Department of Health and Human Performance

3855 Holman Street, Rm. 112

University of Houston

Houston, TX 77204-6015

http://hhp.uh.edu/

 

The Department of Health and Human Performance at the University of Houston is seeking up to 5 MS/PhD students in Kinesiology to work on an NIH funded grant investigating genetic factors in physical activity and obesity. This is a five year multi-disciplinary grant funded through NIDDK. The Department of Health and Human Performance is responsible for administering the physical activity portion of the grant.

 

General Information:

Opportunities exist for graduate students to complete degree requirements and Master's level thesis or Ph.D. level dissertations. Additionally, this project will be coordinated through various organizations, including: The Department of Human Genetics at the University of Texas Health Science Center and the Health Promotion and Prevention Research Center (HPPRC) at the University of Texas, School of Public Health and the Body Composition Laboratory within the Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine.

 

Study related information:

There are several objectives to this project centering on how genes related to fat formation and metabolism may influence levels of body fatness, blood pressure and blood components at baseline and following a 30-week exercise intervention.

 

The study will include a multi-racial cohort of more than 1,500 men and women 18-30 years of age. The target subject is a sedentary individual that has exercised for less than 30 minutes per week for the previous six months and not actively limiting caloric intake. The 30 week exercise intervention program will be administered through a classroom environment that will meet three days per week for 15 weeks and then one time per week for the remaining 15 weeks. Testing conducted at the University of Houston includes body composition assessment via DEXA, web-based instruction and technology related to the tracking of physical activity and all intervention and instruction related to physical activity. Responsibilities of graduate assistants will include overseeing the 30 week exercise intervention course; including, structure and function of the courses, physiological testing and other tasks associated with the project.

 

Contact Information:

Individuals interested in applying for a research assistant position should send a letter of intent and current CV to Dr. Andrew (Tony) Jackson at the University of Houston (email: ajackson@...). Information regarding formal application procedures can be obtained at the departmental website listed above (transcripts, GRE, etc...); however, applicants will also be contacted and will be provided with subsequent steps regarding the application process.