Research Assistant Professor
Kristi Kelley, M.Ed., runs 7+ miles per day and lifts weights 3 days per week, in addition to walking and biking. At the end of her day, she has logged more than 20,000 steps. Kelley, a native of Chattanooga, Tenn., has a personal commitment to physical fitness and is committed to a healthy lifestyle. She has always had an interest in recreational activities, and she turned that interest into a career.
Kelley most recently served as a Research Instructor in the Department of Biostatistics at West Virginia University, where she was the primary Research Technician in the Meta-Analytic Research Lab, examining the effects of exercise and physical activity on various health outcomes. Kelley’s most recent research projects focused on the effects of exercise in children and adolescents with overweight and obesity as well as adults living with arthritis.
Through a grant from the American Heart Association, Kelley examined both the effects and hierarchy of exercises (aerobic, strength training, both) for improving body mass index (BMI), fat mass, and percent body fat in children and adolescents aged 2-18 years with overweight and obesity. Joined on the project by Principal Investigator George Kelley, D.A., also a Professor in the WVU Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and consultant Russell Pate, Ph.D., Professor and Director of the Children’s Physical Activity Research Group at the University of South Carolina, the research team’s meta-analysis of randomized trials over a 45-year period found significant and clinically important improvements in body mass index (BMI), fat mass, and percent body fat among participants engaging in exercise. By addressing this major public health problem among children and adolescents, additional health concerns can be avoided later in life, including poor mental health, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and overall low quality of life.
Another contributor to poor mental health, Kelley recently conducted a study on the effects of exercise on anxiety in adults withcarthritis, a major mental health problem in this population. Kelley’s meta-analysis, funded by an R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), examined studies over the past 30 years related to the overall effects of community-deliverable exercise on anxiety in adults with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia. The research group, which also included Principal Investigator George Kelley and Co-Investigator Leigh Callahan, PhD, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Director of the National Osteoarthritis Alliance, found that exercise was associated with significant and clinically important reductions in anxiety in adults with arthritis and other rheumatic diseases. Most notably, it was estimated that 5.3 million inactive U.S. adults with arthritis could improve their anxiety if they started exercising regularly. More recently, the research group completed a state-level study in which it was estimated that 39,640 and 33,977 physically inactive West Virginia adults with arthritis could improve their anxiety and depression, respectively, by exercising regularly.
In addition to her involvement with research projects, Kelley is a member of the American Public Health Association, American Heart Association, and the American College of Sports Medicine.
Contact Information
Office: Remote
Email: kristikelley@boisestate.edu