Experience in Action
Darla Castelli, PhD, is Chair of the Department of Physical Therapy, Movement, and Rehabilitation Sciences since 2024. A fellow of the National Academy of Kinesiology and SHAPE America, she studies the effects of physical activity on cognitive and metabolic health in children and emerging adults.
Dr. Castelli has designed six federally-funded physical activity intervention programs to improve physical and cognitive health. Her research projects have received funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education.
As a member of two Institute of Medicine Committees, Dr. Castelli helped generate new national guidelines for physical activity participation in schools. She has authored more than 130 peer-reviewed publications and five books. Dr. Castelli is currently the principal investigator of an NIH-funded study on obesity and metabolic risk factors among Latina mothers.
At Northeastern, Dr. Castelli directs the Behavioral and Cognitive Health Lab.
Research Keywords
Cognition, pedagogy, children, fNIRS
Select Publications
Kim, J., Lindqvist, A.K., & Castelli, D.M. (2024). Effects of gamification on physical activity participation and healthy eating among college students. Journal of American College Health.
Centeio, E. & Castelli, D.M. (2023). ACTIVE YOU: Teacher attributes and attitudes predicting physical activity promotion. Behavioral Sciences, 13(3), 210. doi.org/10.3390/bs13030210.
Koepp, A.E., Gershoff, E. T., Castelli, D.M., & Bryan, A. (2022). Preschoolers’ executive functions following indoor and outdoor free play. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 100182. doi: 10.1016/j.tine.2022.100182.
Fritz, C., Dylan, B., Lee, G., Julien, C., Burson, S., Castelli, D., Ramsey, C., Payton, J. (2022). Project moveSMART: When physical education meets computational thinking in elementary classrooms. Computer, 55(11), 29-39.
Select Awards
| 2023 | McCloy Research Award (career award) – Society of Health and Physical Educators — SHAPE |
| 2022 | Textbook Longevity Award for Publication of Fitness for Life v7– McGuffey Academic — Authors Association |
| 2022 | Fellow – North American Society for Health, Physical Education, Sport, and Dance |
| 2020-2021 | Curriculum & Instruction Award (career teaching & curriculum writing) — SHAPE |
| 2020 | Catherine Ennis Scholar (career award) — American Educational Research Association |
| 2020 | Scholar Award (career award) — SHAPE America |
Courses Taught
- Research Methods in Applied Health
- Cognition & Exercise Across the Lifespan
- Pediatric Exercise Science
- Physical Activity and Public Health
