Dinesh John, Northeastern Univeristy

Dinesh John

PhD

Associate Professor

Public Health and Health Sciences


Research Interests

Physical activity measurement, technology in health, wearable sensors; exercise physiology

Overview

Dr. Dinesh John is a trained Exercise Physiologist and an expert on the application of wearable sensors to measure and modify physical behavior. A degree in exercise physiology combined with an in-depth understanding of sensor function, sensor signal response to human movement and physiology, and signal processing, places him uniquely at the intersection of technology and lifestyle disease prevention. This has enabled him to pursue novel applications of technology in health through collaborative work with scientists from diverse fields such as engineering computer science, behavior change psychology, and public health.

His overall goal is to facilitate a practical and meaningful integration of technology in applications to improve health outcomes in the general population. An area of his work focusses on tackling challenges facing the field of measuring physical behavior outcomes such as physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep and their determinants. His collaborative work has yielded deployable tools that simplify sensor data processing and analyses. His work on the application of sensors to modify waking physical behavior combines wearable sensing with communication technologies to yield interventional approaches that allow a high level of personalization to enhance the potential for sustained behavior change. His work funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has included active participation of students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels from multiple fields of study

Selected Recent Publications

John D., Tang Q, Albinalli F, Intille S. An open-source monitor-independent movement summary for accelerometer data processing. Journal for the Measurement of Physical Behavior. 2019. (In press).

John D., * Morton A., * Arguello D., Lyden K., Bassett D. “What is a Step?” Variability in step-detection criteria among three motion sensors used in physical activity research. Sensors. 2018; 18(4), 1206, doi: 10.3390/s18041206.

John D., Lyden K., Bassett D. Treadmill and sit-to-stand workstations: A physiological perspective. Ergonomics in Design. 2015; 23(3), 14-19.

Courses

Physical Activity and Exercise: Prescription, Measurement and Testing

Introduction to Exercise, Fitness, and Health