue the undergraduate student internship with us! 

September 2022

• Four undergraduate student interns joined the lab this semester. Welcome Arbi, Tasnim, Zeleiyah, and Venus!

August 2022

• Nathan successfully completed undergraduate internship with us during the Summer. Well done Nathan!

• Two new doctoral students joined the lab. Welcome Jisu and Rossie!!

July 2022

• Dr. Kim is tenured and promoted to an Associate Professor.

May 2022

• Dr. Kim and Jonathan attended the 2022 ACSM Annual Convention, San Diego, CA. Jonathan made an excellent presentation during a thematic poster session (Project title: "Prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and risk factors among breast cancer survivors: Findings from NHANES"). Well done Jonathan!

April 2022

• Undergraduate intern, Arbi Azabi, is awarded with the 2022 the VCU Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship Summer Fellowship. Arbi will conduct a research project entitled "Social and Neighborhood Characteristics Correlated to Active Living Among Older Adults: Focusing on Rural-Urban Differences" throughout the systematic review of the literature and secondary data analysis. Well done Arbi!

March 2022

• Doctoral student, Jonathan Kenyon, is awarded with the 2022 ACSM Foundation Doctoral Research Grant for his research proposal entitled "Sedentary Behavior, Physical Activity, Sleep, and Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Heart Failure: 24-h Movement Behaviors". Great Job Jonathan!!

January 2022

• Maddy Theal,  a senior HPEX major, has joined the group as an undergraduate intern. Welcome Maddy!

November 2021

• We are currently seeking a motivated Doctoral Student starting from Fall 2022. More details of this opportunity is available from here.

October 2021

• Dr. Kim received the CCTR Endowment grant from the Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research at VCU for a project entitled "Development and evaluation of a theory-driven, wearable-technology facilitated intervention to promote adherence to home-based cardiac rehabilitation among underserved patients with heart failure: A pilot study." (link).

• A doctoral student, Jonathan Kenyon, made a research presentation entitled "Physical activity, sedentary time and cardiorespiratory fitness in patients with heart failure: Isotemporal substitution analysis" (link) in the 8th International Society for Physical Activity and Public Health. 

August 2021

• Undergraduate student, Pradhumna Poudyal, joined the group as an undergraduate intern. Welcome Prad!

April 2021

• Dr. Kim presented a research poster entitled "Subjective social status and health-related quality of life among middle-aged and older women: Role of leisure-time physical activity" (link) in the 2021 SHAPE-America Virtual National Convention.

• Undergraduate students, Chelsea and Nikita, presented research posters in the VCU Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Chelsea - "Systematic review of screen time media usage among the older adult population" (link)

Nikita - "Systematic review of social capital on physical activity levels in older adults" (link)

• A doctoral student, Jonathan Kenyon, presented a research poster entitled "Validity of the ActiGraph GT9X accelerometer step-count function in adults with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction" in the VCU Graduate Research Symposium.

August 2020

• Mr. Jonathan Kenyon joined the lab as a Ph.D. student supported by departmental teaching assistantship. 

September 2019

• Dr. Kim joined the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at VCU. He previously served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Sports Management at Texas Tech University since 2014.