Education

  • B.A., Hampton University, Hampton VA, 1993, Psychology
  • Ph.D., University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 2002, Clinical Psychology

Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests

Dr. Newton's research interests center on addressing health disparities in African American children, adults, and older adults.  Although much of his work involves developing physical activity promotion interventions, he also engages in weight loss studies.

Dr. Newton utilizes community-based and technology-based interventions to address health disparities. Currently, Dr. Newton leads studies assessing the effect of a community-based physical activity intervention in older African American adults and a mobile phone based intervention targeting increased physical activity in young children. Dr. Newton is also involved in two primary care weight management programs and several childhood physical activity and/or weight management studies.

Department: Preventive Behavioral Medicine

Selected Publications

  1. Newton, R. L., Jr., Carter, L. A., Zhang, D., Larrivee, S., Kennendy, B. M., Harris, M., Hsia, D. (In Press). A cluster randomized church-based weight loss intervention using text messages in African Americans: The LEAN Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research. doi: 10.2196/jmir.9816.
  2. Broyles, S. B., Marker, A. M., Myers, C., Drazba, K., Church, T. S., Newton, R. L., Jr. (2016) The Influence of Neighborhood Crime on Increases in Physical Activity during a Pilot Physical Activity Intervention in Children. Journal of Urban Health, 93, 271-8.
  3. Staiano, A. E., Marker, A. M., Beyl, R. A., Hsia, D. S., Katzmarzyk, P. T., Newton, R. L. A randomized controlled trial of dance exergaming for exercise training in overweight and obese adolescent girls. Pediatric Obesity, Feb 26. doi: 10.1111/ijpo.12117
  4. Staiano, A.E., Harrington, D.M., Johannsen, N.M., Newton, R.L., Sarzynski, M.A., Swift, D.L., Katzmarzyk, P.T. (2015). Uncovering physiological mechanisms for health disparities in type 2 diabetes. Ethnicity & Disease, 25, 31-7.
  5. Newton, R. L., Jr., Johnson, W. D., Hendrick, C., Harris, M., Andrews, E. III., Johannsen N., Rodarte, R. Q. Hsia, D. S., Church, T. S. (2015). A randomized controlled exercise training trial on insulin sensitivity in African American men: The ARTIIS study. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 43, 75-82. doi:10.1016/j.cct.2015.05.004
  6. Newton, R. L., Jr., Griffith, D. M., Kearney, W. B., Bennett, G. G. (2014) A systematic review of weight loss, physical activity, and dietary interventions involving African American men. Obesity Reviews, 15 Suppl4, 93-106.
  7. Wiese LAK, Gibson A, Guest MA, Nelson AR, Gupta A, Weaver R, Carmichael O, Lewis JP, Lindauer A, Loi S, Peterson R, Radford K, Rhodus EK, Wong CG, Zuelsdorff M, Saudi LG, Valdivieso E, Franzen S, Pope CN, Killian T, Shrethra HL, Heyn P, Siang NK, Prusaczyk B, John S, Kulshreshtha A, Sheffer J, Daniels EV, Besser L, Tolea MI, Miller J, Musyimi C, Corkey J, Yank V, Williams CL, Rahemi Z, Park J, Magzamen S, Newton RL Jr., Harrington C, Flatt JD, Arora S, Walter S, Griffin P, Babulal GM. Global rural health disparities in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias: State of the science. Alz Dement. doi:10.1002/alz.13104
  8. Katzmarzyk PT, Mire EF, Martin CK, Newton, RL Jr., Apolzan JW, Denstel KD, Johnson WE, The PROPEL Research Group. Physical Activity and Weight Loss in a Pragmatic Weight Loss Trial. Int J Obes (Lond). 2023. doi: 10.1038/s41366-023-01260-1. PMID: 36702913
  9. *Gwizdala KL, Brouillete R, Beyl R, Johnson W, Hebert C, Cater L, Harris M, †Newton RL Jr., †Carmichael OT. Effect of exercise on cognition in older African Americans: a pilot randomized trial. Front Aging Neurosci. 2022 Jul 22;14:921978. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.921978. PMID: 35936770.
  10. Newton RL, Jr., Beyl R, Hebert C, Harris M, Carter L, Gahan W, Carmichael O. A physical activity intervention in older African Americans: the PAACE pilot randomized controlled trial. Med Sci Sports Exerc;. 54(10): 1625 – 1634. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000002956. PMID: 35522253.
  11. Soule E, Ford S, Newton RL Jr., Thomas A, Eissenberg T. Barriers preventing African American Scientists from serving on NIH Scientific Review Groups. JAMA Open Network. 2022 Jul 1;5(7):e2222085. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.22085.PMID: 35816311.