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Amy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies of the College of Arts, Media and Design and in the Department of Health Sciences of the Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University. She directs the Health Technology Lab, where she studies the persuasive mechanism of media and communication technologies, as well as their health behavioral and psychological applications and mechanisms. Her current projects focus on using narratives and active video games to promote physical activities and cognitive function among children.

Amy has secured more than $4.15 million in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding as Principal Investigator or sub-contract PI since the Lab’s inception in 2012. Her work has appeared in Games for Health, Scientific Reports, Pediatrics, and Journal of Clinical Medicine. Amy has served as a reviewer on multiple NIH grant review panels and is an ad hoc reviewer for over 25 international peer-reviewed journals in communication, medicine, public health, game studies, psychology, education, computer science, and media.

 

Education:

  • Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics – Postdoctoral Associate
  • UNC-CHAPEL HILL – PhD Mass Communication
    • Graduate Certificate in Interdisciplinary Health Communication (Psychological Processes)
  • UNC-CHAPEL HILL – MA Communication Studies
  • PEKING UNIVERSITY – BA English

 

Research Interests:

  • Behavioral Science
  • Child Obesity
  • Games for Health
  • Narratives
  • Physical Activity

 

Selected Honors & Awards:

  • National Institutes of Health (R01DK109316). Principal Investigator. $3,162,222. The narrative effect of active video games on long-term moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. (April 1, 2016 – March 31, 2021)
  • National Institutes of Health (R21CA158917). Principal Investigator. $392,361. The narrative impact of active video games on physical activity. (July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2014)

 

Selected Recent Publications:

  • Lu, A. S. & Kharrazi, H. (2018) A state-of-the-art systematic content analysis of games for health. Games for Health Journal, 7(1), 1-15. PMID: 29293368
  • Hwang, J., Fernandez, A. & Lu, A. S. (2018) Application and validation of activity monitors’ epoch lengths and placement sites for physical activity assessment in exergaming. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 7(9), 268. PMID: 30208567
  • Hwang, J. & Lu, A. S. (2018) Narrative and active video game in separate and additive effects of physical activity and cognitive function among young adults. Scientific Reports-Nature, 8(1), 11020. PMID: 30030456
  • Robinson, T. N., Banda, J. A., Hale, L., Lu, A. S., Fleming-Milici, F., Calvert, S. L. & Wartella, E. (2017) Screen media exposure and obesity in children and adolescents. Pediatrics, 140(S2), S91-S101. PMID: 29093041
  • Lu, A. S., Baranowski, T., Hong, S. L., Buday, R., Thompson, D., Beltran, A., Dadabhoy, H. R. & Chen, T. (2016) The narrative impact of active video games on physical activity among children: A feasibility study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 18(10), e272. PMID: 27742605

 

Selected Public Service:

  • Host, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) Site Visit, July 2017, 2018, Boston, MA
  • Judge, Michael Driscoll School Science Fair, March 2017, 2018, Brookline, MA

 

News:

 

Website:

http://www.northeastern.edu/amylu/