MEET THE EXPERTS

Virgin HealthMiles’ Science Advisory Board is comprised of leading experts in the fields of physical activity, exercise science, health behavior, health promotion, psychology and epidemiology:

Dr. David Chenoweth, Ph.D.: Dr. Chenoweth is President of Chenoweth & Associates, Inc., an econometric data analysis and consulting firm. He is also Professor and Director of the undergraduate Worksite Health Promotion Option in the College of Health & Human Performance at East Carolina University. Using principles from various fields – economics, health education, epidemiology, and risk management – he developed the Proportionate Risk Factor Cost Appraisalä and used the tool in quantifying the cost of physical inactivity, obesity, and/or other risk factors for the states of California, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Texas and Washington.

Dr. I-Min Lee, M.D., Ph.D.: Dr. I-Min Lee is Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. She has authored or co-authored more than 170 scientific publications, most of which relate to physical activity and health. Currently, Dr. Lee is part of a team from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)/American Heart Association writing an update to the 1995 CDC/ACSM physical activity recommendation. Dr. Lee serves on the editorial boards of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise and Harvard Women’s Health Watch. She reviews scientific papers for several national and international health journals and has served on national and international review panels for research grants, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Dr. Kyle McInnis, Sc.D: Dr. McInnis is a professor and Chair of the Department of Exercise and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts in Boston and serves as Lead Science Advisor to Virgin HealthMiles. He is a Fellow of the prestigious American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the highest honor reserved for outstanding leadership in the field of exercise science. He was elected to the Board of Trustees of ACSM between 2003-2006. Dr. McInnis is a leading researcher in the United States on physical activity, fitness, and health. He has published numerous research articles in leading journals and is the co-editor of two books including the ACSM’s Health Fitness Facilities Standards and Guidelines.

Dr. Jessica Whitely, Ph.D.: Dr. Whitely is an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston and an adjunct Assistant Professor at Brown Medical School. Her research interests include women’s health, health behavior change, physical activity promotion, smoking cessation, and the use of behavior change theory. Dr. Whitely has been a Principal Investigator on two NIH-funded studies and a Co-Investigator on more than 5 NIH-funded studies. Additionally, she has performed and co-authored several research studies to evaluate print, telephone and Internet programs for increasing physical activity. Dr. Whitely has published her research and authored articles on physical activity promotion and behavior change in various publications such as Health Psychology, Preventive Medicine, Psychology of Sport & Exercise, Nicotine & Tobacco Research, and chapters in ACSM’s Resource Manual for Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription.