This blog is created by researchers at the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences at the University of Queensland, Australia. It is intended to keep you up to date with all the latest evidence on the benefits of sitting less. It also provides case studies and stories from BeUpstanding™ – a national initiative to support workplaces to stand up, sit less and move more. Guest bloggers are also invited to contribute and share their knowledge and experiences of the benefits of sitting less and moving more.
Meet the Research Team
Professor Genevieve Healy is the Principal Investigator of the BeUpstanding™ program. She is a world-leading expert in sedentary behaviour. Her work has been seminal to understanding the risks of prolonged sitting and she is a strong advocate for dynamic workplaces to positively impact health, wellbeing, and work outcomes.
.
Dr Ana Goode is the BeUpstanding™ program translational leader. She is an expert in the translation and dissemination of evidence-based health-behaviour change and public health programs into practice. She is passionate about helping people and organisations adopt, deliver, evaluate, and sustain programs to improve health and wellbeing. .
.
Jennifer Burzic (Warren) is an Endorsed Enrolled Nurse, she has a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health Science from Santa Clara University, and a Master’s degree of Public Health from the University of Queensland. She has a passion for creating a healthier community through educating the public on healthy lifestyle choices. She has a particular interest in improving population health through use of preventative measures. She was a Research Assistant and Project Manager on the BeUpstanding™ team for the initial development stage..
BeUpstanding Student Contributors
Anna Edwards was a 2017 University of Queensland Summer Research Scholar for the BeUpstanding™ project, and is currently studying her Masters of Dietetics Studies at UQ. She is passionate about helping others achieve optimal health, simply through making small changes to their existing lives. Anna developed a best practices for blogging protocol that we use for BeUpstanding™.
Dr Hussain Jamshed is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Health at the University of Queensland. He completed his Bachelors of Dental Surgery in 2014. With a deep interest in the field of health, he is passionate about promoting health at the population level in addition to Environmental Health. Hussain loves to travel and keep active by seizing every opportunity to go hiking, cycling, training at the gym and outdoor activities, especially rock climbing. There is a high probability you will find Hussain near a waterhole, immersed in nature, in a meditative position. Hussain has contributed to blogs about our early adopters to the Toolkit as well as understanding reasons why champions are signing up to BeUpstanding™.
Abbigail Stanley is completing her Bachelor of Science honours within the field of evolutionary psychology, in particular, looking at sexual selection. She is a student intern on the BeUpstanding™ campaign contributing to the blogs on the website. She has an interest in health psychology and in particular, how we can utilise principles within the field to encourage physical activity participation in stigmatised populations.
Jemieca Loeffler completed her Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) at the University of Queensland in 2018. She did her research project with BeUpstanding™, and is interested in how psychological factors may play a part in our physical health.
.
Jason Zischke is the 2018 Summer Research Scholar for BeUpstanding™. He recently completed his Bachelor of Health Science (Public Health) and will be completing his Honours year with the BeUpstanding™ team in 2019. After completing a Bachelor of Business (Finance & Economics) at QUT in 2007, Jason spent 10 years working across financial markets, investments, and wealth management.
Sam Halpin is a fourth-year psychology student at the University of Queensland. Working with the BeUpstanding™ team during his placement, Sam has contributed to the development of surveys; researching champion characteristics that predict intervention success, and has contributed to the BeUpstanding™ blog.
.
Connor Soles is a second year medical student at the University of Queensland on elective rotation with BeUpstanding™ in public health and science communication. He blogs about the health impacts of movement and the musculoskeletal changes we experience as part of work-place culture.
Cath Hsieh is completing her Honours in psychology and working with the BeUpstanding team as part of her placement at The University of Queensland. She is passionate about understanding human behaviours in organisations. She has a particular interest in how group processes and leadership contribute to an effective organisation. By contributing to the BeUpstanding blog, Cath has been able to start her journey in connecting with organisational communities.
Sidara Engelhardt is a Curriculum Development Project Officer at the Queensland University of Technology and a Master of Public Health Student at the University of Queensland. He is passionate about medicine, preventative health and helping people live happy and healthy lifestyle. During his placement with the BeUpstanding team, Sidara hopes to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted staff and champions participating in the BeUpstanding program.
Bernice Chong is enjoying her placement with BeUpstanding while studying the Master of Psychology (Health) at the University of Queensland. For over a decade, she has worked as a registered psychologist supporting individuals, families and organisations deal with diverse mental and physical health related challenges. She believes in the need to prioritise public health prevention initiatives like BeUpstanding as part of a multifaceted solution to the growing chronic disease epidemic facing Australia today. Her placement with BeUpstanding centres on supporting Australian small businesses to improve staff wellbeing through workplace health promotion initiatives.
Rou Jing Tham is a 3rd year student from Bachelor of Health Sciences majoring in Public Health at University of Queensland, and she worked with BeUpstanding as a part of her placement. She is passionate about the field of allied health and helping people to improve their lifestyle. During her time with BeUpstanding, she hopes that she can learn more about health promotion and gain some experience about what could be done to help people adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Brian Gutierrez is a second-year medical student at the University of Queensland-Ochsner Medical School in Brisbane, Australia and New Orleans, Louisiana. After earning his M.S. in Biological Sciences Specializing in Muscle Metabolism & Development at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and University of California San Diego, he conducts research and creates content for BeUpstanding™, an organization dedicated to combatting sedentary lifestyles and promoting people to sit less and move more. He is also a Certified Personal Trainer, Group Fitness Instructor, Nutrition Coach, Performance Enhancement Specialist, Corrective Exercise Specialist and Behavior Change Specialist. He launched the brand, EliteMotionFitness (EMF), focusing on promoting an active lifestyle and motivating others to reach their fitness goals and partnered up with Medicine in Motion (MiM) in helping reduce physician burnout, while building community through fitness and philanthropy. Also, he is a board member for the UQ Society of Lifestyle Medicine and is an advocate for promoting healthy and active lifestyles within the community. He represents the Canadian, American, Australian Medical Student Association (CAAMSA) as the U.S. Liaison and helps provide a network of physicians to guide any student wanting to practice in the U.S. after completion of their medical degree.
Sophie Caruana is currently in her final year of a Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) at The University of Queensland. She also has a background in marketing and a Master of Business (Marketing), Sophie is combining this expertise to promote psychological interventions and public health behaviours. She has been working with the BeUpstanding team to gain experience in communication roles within health promotion initiatives. In particular, she is exploring how health promotion projects apply psychological behaviour change theories to create health promoting messages for behaviour change.
Guest Writers
Dr James Peterman is an Endeavour grant recipient assisting with the BeUpstanding™ project. His doctorate research examined the feasibility and health impact of various interventions designed to reduce sitting throughout the day. He has a passion for studying and promoting physical activity as a way to improve overall well-being.
Meg Grealy is a graduate from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Science (Honours). Her research interests are creative and collaborative methodologies and exploring relationship dynamics.