Herpreet Thind

Herpreet Thind, Ph.D., MPH, MBBS

Associate Professor

College
Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences
Department
Public Health, Health Assessment Laboratory (HAL)
Phone
978-934-5317
Office
O'Leary Library - 540N
Email
Herpreet_Thind@uml.edu
Links

Expertise

Physical Activity; Yoga; Obesity; Chronic Diseases

Research Interests

Physical activity and yoga research for chronic disease prevention and treatment; Health disparities

Education

  • Postdoctoral Fellow, (2015), Brown University - Providence, RI
  • Ph D: Health Education and Health Promotion, (2012), University of Alabama at Birmingham - Birmingham, AL
  • MPH: Health Education, (2008), Western Kentucky University - Bowling Green, KY
  • MBBS, (2003), Rajiv Gandhi Medical College - India

Biosketch

Associate Professor Thind has degrees in clinical medicine and public health. Her research interests include physical activity and yoga interventions for chronic disease prevention and control. She has expertise in designing and implementing randomized controlled trials. She has been involved in various funded research projects including a NIH/NCCIH-funded project to examine the feasibility of yoga for adults with type 2 diabetes.

Selected Awards and Honors

  • Teaching Excellence Award (2019), Teaching - University of Massachusetts Lowell

Selected Publications

  • Kronrod, A., Hammar, M.E., Lee, J., Thind, H.K., Mangano, K.M. (2020). Linguistic Delight Promotes Eating Right: Figurative Language Increases Perceived Enjoyment and Encourages Healthier Food Choices. Health Communication, August.
  • Quinn, B., ElGhaziri, M., Mangano, K., Thind, H.K. (2019). Toward Total Student Health: A Qualitative Pilot Study. Journal of American College Health, 67(5) 391-396.
  • Thind, H.K., Rosen, R.K., Barnett, N.P., Walaska, K., Traficante, R., Bock, B.C. (2019). A qualitative examination of drinking patterns among community college students. Journal of American college health : J of ACH, 1-7.
  • Thind, H.K., Guthrie, K.M., Horowitz, S., Conrad, M., Bock, B.C. (2019). "I can do almost anything": The experience of adults with type 2 diabetes with a yoga intervention. Complementary therapies in clinical practice, 34 116-122.
  • Bock, B.C., Thind, H.K., Fava, J.L., Dunsiger, S., Guthrie, K.M., Stroud, L., Gopalakrishnan, G., Sillice, M., Wu, W. (2019). Feasibility of yoga as a complementary therapy for patients with type 2 diabetes: The Healthy Active and in Control (HA1C) study. Complementary therapies in medicine, 42 125-131.
  • Thind, H.K., Fava, J.L., Guthrie, K.M., Stroud, L., Gopalakrishnan, G., Sillice, M., Gidron, N., Bock, B.C. (2018). Yoga as a Complementary Therapy for Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: Design and Rationale of the Healthy, Active, and in Control (HA1C) Study. International journal of yoga therapy, 28(1) 123-132.
  • Bock, B.C., Dunsiger, S.I., Rosen, R.K., Thind, H.K., Jennings, E., Fava, J.L., Becker, B.M., Carmody, J., Marcus, B.H. (2018). Yoga as a Complementary Therapy for Smoking Cessation: Results from BreathEasy ,a Randomized Clinical trial. Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.
  • Thind, H.K., Lantini, R., Balletto, B.L., Donahue, M.L., Salmoirago-Blotcher, E., Bock, B.C., Scott-Sheldon LAJ, . (2017). The effects of yoga among adults with type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Preventive Medicine, 105 116-126.
  • Thind, H.K., Sillice, M.A., Fava, J.L., Lantini, R., Horowitz, S., Jennings, E., Rosen, R.K., Carmody, J., Becker, B.M., Marcus, B.H., Bock, B.C. (2017). Development and Validation of the Outcome Expectations for Yoga Scale. American Journal of Health Behavior, 41(6) 796-802.
  • Bock, B.C., Thind, H.K., Dunsiger, S., Fava, J.L., Jennings, E., Becker, B.M., Marcus, B.H., Rosen, R.K., Sillice, M.A. (2017). Who Enrolls in a Quit Smoking Program with Yoga Therapy? American Journal of Health Behavior, 41(6) 740-749.
  • Rosen, R.K., Thind, H.K., Jennings, E., Guthrie, K.M., Williams, D.M., Bock, B.C. (2016). "Smoking Does Not Go With Yoga:" A Qualitative Study of Women’s Phenomenological Perceptions During Yoga and Smoking Cessation. International Journal Of Yoga Therapy.
  • Thind, H.K., Fava, J., Traficante, R., Bock, B.C. (2016). A New Measure of Home Exercise Benefits and Barriers. American Journal of Health Education, 47(2) 99 - 107.
  • Bock, B.C., Barnett, N.P., Thind, H.K., Rosen, R., Walaska, K., Traficante, R., Foster, R., Deutsch, C., Fava, J.L., Scott-Sheldon, L.A. (2016). A text message intervention for alcohol risk reduction among community college students: TMAP. Addictive Behaviors, 63 107 - 113.
  • Bock, B.C., Thind, H.K., Fava, J.L., Walaska, K., Barnett, N., Rosen, R., Traficante, R., Lantini, R. (2016). Development of the Mobile Phone Attachment Scale. 2016 49th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS), 3401.
  • Thind, H.K., Jennings, E., Fava, J.L., Sillice, M.A., Becker, B.M., Hartman, S.J., Bock, B.C. (2016). Differences between Men and Women Enrolling in Smoking Cessation Programs Using Yoga as a Complementary Therapy. Journal Of Yoga & Physical Therapy!!!, 6(3).
  • Coughlin, S., Thind, H.K., Liu, B., Champagne, N.J., Jacobs, M., Massey, R.I. (2016). Mobile Phone Apps for Preventing Cancer Through Educational and Behavioral Interventions: State of the Art and Remaining Challenges. JMIR Mhealth And Uhealth, 4(2) e69.
  • Scott-Sheldon, Lori A J, ., Lantini, R., Jennings, E.G., Thind, H.K., Rosen, R.K., Salmoirago-Blotcher, E., Bock, B.C. (2016). Text Messaging-Based Interventions for Smoking Cessation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. JMIR Mhealth And Uhealth, 4(2) e49.
  • Bock, B.C., Lantini, R., Thind, H.K., Walaska, K., Rosen, R.K., Fava, J.L., Barnett, N.P., Scott-Sheldon, L.A., Hale, T. (2016). The Mobile Phone Affinity Scale: Enhancement and Refinement. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 18(12) 1.
  • Coughlin, S.S., Thind, H.K., Liu, B., Wilson, L.C. (2016). Towards research-tested smartphone applications for preventing breast cancer. Mhealth, 2.
  • Thind, H.K., Davies, S.L., Lewis, T., Pekmezi, D., Evans, R., Baskin, M.L. (2015). Does Short Sleep Lead to Obesity Among Children and Adolescents? Current Understanding and Implications. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 9(6) 428-437.
  • Coughlin, S.S., Jacobs, M., Thind, H.K., Champagne, N.J., Liu, B., Golden, M.S., Osimo, C., Tracy, N., Massey, R.I. (2015). On the Need for Research-Tested Smartphone Applications for Reducing Exposures to Known or Suspected Breast Carcinogens in Work and Home Environments. Journal of environment and health sciences, 1(4).
  • Gaskins, R.B., Jennings, E.G., Thind, H.K., Fava, J.L., Horowitz, S., Lantini, R., Becker, B.M., Bock, B.C. (2015). Recruitment and initial interest of men in yoga for smoking cessation: QuitStrong, a randomized control pilot study. Translational Behavioral Medicine, 5(2) 177-188.
  • Baskin, M.L., Dulin-Keita, A., Thind, H.K., Godsey, E. (2015). Social and Cultural Environment Factors Influencing Physical Activity Among African-American Adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 56(5) 536-542.
  • Bock, B.C., Thind, H.K., Dunsiger, S.I., Serber, E.R., Ciccolo, J.T., Cobb, V., Palmer, K., Abernathy, S., Marcus, B.H. (2015). Exercise videogames for physical activity and fitness: Design and rationale of the Wii Heart Fitness trial. Contemporary clinical trials, 42 204-12.
  • Thind, H.K., Goldsby, T.U., Dulin-Keita, A., Baskin, M.L. (2015). Cultural Beliefs and Physical Activity among African-American Adolescents. American Journal of Health Behavior, 39(2) 284-293 .
  • Bock, B.C., Rosen, R.K., Barnett, N.P., Thind, H.K., Walaska, K., Foster, R., Deutsch, C., Traficante, R. (2015). Translating Behavioral Interventions Onto mHealth Platforms: Developing Text Message Interventions for Smoking and Alcohol. JMIR Mhealth And Uhealth, 3(1) e22.
  • Bock, B., Rosen, R., Thind, H.K., Barnett, N., Walaska, K., Cobb, V. (2014). Building an evidence base using qualitative data for mhealth development. 47th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Computer Society Press
  • Thind, H.K., Townsend, S., Godsey, E., Baskin, M. (2014). Physical activity resource attributes by neighborhood race/ethnicity in a southern US city. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 1(1) 29-35.
  • Pagoto, S., Schneider, K.L., Evans, M., Waring, M.E., Appelhans, B., Busch, A.M., Whited, M.C., Thind, H.K., Ziedonis, M. (2014). Tweeting it off: characteristics of adults who tweet about a weight loss attempt. Journal Of The American Medical Informatics Association: JAMIA, 21(6) 1032-1037.
  • Joseph, R.R., Daniel, C.L., Thind, H.K., Benitez, T.J., Pekmezi, D., (2014). Applying Psychological Theories to Promote Long-Term Maintenance of Health Behaviors. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine.
  • Gaskins, R.B., Jennings, E., Thind, H.K., Becker, B.M., Bock, B.C. (2014). Acute and Cumulative Effects of Vinyasa Yoga on Affect and Stress among College Students Participating in an Eight-week Yoga Program: A Pilot Study. International Journal Of Yoga Therapy, 24 63-70.
  • Bock, B.C., Rosen, R.K., Fava, J.L., Gaskins, R.B., Jennings, E., Thind, H.K., Carmody, J., Dunsiger, S.I., Gidron, N., Becker, B.M., Marcus, B.H. (2014). Testing the efficacy of yoga as a complementary therapy for smoking cessation: design and methods of the BreathEasy trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 38(2) 321-332.
  • Dulin-Keita, A., Thind, H.K., Affuso, O., Baskin, M.L. (2013). The associations of perceived neighborhood disorder and physical activity with body mass among African American adolescents. BMC Public Health, 13 440.
  • Baskin, M.L., Thind, H.K., Affuso, O., Gary, L.C., LaGory, M., Hwang, S.S. (2013). Predictors of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in African American young adolescents. Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 45 Suppl 1 S142-50.
  • Mishra, S., Thind, H.K., Gokarokonda, S., Lartey, G., Watkins, C., Chahal, M. (2011). Second-hand smoke in a university campus: Attitudes and perceptions of faculty, staff and students. . International Journal of Health Research, 4(1) 21-27.
  • Davies, S.L., Thind, H.R., Chandler, S.D., Tucker, J.A. (2011). Enhancing resilience among young people: the role of communities and asset-building approaches to intervention. Adolescent medicine: state of the art reviews, 22(3) 402-40, x.

Selected Contracts, Fellowships, Grants and Sponsored Research

  • Establishing Multi-site Feasibility and Fidelity of Yoga to Improve Management of Type-2 Diabetes (2021), Grant-NIH-NCCIH-U01AT011184.
    Thind, H. (Site Principal Investigator), Bock P. (Principal Investigator), Pekmezi, D. (Co-Investigator).
  • It's Fun to Run – or is it Just a Pun? Detecting Signs of Enjoyment with Physical Activity and Food Choices through Computational Analysis of Figurative Language in Online Communication (2018), Grant - UMass Lowell
    Kronrod, A. (Co-Principal), Rumshisky, A. (Co-Principal), Thind, H.K. (Co-Investigator), Mangano, K. (Co-Investigator)
  • Using a Pun to a Make Healthy Life Run: Exploring the Use of Figurative Language in Encouraging Healthier Behavior (2018), Grant - Manning School of Business and the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences
    Kronrod, A. (Principal), Thind, H.K. (Co-Principal), Mangano, K. (Co-Principal)
  • UMass Lowell towards Total Student Health (2016), Grant - Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences
    Quinn, B. (Co-Principal), Thind, H.K. (Principal), Mangano, K. (Co-Principal), ElGhaziri, M. (Co-Principal)
  • Yoga as a Complementary Therapy for Type 2 Diabetes: An Initial Investigation (2015), Grant - NIH-NCCIH
    Thind, H.K. (Co-Investigator), Bock, B. (Principal)
  • Community-based Yoga to improve Adherence to Weight Loss Recommendations (2016), Grant - University of Massachusetts Center for Clinical and Translational Science
    Thind, H.K. (Principal), Tucker, K. (Co-Investigator)