Author biographies

This special topic of the Journal of Sport and Health Science (JSHS) focused on Improving BRICS's public health and wellness through physical activity was edited by Drs. Barbara E. Ainsworth, Fuzhong Li, and J. Larry Durstine. It includes 1 guest editorial, 1 commentary, 4 opinions, and 1 perspective contributed by research scientists from USA, China,Australia, Sweden, Russia, South Africa, and Brazil. Below, we present the biographies of the guest editors and the main authors.Dr. Barbara Ainsworth is a Distinguished Professor and International Dean of Kinesiology at the Shanghai University of Sport and a Regents' Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University. Her research relates to physical activity and public health with focus on the assessment of physical activity in populations and the evaluation of physical activity questionnaires. Dr. Ainsworth is best known as the lead author for the Adult Compendium of Physical Activities, an exhaustive list of the energy cost of human physical activities.Dr. Ainsworth is a Past President of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the National Academy of Kinesiology. She is a recipient of the ACSM Citation and Honor Awards and the SHAPE America McKenzie Award. In 2015 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition. She is the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Sport and Health Science (JSHS).

Dr. Fuzhong Li, a native of Shanghai, is a Senior Research Scientist at the Oregon Research Institute. He received an M.A. from the University of Oregon and his Ph.D., specializing in sport and exercise psychology,from Oregon State University. His main research areas are physical activity, falls prevention, and mobility in aging populations. Dr. Li's research has been supported by multiple long-term research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the USA and has appeared in leading research publications including the New England Journal of Medicine, the American Journal of Public Health, JAMA Internal Medicine, JAMA Network Open, the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, the American Journal of Epidemiology, the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, and Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.Dr. J. Larry Durstine is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Exercise Science at the University of South Carolina. After earning his Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology/Biochemistry and Medical Physiology from the University of Toledo and The Medical College of Ohio at Toledo, Dr. Durstine came to the University of South Carolina in 1982 remaining there for his entire career. Throughout his career, Dr. Durstine has sought to better understand the role of physical activity and exercise in the management of chronic disease. For most diseases, daily physical activity or prescribed exercise reduces disease risk while enhancing primary prevention and secondary disease treatment/prevention. He has published 100 peer-reviewed research manuscripts and has written and edited 9 professional books and more than 40 book chapters. He is committed to professional service and is a Past President of the American College of Sports Medicine. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Sport and Health Science (JSHS).Dr. Carol Ewing Garber is Professor of Movement Sciences and Education and Chair of the Department of Biobehavioral Sciences at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she also serves as the Director of the Graduate Program in Applied (Exercise) Physiology and Director of the EXerT Clinic for Exercise Testing and Prescription. She is a clinical exercise physiologist who studies the benefits of exercise in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases across the lifespan—from toddlers to older adults—and her work targets people living in low-resourced communities. Professor Garber is a Past President of the American College of Sports Medicine, and she is a recipient of the 2019 Citation Award from that organization. She is the author of over 130 published articles and book chapters.

Dr. Gregore Iven Mielke received his B.A. in Physical Education (2010), and M.Sc. (2012) and Ph.D. in Epidemiology (2017), from the Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil. Currently, he is a Research Fellow in the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland. With expertise in population-based cohort studies, his research is focused on physical activity and sedentary behaviour, with the goal of creating opportunities for improving public health. he has been involved in a variety of cohort studies, including HABITAT Study, the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health and the Pelotas(Brazil) Birth Cohort Studies. Before moving to Australia in 2018, he had professional experience working on the Coordination of Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Health Promotion in the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Dr. Mielke's interest is in measuring and understanding inequalities in population health,particularly in relation to physical activity and sedentary behavior.

Dr. Wendy Brown is Professor of Physical Activity and Health in the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences at the University of Queensland. Her research focuses on the behavioral epidemiology of physical activity, sitting time, and weight gain across the adult life span, with emphases on women, working adults,retirees, and those with chronic health problems. Wendy has published numerous papers in the peer reviewed literature, and in books, monographs and the lay press. Many of her papers are cited in government and peak body policy documents which guide prevention and health promotion efforts, in Australia and internationally.Wendy was a founding Board Member of the International Society of Physical Activity and Health. She has served on the Boards of Sports Medicine professional bodies in both the USA (ACSM) and Australia (SMA), and is regularly invited to speak at national and international conferences. Wendy was a founding researcher with the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health, which has been tracking (among other things) activity,sitting, weight change, and health outcomes in adult women for the last 23 years.

Professor Mihajlo (Michael) Jakovljevic M.D., Ph.D. is an appointed WHO EACHR Committee member in advisory capacity to the Cabinet of WHO Regional Director for Europe. He is a Health Economist, Clinical Pharmacology Specialist, and a Full Professor heading the Department of Global Health, Economics, and Policy at the University of Kragujevac, situated in a historical capital of Serbia. Currently he remains engaged as a Visiting Research Fellow of the Division of Health Economics at Lund University, Sweden, and an external network affiliate of the CHTF IHME University of Washington, Seattle, USA. Currently he serves in various Editorial roles on behalf of several prestigious journals: Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation,Globalization and Health, Frontiers in Public Health, Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics & Outcomes Research, and Journal of Medical Economics. For his deeds and professional standing, in spring 2015 he was the only nominated candidate for the International Health Economics Association (IHEA) Board of Directors Elections, based in Eastern Europe. Professor Jakovljevic's long-term focus of interest remains on health financing and affordability issues in the emerging global markets.

Dr. Ming-Kai Chin is the Vice President, Global Affairs and Research, HOPSports, Inc., USA and received his Ph.D. in exercise physiology at University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA in 1985. As an editor of 8 books and author of over 200 publications in scientific and sports journals in English and Chinese, Dr. Chin has offered over 140 keynote and invited presentations, and over 90 conference paper presentations internationally.A Fellow of AIESEP and Research Consortium of SHAPE America, he is one of the 4 Founders and Former President, Asian Council of Exercise and Sports Science (ACESS) and was the Editor-in-Chief of Asian Journal of Exercise and Sports Science (AJESS) from 2001-2015. In 2015, Dr. Chin was awarded the Medail of Manuel Gomes Tubino by FIEP and has been elected as the Founding President, BRICS Council of Exercise & Sports Science (BRICSCESS) and is the Founder and President, the Foundation For Global Community Health (GCH).