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Accolades continue for Arnold School alumni, students
July 29, 2011
New alumnus on the job in Pittsburgh
With academic laurels still fresh on his resumé, Arnold School of Public Health graduate Dr. Chris Kline has transferred his research on sleep disorders from the University of South Carolina to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Supported by a postdoctoral fellowship, Kline will spend the next several years building on an academic record that includes the USC Graduate School's Outstanding Dissertation Award, which came with a $1,000 stipend. Kline also was the recipient of the Arnold School's 2011 Doctoral Achievement Award and the 2011 Doctoral Student Award from the Department of Exercise Science.
"Chris is clearly on a path to a very successful career," said Dr. Larry Durstine, exercise science department chair, and Dr. Shawn Youngstedt, an associate professor of exercise science, who nominated Kline for the Doctoral Achievement Award.
Kline's doctoral dissertation, "The Effect of Exercise Training on the Severity and Health Consequences of Obstructive Sleep Apnea," was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and was a pioneering study of the effects of exercise training on obstructive sleep apnea, Youngstedt said.
In his new academic post, Kline is a member of the University of Pittsburgh Sleep Medicine Institute, one of the top National Institutes of Health-funded sleep research programs in the country. Kline said his research efforts at Pitt will include the study of insomnia and the relationship between stress and sleep and their impact on health and functioning.
A native of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Kline earned his bachelor's degree in sports science at Malone College in Canton, Ohio, where Durstine also earned his undergraduate degree.
"Dr. Durstine and I had the same cross country coach at Malone, so I was exposed to USC early on," Kline said. "Dr. Durstine has recruited so many Malone College grads that there's even a joke about a 'Malone Pipeline.' "
With his new position at Pitt, Kline is enjoying his return to an area closer to his family.
"It was very tough leaving South Carolina because my family and I absolutely loved living in Columbia," said Kline, who moved with his wife Carrie to Columbia in 2003. The couple's children Gabrielle, 7, and Jonah, 4, were born in Columbia.
"At the same time, there's something to be said about being closer to family, since all our relatives live in northeastern Ohio," he said. "It has taken some time to get used to the change in climate, but we're excited about what Pittsburgh has to offer professionally and for the family."
Sleep apnea is highly prevalent and associated with many negative health consequences, such as heart disease, said Youngstedt, who has built a strong research program at the Arnold School on sleep disorders and their impact on health.
"It would be difficult to overstate how impressive this project was for a dissertation. Chris personally conducted many of the all-night sleep recordings, trained a team of students to help him, and supervised many of the exercise sessions," he said.
Kline was equally appreciative of the mentoring that he received from Youngstedt. "Very few individuals have the knowledge and expertise in both exercise science and sleep research that Dr. Youngstedt possesses, and I am very fortunate to have had him as a mentor and to have been exposed to this area of research."
HPEB doctoral student receives award
Jean Marie Place, a doctoral student in the Arnold School's Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, is the recipient of the Outstanding Abstract Award from the S.C. Institute of Medicine and Public Health, formerly known as the S.C. Public Health Institute. The award was presented at the S.C. Public Health Association meeting.
The title of her presentation was Postpartum Depression: Where do we go from here?
The Outstanding Abstract Award is given to the author with the highest scoring student abstract submitted to the Contributed Papers Committee of SCPHA's annual meeting.
Place first came to the University of South Carolina to pursue a master's degree in social work and public health after earning a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Utah State University. During her studies for the master's degree, Place developed her interest in mental health and its important link to physical health.
She is an intern with the Health Resources and Services Administration's Maternal and Child Epidemiology Program in Omaha, Neb. She is continuing her studies for her doctoral degree and is creating surveillance for prenatal depression in Douglass County, one of the largest counties in Nebraska. Place has received a graduate fellowship from USC's Walker Institute to conduct part of her dissertation research in Mexico.
In her presentation, Place discussed postpartum issues among the Latina population.
"My experience going through the PhD. program has been inspiring," said Place, reflecting on her work. "My adviser has been inspiring and it is good to get recognition for my work."
