Special studies
Kinesiology professors research topics such as eating disorders
By Sarah Cox
Skiff Staff

While some students are hitting the books and studying for tests, their professors are working on their own variety of projects. Many students are unaware of the current research conducted by professors in the kinesiology department.

Deborah Rhea, an associate kinesiology professor, researches eating disorders and muscle dysmorphia, a disorder in which a person feels they are physically underdeveloped.

“Eating disorders is a topic that many students are interested in,” she said. “Students at TCU face this issue on a regular basis.”

Rhea targets the ethnic differences in people with eating disorders. She said she hopes to explain why certain ethnic populations report increased tendencies for eating disorders.

Darryn Willoughby, an associate kinesiology professor, said his research helps students to better understand the significant role that exercise plays in preventing life-altering diseases such as cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes. By showing how various genes respond to exercise, Willoughby said he hopes to prove that exercise helps regulate physiological functions and decrease a person’s risk of disease.

Kinesiology associate professor Carol Pope focuses on the physical deterioration associated with Alzheimer’s disease and its growing relevance for students.

“Hopefully the knowledge gained through studies such as these may impact the ability to develop and provide programs” that can make a difference, she said. By looking at the effect of exercising on delaying the stages of Alzheimer’s disease, Pope said she hopes to increase the comfort level and life span of those afflicted with the disease.

Professors within the department focus their classes and research around specific topics of human movement that have personal significance in their own lives. Willoughby said he got involved in kinesiology, and specifically skeletal muscle growth, through activities in sports, exercise and fitness.

Kinesiology assistant professor Matt Johnson became interested while playing three sports in high school and football in college for Notre Dame.

“I was always fascinated by the power of the mind in performing and interested in how we could diminish performance anxiety,” Johnson said.

Johnson’s research focuses on the lives of coaches and athletes and the quality of an active lifestyle. He is in the process of interviewing sports participants and evaluating the experience of phenomenon such as performance anxiety and confidence.

Each professor employs different techniques and methods to gather information and data for their studies. Using intricate methods such as the use of digital video cameras with high-speed shutters to simple questionnaires and physical tests, the professors in the kinesiology department gather information necessary to build on their studies.

Rhea stretches her research findings into more than just the medical field.

“The goal of all my research is to build on what I find previously and blend new information with what I teach and address the community,” she said.

The research conducted is used in different ways to benefit more than just those on the campus. Johnson said his research is used to educate other researchers in the sports psychology field, the coaches and athletes it affects. Pope said her research is part of a larger experimental study to determine the affect of exercise levels in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Clinical and non-clinical publications have used Willoughby’s research to help others “better understand how people’s muscles adapt to exercise,” he said.

Assistant professor Meena Shah is currently researching the treatment of metabolic complications related to a specific treatment therapy in HIV patients. Shah hopes to increase longevity in HIV patients who take this specific type of therapy.

Motor control, motor coordination and motor learning are the areas of kinesiology professor Dan Southard’s research within the department. He is currently collecting data on a long-term project that will continue through the spring.

Sarah Cox