Students Engage in Research and Presentations 

Students Present Mobile Health Unit at Learn by Doing Conference

Cal Poly held its second Learn by Doing More than a Motto conference on Nov. 3 to showcase how students are engaged in Learn by Doing across campus. Kinesiology student and STRIDE volunteer Adriana Vasquez presented a poster at the conference about the Center’s new mobile health unit that will be offering health outreach to underserved populations. “It is exciting that students are actively getting involved outside the classroom,” Vasquez said. She and her peers showcased the unit’s programming, services and space.

Students Gain Insight into Research Opportunities through College Fellowship

This summer, 15 kinesiology students engaged in undergraduate research supported by the Frost Fund in the College of Science and Mathematics. Students received stipends for eight weeks of full-time research with faculty members. Kinesiology Frost Research Fellows investigated a wide range of topics from sexual assault interventions to effects of BPA on the endocrine system. At the end of the summer, students presented their findings and activities during a symposium attended by faculty and college administration.

Physical Activity Research

Kinesiology undergraduate students Leah Meuter, Mami Takeda, Julian Martinez and Ariana Aragon are studying physical activity and sedentary behavior assessments with professor Sarah Keadle. The students presented their research findings at the Southwest American College of Sports Medicine conference in Long Beach at the end of October. They presented results from two studies: a pilot study comparing accuracy of activity monitors, such as ActiGraph, and a focus group on perceptions and barriers to exercise among postpartum women participating in Women, Infants, and Children.

While at the conference, the Cal Poly team of kinesiology majors Mami Takeda, Sean Stanelle and Sarah Tasci won the conference jeopardy competition. The team will compete at the national American College of Sports Medicine meeting in Minneapolis in June 2018.

In addition to working on these projects, Keadle and her students launched a study looking at activity monitor tracking among cancer survivors.

Effects of BPA on Insulin and Glucose Levels

Students Sean Stanelle, Leana Moseian, Julie Ann Pollard and Garrett Grant worked with Professor Todd Hagobian to expand a prior study exploring whether the oral ingestion of bisphenol-A (BPA) impacts insulin and glucose levels. The initial group of test subjects consisted mostly of Cal Poly students. Now the research team wants to collect the same data for a more sedentary population. “Our future goal is to get a new sample population that is more at risk of diabetes and would be more relevant to the study,” said Mosesian. Allan Hancock student Eduardo Uribe also worked on the project as part of the Bridges to Baccalaureate program.

Weight Loss Interventions

Kinesiology Frost Research Fellows working with Professor Suzanne Phelan contributed to several projects focused on the health outcomes of lifestyle interventions for overweight and obese women before, during and after pregnancy. Adriana Vasquez helped to design protocols for STIRDE’s new mobile health van; Michelle Vasquez compared cultural approaches to pregnancy; and Aidan Lacey helped to design a new virtual reality intervention pilot. 

Phelan also worked with Allan Hancock College student Salvador Martinez through the Bridges to Baccalaureate program and high school student Abby Howe. These students helped input and analyze data from a recently completed infant health study.

Sexual Assault Interventions

With Professor Christine Hackman, kinesiology Frost Research Fellows Veronica Ladwig and Marina Katague completed the final stage of a sexual assault pilot intervention. The pilot used virtual reality to test whether specific messaging inspired students to intervene during sexual assaults.

Advanced art students created the virtual reality videos using scripts written by kinesiology students. Ladwig and Katague tested the quality and feasibility of the pilot by observing students watch and react to the pilots. Hackman will be expanding the study this year thanks to an internal grant.

Infant Feeding

Students Sierra Sheeper and Jordyn Levy helped conduct three infant feeding studies with Professor Alison Ventura. The team examined differences in feeding styles between mom and partner, distracted feeding, and interactions between mom and baby. The students recruited and screened participants and collected data. During the school year, students will analyze the data they collected and work on related studies.