Staff - Neurocognitive Kinesiology Laboratory - Department of Kinesiology and Community Health - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Meet Our Research Team

Laboratory Director

Dr. Hillman's primary research emphasis is to better understand factors that relate to increased cognitive health and effective functioning of individuals across the lifespan. Specifically, his research focuses on the relationship between both acute and chronic physical activity participation and cognitive function from a neuroelectric perspective. Using this approach, he has examined the relationship of cardiovascular activity on underlying processes involved in attention, memory, and processing speed. Generally, results from this line of research have suggested that cardiovascular activity benefits cognitive processing for tasks that require greater amounts of executive control; an effect that is less pronounced for tasks requiring lesser amounts of executive control. Accordingly, his findings indicate that cardiovascular activity may have a greater affect on cognitive processes that are more effortful, rather than a general benefit on overall cognitive function.

Dr. Hillman is as an Associate Professor with his primary appointment in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also holds appointments in Psychology, Internal Medicine, the Neuroscience Program, the Division of Nutritional Sciences, and the Beckman Institute for Avanced Science and Technology.

Contact Information

213 Louise Freer Hall
906 S. Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801

Phone: (217) 244-2663
Fax: (217) 244-7322
E-mail: chhillma@illinois.edu

Download Curriculum Vitae

Graduate Research Assistants

Matthew B. Pontifex, B.S. - Doctoral Student
	Matt is currently in his third year as a doctoral student but his sixth year working in the Neurocognitive Kinesiology lab. His primary research interest lies in the area of developmental neurocognitive kinesiology, employing neuroelectric measurements to study the relationship between exercise behaviors and higher-order cognitive function during preadolescence. Although many areas of cognitive psychology seek to understand cognitive function from a disease and dysfunction perspective; the assessment of changes associated with health oriented behaviors allows for a unique perspective, particularly as they relate to pediatric populations. His current research focus is on the influence of both acute and chronic aspects of physical activity and their influence upon developmental neurocognition, with a particular interest in the modulation of cognitive control.	Contact Information 357 Louise Freer Hall 906 S. Goodwin Avenue Urbana, IL 61801 Phone: (217) 333-3893 Fax: (217) 244-7322 E-mail: pontifex@illinois.edu Download Curriculum Vitae

Chien-Ting "Kelvin" Wu, M.S. - Doctoral Student
	Kelvin is currently entering his first year in the laboratory. Kelvin's interests are still developing.	Contact Information 357 Louise Freer Hall 906 S. Goodwin Avenue Urbana, IL 61801 Phone: (217) 333-3893 Fax: (217) 244-7322 E-mail: wu46@illinois.edu Download Curriculum Vitae

Dana Ghareeb, B.S. - Masters Student
	Dana is currently in her first year in the laboratory. Dana's interests involve the influence of nutrition on cognitive function.	Contact Information 357 Louise Freer Hall 906 S. Goodwin Avenue Urbana, IL 61801 Phone: (217) 333-3893 Fax: (217) 244-7322 E-mail: ghareeb1@illinois.edu Download Curriculum Vitae
Phil O'Connor, B.S. - Masters Student
	Phil is currently in his second year as a masters student but his third year in the laboratory. His research interests involve the influence of concussive incidents on neuroelectric indices of action monitoring.	Contact Information 357 Louise Freer Hall 906 S. Goodwin Avenue Urbana, IL 61801 Phone: (217) 333-3893 Fax: (217) 244-7322 E-mail: poconnor@illinois.edu Download Curriculum Vitae
Kevin O’Leary, B.S. - Masters Student
	Kevin is currently entering his first year in the laboratory. Kevin's interests are still developing.	Contact Information 357 Louise Freer Hall 906 S. Goodwin Avenue Urbana, IL 61801 Phone: (217) 333-3893 Fax: (217) 244-7322 E-mail: oleary4@illinois.edu Download Curriculum Vitae

Research Coordinator

Kellie Manka, B.S. - Masters Student

Kellie has recently joined the laboratory as the Research Coordinator for the FITKids Clinical Trial.

Contact Information

357 Louise Freer Hall
906 S. Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801

Phone: (217) 333-3893
Fax: (217) 244-7322
E-mail: kmanka2@illinois.edu

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Mike Brown 3 semesters in the lab	Chris Johnson 3 semesters in the lab	Rodrigo Musuruana 3 semesters in the lab
Lauren Raine 3 semesters in the lab	Michelle Bollaert 2 semester in the lab	Patrick Boyle 2 semester in the lab
Sarah Ostrow 2 semester in the lab	Mark Scudder 1 semester in the lab	Zack Flynn 1 semester in the lab