Richard R. Suminski
Richard R. Suminski
Professor
Office Location:
019 Carpenter Sports Building
Dr. Suminski is a Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Nutrition Sciences at the University of Delaware. He is an Epidemiologist who earned a doctorate in Exercise Physiology and a master’s in Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh and completed a post-doctorate in the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. His research focuses on innovation in physical activity promotion and assessment particularly where environmental factors come into play. He is currently exploring factors that influence small business involvement with youth physical activity in low-income, minority neighborhoods in Delaware.
Dr. Suminski has been the Principal Investigator on grants from CDC, NIH, NSF, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He received the distinguished scholar award from the College of Education at Ohio State and is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and a member of the American College of Epidemiology. He has published over 110 peer-reviewed journal articles, presented at numerous national and international conferences, and regularly participates on grant review panels, critiques manuscripts submitted to leading scientific journals, and volunteers in the community where needed.
Courses
- HBNS 435: Physical Activity Behavior
- HBNS 332: Health Behavior Assessment
- Suminski RR, Firkin CJ, Kelly C. The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Small Business Support for Youth Physical Activity Opportunities in Urban, Low-Income, Predominantly Black Neighborhoods. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (in press). 2024
- Suminski RR, Kelly K, Plautz E. The associations between place-based measures of walkability and physical activity across a range of diverse streetscapes. Prev Med. 2023;169: vol. 169 (2023): doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2023.
- Suminski RR, Obrusnikova I, Kelly K, Williams M. Small business support is related to the quantity, quality, and usage of youth physical activity opportunities in low-income, African American neighborhoods. Journal of Urban Health : Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine. 2022, 99: 1104-1114. doi:10.1007/s11524-022-00694-8
- Suminski RR, Dominick GM, Plautz E. Assessing Park Quality from Video Captured with a Wearable Video Device and Unmanned Aerial System. IJERPH. 2022 (epub ttps://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/18/11717/pdf)
- Suminski RR, Robson SM, Kopetsky A, Samantha R, Jahnke SA. Perspectives on Engagement of Youth Physical Activity Opportunities. Am J Health Promotion. June 2022, doi:10.1177/0890117122110838.
- Suminski RR, Leonard T, Obrusnikova I, Kelly K. The Impact of Health Coaching in Primary Care on Weight and Physical Activity in Obese Adults: A Randomized Control Trial. Am J Lifestyle Med. June 2022, https://doi.org/10.1177/15598276221114047
- Suminski RR, Dominick GM. A comprehensive evaluation of physical activity on sidewalks and streets in three U.S. Cities. Preventive Medicine Reports. Volume 26, April 2022, 101696 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2022.101696
- Suminski RR, Dominick GM, Saponaro M. Comparing counts of park users with a wearable video device and an unmanned aerial system. J Measurement of Physical Activity Behavior. Journal for the Measurement of Physical Behaviour, 2021;4:143-150. publication. https://doi.org/10.1123/jmpb.2020-0063.
- Suminski RR, Dominick G, Sapanaro P, Orsega-Smith EM, Plautz E, Sapanaro M. High-Tech Video Capture and Analysis for Providing Counts of Park Users. Journal for the Measurement of Physical Behaviour. 2020;3(2):147-156.
- Suminski R, Jackson-Short C, Noel Duckworth N, Plautz E, Speakman K, Landgraf R, Patterson F. Dover Micro Open Street Events: Evaluation Results and Implications for Community-Based Physical Activity Programming. Frontiers in Public Health 2019;7:356.
- Suminski RR Jr, Robson S, Turner J, Plautz E. Promoting Small Business Support of Youth Physical Activity in Low-Income, Minority Neighborhoods: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2019;8(7):e13141.
- Suminski RR Jr, Dominick G, Saponaro P. Assessing Physical Activities Occurring on Sidewalks and Streets: Protocol for a Cross-Sectional Study. JMIR Res Protoc. 2019;8(7):e12976.
- Suminski RR, Gregory Dominick G, Plautz E. Validation of the Block Walk Method for Assessing Physical Activity Occurring on Sidewalks/Streets. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019;16(11), 1927; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16111927
- Suminski RR, Patterson F, Perkett M, Heinrich KM, Carlos Poston WS. The association between television viewing time and percent body fat in adults varies as a function of physical activity and sex. BMC Public Health. 2019 Jun 13;19(1):736.
- Suminski RR, Blair RI, Lessard L, Peterson M, Killingsworth R. Physical Education Teachers’ and Principals’ Perspectives on the Use of FitnessGram. Sage Open Medicine. 2019;7:1–7
Recent Funding
National Science Foundation (2040503) Wagner (PI) 8/20-8/21 Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET) NSF Program PMP-Particul & Multiphase Process Special Initiatives (2040503)
RAPID: development of a local epidemiological population balance model informed by UAV and WVD data Co-Principal Investigator: Richard Suminski; $100,000.00
National Institutes of Health Suminski (PI) 9/18 - 8/21 (1 R21 NR017267-01A1) Promoting small business support of youth physical activity in low-income, minority neighborhoods $425,428
National Institutes of Health Suminski/Dominick (PIs) 8/18 - 7/21 (1 R21 HL143553-01 ) A cutting edge approach to assessing physical activities occurring on sidewalks/streets $425,374
Harnisch Grant (Suminski) Suminski (PI) 8/18-7/21 Institute of Coaching International The Impact of Health Coaching on Patient Outcomes $34,000
ADDITIONAL LINKS
Connect
Tower at STAR: 100 Discovery Blvd, Newark, DE 19713 | Health Sciences Complex: 540 S. College Ave, Newark, DE 19713 chs-info@udel.edu Phone: 302-831-1060