LSU Kinesiology

The LSU School of Kinesiology is proud to launch the Louisiana Nature & Health Alliance, led by Jessica Stroope, PhD and Colin Wierts, PhD.

The inaugural summit brought together professionals from across Louisiana to explore how access to and interaction with natural environments can enhance physical, mental, and community well-being.

Read more: https://www.lsu.edu/chse/news/2026/nature-and-health-summit.php

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Excellent work being done by our own Efthymios "Makis" Papadopoulos PhD, Assistant Professor in the School of Kinesiology.

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Louisiana’s rate of head and neck cancer exceeds the national average. Surgery carries risk of complications, longer hospital stays and higher costs. Improving risk assessment before surgery could enhance care and surgical outcomes. Efthymios "Makis" Papadopoulos, PhD, LSU Kinesiology, in collaboration with Dr. Sagar Kansara, LSU Health New Orleans and Our Lady of the Lake Hospital, will use his LCRC New Investigator Award to research whether radiographic skeletal muscle measures can predict short- and long-term outcomes and explore links between muscle characteristics and social vulnerability.

Commencement is today! Be sure to follow through our livestream: https://www.youtube.com/live/cZodOTIfQmY?si=iN-ztFJtEaFE6b7w

Adventure, friendship and fun await at the CHSE ChangeMakers Camp! All rising 6th and 7th graders are welcome to apply to be a part of this free opportunity that combines summer fun and research! 🐅🏃🧠

🔗 Learn more and apply: https://www.lsu.edu/chse/news/2026/changemakers-camp.php

LSU Kinesiology

Congratulations to Assistant Professor, Dr. Jaclyn Hadfield, on receiving the American Short-Term Research Publication Grant from the American Association of University Women (AAUW)!

Her work advances research on gender health equity, focusing on cross-cultural examination of women’s relationship with exercise, body image beliefs and sociocultural factors, comparing populations in the United States and Italy.

Read more: https://www.lsu.edu/chse/news/2026/jaclyn-hadfield-receives-american-association-women-research-grant.php

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Congratulations to LSU Sport Management doctoral student Joelle Ferguson on earning first place in the Graduate Student Research Competition at the 2026 Applied Sport Management Association (ASMA) Conference!

Her award-winning research reflects the innovation and impact of LSU scholarship, while highlighting important work in sport for development.

We also congratulate faculty mentor Dr. Per Svensson on this outstanding achievement. Geaux Tigers!

Read more: https://www.lsu.edu/chse/news/2026/ferguson-asma.php

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LSU Kinesiology represented BIG at LSU Discover Day 2026!

Join us in celebrating our incredible undergraduate researchers who brought energy, passion, and innovation to their presentations. Their hard work and dedication were on full display, and we couldn’t be more proud of how they represented the School of Kinesiology!

A huge shoutout to our CHSE Monetary Award winners:

🥇 1st Place: Iker Zuniga – Human Movement Science – “The Impact of Confidence: A Study on Self Confidence in Learning Chemistry and Study Habits”

🥈 2nd Place: J’Meeyah White – Physical Activity and Health – “Understanding Deeper Learning Competencies in General Chemistry Through Qualitative Analysis”

🥉 3rd Place: Irene Kaiser & Graham Mizell – Human Movement Science – “Femoral Popliteal Bypass using Prosthetic Graft in a Human Anatomical Donor”

Congratulations to all of our undergraduate researchers! 💜💛

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The graduating student survey is now open! Spring graduates have until May 31 to log in to Handshake and complete the survey. This survey helps us measure success in preparing students for life after graduation. 🐅🎓🎉

🔗CHSE graduates can complete the survey at https://bit.ly/lsu-chse-26

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The LSU Kinesiology Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) Division is excited to be represented at the 2026 Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting last week in Chicago! 🎉

We are proud to have our faculty and students at the forefront of behavioral medicine research, representing LSU Kinesiology on a national stage.

Here's a glimpse of what our team has been up to:

📌 Dr. Senlin Chen and his PK Lab (Yuxin Nie & Pengfei Yang) showcased findings from the ProudMe study: A school-based obesity prevention program in under-resourced communities

📌 Dr. Colin Wierts gave an oral presentation on the effects of a 10-week, home-based, commercially available virtual reality exercise intervention on mental health outcomes in community-based adults.

📌 Dr. Shiyu Li moderated a panel discussion on industry-academia collaboration and presented her work on remote pain self-management interventions in older women

We also extend our heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Robert L. Newton at LSU's Pennington Biomedical Research Center on being elected as the next President of the Society of Behavioral Medicine - a well-deserved honor and a proud moment for Louisiana!

Learn more about the LSU Kinesiology Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) division at https://www.lsu.edu/chse/kinesiology/research/index.php and https://www.lsu.edu/chse/kinesiology/academics/graduate/phd-kinesiology-social-and-behavioral-sciences.php

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