MEET THE TEAM

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Pictured (l-r): Hala Abbas, Anna Schwartz, Mariam Habring, Penelope Friday,

Hailey Choi, Lexie Beemer, Sruti Ramamoorthy, and Dr. Rebecca Hasson

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DIRECTOR

Rebecca Hasson, PhD

As Director of the Michigan Childhood Disparities Research Laboratory, Dr. Rebecca Hasson enjoys using her expertise in pediatric physical activity, implementation science, and health equity research to improve the health and well-being of children and their families across the state of Michigan. For the past eight years, Dr. Hasson’s research has focused on the development and implementation of physical activity interventions in school and home environments. For more information about Dr. Hasson's research accomplishments click here. 

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GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANTS

Lexie Beemer, PhDc

Lexie is a fifth year PhD student studying Movement Science in the School of Kinesiology. Her academic focus centers on the implementation of classroom-based and home-based pediatric physical activity interventions with the goal of decreasing disparities in access to physical activity opportunities. She is a graduate research assistant working on the Interrupting Prolonged Sitting with ACTivity (InPACT) at School and the InPACT at Home projects. 

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Penelope Friday, MPH

Penelope is a second-year PhD student at the University of Michigan within the School of Kinesiology. She attended Michigan State University for her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and Indiana University-Bloomington for her Master of Public Health. She worked for three years as the Childhood Obesity Prevention Coordinator for the Indiana Department of Health focusing on school and early childhood education wellness initiatives to child health. Her long-term goal is improving the quality and quantity of physical activity of school-aged children through InPACT programming, policies, system and environmental approaches.

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Anna Schwartz, BS

Anna is a first-year Master of Public Health student at the University of Michigan School of Public Health in the department of Health Behavior and Health Education. Her research interests include developing innovative strategies to promote physical activity in elementary school classrooms and for children with asthma. She is a research assistant working on the ExHALE, InPACT at School, and InPACT in the Lab projects. 

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Hala Abbas, BS

Hala received her undergraduate degree in Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Michigan and is currently enrolled in the Masters of Movement Science at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology. She is a research assistant within the Childhood Disparities Research Lab and her interests focus on pediatric physical and nutritional health implementation in minority communities.  

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UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANTS

Sruti Ramamoorthy

Sruti recently completed her undergraduate degree in Movement Science at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology. Her research interests involve understanding the integration of innovation and science to make physical activity a more accessible preventive medical measure. She is an undergraduate research assistant who mainly worked on the InPACT at Home and InPACT in the Lab projects. She plans to pursue a future career in medicine following her gap semester.

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Mariam Habring

Mariam is a sophomore studying biology, health and society in the School of LSA. Her academic focus is geared towards pediatrics and how implementing the InPACT Program can improve the health and physical activity of children. 

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Hailey Choi

Hailey is a freshman studying Movement Science at the School of Kinesiology. Her background as a professional short track speed skater cultivated her passion for sports medicine. Her research in the InPACT program focuses on discovering innovative ways to improve the overall health and well-being of children.