The Technology Center to Promote Healthy Lifestyles (TecHealth) is a South Carolina SmartState Center focused on research to develop and evaluate health promotion programs which encourage healthy lifestyles and reduce risk of disease by incorporating technology.
New and emerging technologies hold great promise for creating novel intervention approaches, as well as enhancing existing interventions with the addition of technological elements. Technology affords the ability to expand geographic reach of evidence-based interventions and to access underserved populations with programs which promote healthier lifestyles. The TecHealth research portfolio includes projects that address these domains, as well as efforts to explore how technology can be used to improve the assessment of lifestyle behaviors. TecHealth is also focused on training of the next generation of scholars who seek to promote healthy lifestyles through the use of technology.
Katherine DeVivo is a graduate student in TecHealth, working with Dr. Christine Pellegrini. She graduated in May 2020 with a Masters in Public Health in Physical Activity and Public Health and received the Outstanding MPH Student Achievement Award. Katherine will be continuing her studies in the Exercise Science Doctoral Program in Fall 2020. Congratulations Katherine!!
TecHealth Assistant Director Brie Turner-McGrievy (HPEB) and Assistant Professor Christine Pellegrini (EXSC) both received awards from the UofSC Office of Research to conduct studies related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Turner-McGrievy will build on her current dietary lifestyle intervention project “Nutritious Eating with Soul” to assess participant satisfaction with the transition of in-person interventions to e-learning environments and examine the psychosocial, physical, and behavioral health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on study participants. Dr. Pellegrini will conduct interviews with 30 overweight or obese individuals to explore current changes in stress and diet and activity behaviors. Understanding how individuals are coping during the COVID-19 pandemic will help to better inform and tailor future adaptive weight management programs and public health recommendations, not only in the event of a future pandemic but also for everyday stressful life events. Congratulations Brie and Christine!
Courtnee, an Exercise Science major who plans to graduate in May 2020, received three UofSC awards in Spring 2020 – Outstanding Exercise Science Student Award, UofSC Outstanding Senior, and President’s Award. She has been working closely with Dr. Christine Pellegrini in TecHealth to conduct research on using technology to modify sedentary behavior. Courtnee received funding for a Magellan Project entitled “Effects of NEAT!2 Sedentary Behavior Reduction Intervention on Changes in the Percent of Weight and Waist Circumference in Individuals with Past or Present Knee Symptoms, Injuries, or Surgeries” which she is finishing up. Way to go with the awards, Courtnee!!
TecHealth assistant professor Christine Pellegrini has been awarded a $600K R21 grant from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases to examine an mHealth intervention to reduce sedentary behavior in individuals with knee replacements.
Jason Yang initially pursued a career in teaching at the K-12 level. With bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education (concentration in psychology and counseling), he taught elementary school-aged children for six years in his native Taiwan. It was during a stint as a physical education teacher that the obesity epidemic really began to concern him.