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Christopher E. Kline PhD

  • Associate Professor, Department of Health and Human Development
  • Program Director, Exercise Physiology PhD Program
  • School of Education

Dr. Kline’s research focuses on the interrelationships between physical activity, sleep, and cardiometabolic risk. Specifically, research focuses on three central topics: (1) the use of physical activity as a behavioral treatment for disturbed sleep (e.g., insomnia, sleep apnea) and the health consequences of these sleep disturbances; (2) how poor sleep impacts physical activity behavior; and (3) the independent and combined influences of physical activity and sleep on cardiometabolic risk.

Current Trainees

Postdoctoral trainees:

  • Miranda Chappel-Farley, PhD (secondary mentor)

Graduate student trainees:

  • Rachel Sanders (primary mentor)

    Education & Training

  • BA, Sports Science, Malone College, 2002
  • MS, Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, 2005
  • PhD, Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, 2011
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, Translational Research Training in Sleep Medicine (T32), University of Pittsburgh, 2010-2013
Awards
American Heart Association Steven N. Blair Award for Excellence in Physical Activity Research, 2024
Fellow, American College of Sports Medicine, 2020
American Heart Association Early Investigator Travel Award, 2016
Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine Merit Award, 2014
American Academy of Sleep Medicine Young Investigator Award (Honorable Mention), 2013
Representative Publications

Kubala AG, Barone Gibbs B, Buysse DJ, Patel SR, Hall MH, Kline CE. Field-based measurement of sleep: agreement between six commercial activity monitors and a validated accelerometer. Behav Sleep Med 2020;18(5):637-652. PMID: 31455144; PMCID: PMC7044030.

Kubala AG, Buysse DJ, Brindle RC, Krafty RT, Thayer JF, Hall MH, Kline CE. The association between physical activity and a composite measure of sleep health. Sleep Breath 2020;24(3): 1207-1214. PMID: 31900885; PMCID: PMC7332370.

Kline CE, Chasens ER, Bizhanova Z, Sereika SM, Buysse DJ, Imes CC, Kariuki JK, Mendez DD, Cajita MI, Rathbun SL, Burke LE. The association between sleep health and weight change during a 12-month behavioral weight loss intervention. Int J Obes 2021;45(3):639-649. PMID: 33414489; PMCID: PMC7914147.

Kline CE, Colvin AB, Gabriel KP, Karvonen-Gutierrez CA, Cauley JA, Hall MH, Matthews KA, Ruppert KM, Neal-Perry GS, Strotmeyer ES, Sternfeld B. Associations between longitudinal trajectories of insomnia symptoms and sleep duration with objective physical function in postmenopausal women: the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation. Sleep 2021; 44(8):zsab059. PMID: 33705558; PMCID: PMC8361301.

Kline CE, Hillman CH, Bloodgood Sheppard B, Tennant B, Conroy DE, Macko RF, Marquez DX, Petruzzello SJ, Powell KE, Erickson KI. Physical activity and sleep: an updated umbrella review of the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines. Sleep Med Rev 2021;58:101489. PMID: 33934046; PMCID: PMC8338757.

Burke LE, Kline CE, Mendez DD, Shiffman S, Chasens ER, Zheng Y, Imes CC, Cajita MI, Ewing L, Goode R, Mattos M, Kariuki JK, Kriska A, Rathbun SL. Nightly variation in sleep influences self-efficacy for adhering to a healthy lifestyle: a prospective study. Int J Behav Med 2022;29(3):377-386. PMID: 34478106; PMCID: PMC10061542.

Duncan MJ, Oftedal S, Kline CE, Plotnikoff RC, Holliday EG. Associations between aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity, sleep duration, and risk of all-cause mortality: a prospective cohort study of 282,473 US adults. J Sport Health Sci 2023;12(1):65-72. PMID: 35872092.

Pomeroy A, Pagan Lassalle P, Kline CE, Heffernan KS, Meyer ML, Stoner L. The relationship between sleep duration and arterial stiffness: a meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev 2023;70:101794. PMID: 37301055.

Lins-Filho O, Germano-Soares AH, Aguiar JLP, de Almedia JRV, Felinto EC, Lyra MJ, Leite DB, Moura MAS, Kline CE, Pedrosa RP. Effect of high-intensity interval training on obstructive sleep apnea severity: a randomized controlled trial. Sleep Med 2023;112:316-321. PMID: 37952480.

Thurston RC, Chang Y, Kline CE, Swanson LM, El Khoudary SR, Jackson EA, Derby CA. Trajectories of sleep over midlife and incident cardiovascular disease events in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation. Circulation 2024;149(7):545-555. PMID: 38284249.

Complete List of Published Work in NCBI MyBibliography