Meet the WV Games for Health Staff
Dr. Linda Carson, Ed.D.
Dr. Carson is the Ware Distinguished Professor at West Virginia University and the Director of the WV Motor Development Center. Professor Carson has many years of teaching experience and expertise in childhood motor development. Dr. Carson has developed physical activity programs for infants, babies, toddlers, pre-school, and elementary school age children in both land-based and water-based learning environments, earning recognition for involving family members as play partners. Dr. Carson is recognized for designing innovative children?s programs with a focus on healthy living and active learning. Dr Carson is the lead trainer for an obesity prevention initiative being introduced nationally by the Office of Head Start. The Head Start project gained national recognition recently as the recipient of the 2006 ACF Honor Award for Excellence in Partnering from DHHS.
Currently, Carson is spearheading research into the health benefits of playing the popular game Dance Dance Revolution with colleague Emily Murphy from the WVU Department of Pediatrics. The study, funded by the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency, is examining if children who play DDR are healthier and if they continue to play the game when no longer monitored. The study has attracted national press ? from Associated Press articles that have appeared in newspapers across the country, including the New York Times, to a segment on ABC?s ?Good Morning America.?
Dr. Emily Murphy, Ph.D.
Emily Murphy is a Research Instructor at West Virginia University in the School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics. By-trade she is a Pediatric Exercise Physiologist, with her research interest in childhood obesity. She helps coordinate several aspects of the Coronary Artery Risk Detection in Appalachian Communities (CARDIAC Project), a statewide cardiovascular risk screening project in West Virginia. She is currently the Co-Director of the West Virginia Games for Health Project with Dr Linda Carson. The WV Games for Health Project was initiated as a pilot study, that?s purpose was to look at the effects of an aerobic exercise intervention, using Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), on the cardiovascular risk profiles of at-risk and overweight children throughout the state. She completed her PhD in Exercise Physiology at West Virginia University in the Department of Human Performance in December of 2007, and the pilot phase of the WV Games for Health Project was her dissertation work. The WV Games for Health Project has now expanded into a state-wide school intervention, which is providing DDR equipment and tracking its impact on all public schools in the state. The study has attracted national press ? from Associated Press articles that have appeared in newspapers across the country, including the New York Times, to a segment on CNN?s ?Headline News.?
Justine Vosloo, M.S.
Justine Vosloo is currently a 4th year doctoral student in Sport and Exercise Psychology at West Virginia University and is also working on completing a Masters in Community Counseling. Originally hailing from Johannesburg, South Africa, Justine obtained a B.S. in Kinesiology, Exercise Science at Southeastern Louisiana University and played NCAA Division I college tennis. She also holds a M.S. degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology. Her research interests include motivation, increasing physical activity and adherence especially in children and youths, anxiety, self-confidence, group cohesion, performance enhancement, and coach development. Justine started playing Dance Dance Revolution in the summer of 2005 and has been addicted to it since. During her graduate work, she joined the Games for Health project during its clinical home-based phase and has continued to work on the school-based project. She also has extensive experience leading the workshop and training sessions for Physical Education teachers on the use of Dance Dance Revolution and its use in the PE classroom. She thoroughly enjoys challenging her co-workers and anyone else she can find to a DDR dance off!
