Biography
Dominika Pindus completed her PhD in Physical Activity, Public Health, and Cognition at Loughborough University in Leicestershire, United Kingdom. She joined The Department of Kinesiology and Community Health from a postdoctoral research position in the Department of Psychology at Northeastern University, where she was mentored by former KCH professor Dr. Charles Hillman. Her research there focused on the relationship between physical activity and cognitive control in preadolescents. She also investigated relationships among sedentary time, physical activity, and working memory in preadolescents. Prior to Northeastern University, Dr. Pindus completed a postdoctoral position in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Cambridge in England. She will continue her research in the area of exercise psychology within the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health.
“What attracted me to the position was the opportunity to work at an excellent institution and to pursue research in areas I am passionate about—physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and neurocognitive function—in the leading kinesiology department in the country,” Dr. Pindus said. “I am excited about conducting interdisciplinary work in this area.”
Research Description
My laboratory webpage: Physical Activity and Neurocognitive Health Laboratory
Additional Campus Affiliations
Assistant Professor, Kinesiology and Community Health
Affiliate, Center for Social & Behavioral Science
Recent Publications
Guan, K., Yang, J., Cheval, B., Health, M., Herold, F., Werneck, A. O., Lowe, C. J., Hallgren, M., Tari, B., Pindus, D., Falck, R. S., Gerber, M., Haegele, J. A., Kramer, A. F., Owen, N., Hillman, C. H., Guo, T., & Zou, L. (2025). Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between sedentary behavior and behavioral problems in children with overweight/obesity. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 29, Article 100698. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhpa.2025.100698
Kuang, J., Lloyd, K. M., Ligeza, T. S., Bashir, N., Martin, H., Shanmugam, R., Pickerill, L., Liang, S., Syed, T., Tewell, P., Sharma, A., Quiroz, F. B., Stanfield, C., Herrera, B. M., Yu, Q., Cannavale, C. N., Zou, L., Burd, N. A., Khan, N. A., ... Pindus, D. M. (2025). Interrupting sitting with moderate-intensity physical activity breaks improves inhibitory control in adults with overweight and obesity: Findings from the SITLess pilot randomized crossover trial. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 28, Article 100671. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhpa.2025.100671
Pindus, D. M., Paluska, S., So, J., Wyczesany, M., Ligeza, T. S., Sarol, J., Kuang, J., Quiroz, F. B., Shanmugam, R., Syed, T., Kos, M., Khan, N., Hillman, C., & Kramer, A. (2025). Breaking prolonged sitting with high-intensity interval training to improve cognitive and brain health in middle-aged and older adults: A protocol for the pilot feasibility HIIT2SITLess trial. BMJ Open, 15(5), Article e095415. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-095415
Pindus, D. M., Lloyd, K. M., Ligeza, T. S., Askow, A., McKenna, C., Bashir, N., Martin, H., Quiroz, F. B., Herrera, B. M., Cannavale, C., Kuang, J., Yu, Q., Kos, M., Brown, C. S., von Ash, T., Zou, L., Burd, N. A., Khan, N. A., Kramer, A. F., & Hillman, C. H. (2025). Interrupting sitting with moderate-intensity physical activity breaks improves cognitive processing speed in adults with overweight and obesity: Findings from the SITLess pilot randomized crossover trial. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 209, Article 112519. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2025.112519
Wang, Y. B., Bigliassi, M., Cheval, B., Yu, Q., Maltagliati, S., Zhang, Z., Herold, F., Chen, Y., Dupuy, O., Gao, Y., Hou, M., Fessler, L., Kuang, J., Gerber, M., Heath, M., Pindus, D. M., Mao, Z. X., Terry, P. C., & Zou, L. (2025). Effects of self-selected audiovisual stimuli on affective responses and cortical oxygenation in the prefrontal cortex during acute endurance exercise: An fNIRS study. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 29, Article 100688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhpa.2025.100688