|
Dr. Beverly Allen,
professor and chair of the Physical Education and Recreation Department
at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) assumed presidency of the
National Health and Fitness Association (NHFA) during its annual
meeting. The mission of NHFA is to sponsor, collect, and disseminate
research regarding racial disparities in health and fitness and the
associated medical conditions of obesity, diabetes, heart disease,
stroke, and also breast, cervical and prostate cancers.
It will be Allen’s
responsibility to manage the conference scheduled for March 16, 2007, in
Baltimore, Maryland. Papers presented at this conference will be
published in the Association’s biannual journal titled The Horizon.
In addition to her assumption of the presidency at the April meeting,
Allen was awarded the E.B. Henderson award for her service to the
profession presented by the Ethnic Minorities Council of the American
Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.
Allen joins a developing cadre of NCCU faculty engaged in the study of
the elevated incidence and mortality rates for African Americans who
suffer from a growing list of life-threatening diseases. Other NCCU
faculty in this field include Dr. LaVerne Reid, chair of the Department
of Health Education who serves as principal investigator for the Health
Disparities Initiative funded by the North Carolina Health and Wellness
Trust Fund; Dr. Walter Charles, associate professor of psychology who
was organizer of the Conference on Promoting and Cultivating Health
Disparities Research on June 12, 2006; and Dr. Ken Harewood, winner of
this year’s O. Max Gardner Award and director of the Julius L. Chambers
Biomedical Biotechnology Research Institute’s program of study of the
causes and remedies for the disproportionate representation of breast
and prostate cancer, cardiovascular disease and drug abuse among African
Americans.
Allen received her bachelor’s degree in health, physical education and
recreation at North Carolina A&T State University and earned her
master’s and doctorate degrees in dance and physical education at The
University of North Carolina at Greensboro and The Ohio State
University, respectively.
|
