James Rimmer, PhD
Professor
Director, Center on Health Promotion Research for Persons with Disabilities
Director, National Center on Physical Activity and Disability
Phone 312-413-9651
Fax 312-355-4058
Email jrimmer@uic.edu
Office 712 DHSP
Bio
James H. Rimmer, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Disability and Human Development and Adjunct Professor in Movement Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Northwestern University, which is affiliated with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. For the past 25 years, Dr. Rimmer has been developing and directing health promotion programs for people with disabilities. He has published more than 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on various topics related to physical activity, health promotion, secondary conditions and disability. He is director of two federally funded centers, the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (www.ncpad.org), and the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Recreational Technologies and Exercise Physiology Benefiting People with Disabilities (www.rercrectech.org). Dr. Rimmer has published standardized measurement instruments that can be used to evaluate the accessibility of fitness and recreation facilities for people with disabilities, and was recently funded by NIH to develop a health empowerment zone for people with disabilities in and around the UIC medical campus. Dr. Rimmer is currently completing a CDC-funded randomized trial titled, "A Physician-Referred Community-Based Approach to Increasing Awareness and Sustainability of Physical Activity for Overweight Adults with Mobility Limitations." He is a Healthy People 2010 Panel Member and was involved in the development of the Chapter 6 Workplan, Disability and Secondary Conditions. Dr. Rimmer serves on several national committees including the Scientific and Medical Advisory Board for Life Fitness Academy, and the Executive Committee of the American Public Health Association's Disability Special Primary Interest Group.
Research Interests
Health promotion interventions for people with disabilities. Environmental factors associated with health disparities among people with disabilities Development of exercise technologies for people with disabilities · Dose-response effects of exercise on reducing secondary conditions people with disabilities