Arnold School researchers at University of South Carolina receive awards

Two scientists from the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health have received national awards for research on physical activity and health.

Dr. Steven Blair, a professor in the departments of exercise science and biostatistics and epidemiology, received the American Heart Association’s Population Research Prize for leading major studies that have established the benefits of aerobic exercise in achieving cardio-respiratory fitness to reduce illness and death from cardiovascular disease. Dr. Russell Pate, a professor of exercise science and vice provost for health sciences, received honorary membership in the American Dietetic Association for his professional contributions in shaping physical activity and nutrition recommendations and policies.

The American Heart Association lauded Blair’s research with the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study because it was one of the first to show the importance of cardio-respiratory fitness to health among adult men and women. The study showed that physically fit individuals have about a 50 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease and death than their sedentary peers. Blair, director of epidemiology and clinical applications at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas from 1980 – 2002, also conducted a study that found that lower fitness levels increase the risk of high blood pressure.

“Over the past 25 years, clinical trials and observational studies led by Dr. Blair have provided the world with solid scientific evidence of the efficacy of physical activity as a weapon against disease,” said Dr. Timothy J. Gardner, president of the American Heart Association.

The American Dietetic Association cited Pate for his “professional knowledge, technical expertise and compassionate service, which have shaped physical activity and nutrition recommendations and policies at the local, state, national and international levels.”

In addition to Pate’s impressive research record, the American Dietetic Association highlighted several key achievements in Pate’s career: his contributions to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines; the Institute of Medicine’s Panel on Prevention of Obesity in Children and Panel on the Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity; and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee.

Blair and Pate are past presidents of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Visit http://www.sph.sc.edu/exsc/ to learn more about the Arnold School’s department of exercise science.