Linda S. Pescatello, PhD

Department of Kinesiology
College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources
University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT

Dr. Pescatello is Distinguished Professor of Kinesiology at the University of Connecticut (UConn). She holds joint appointments in the Departments of Allied Health Sciences, Nutritional Sciences, and Physiology and Neurobiology at UConn, and the Department of Community Medicine and Health Care at the UConn School of Medicine. Her research focuses on exercise prescription to optimize health benefits — particularly among adults with hypertension and overweight and obesity — and on genetic and clinical determinants of the response of health-related phenotypes to exercise, particularly blood pressure and muscle strength. Dr. Pescatello was an associate editor of the eighth edition of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, is Senior Editor of the ninth edition of the ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, and recently served as an expert panel and writing team member on an update of the ACSM’s exercise pre-participation health screening recommendations. She has authored over 150 manuscripts, 4 books, and 16 book chapters, and has had numerous grants funded by UConn, the American Heart Association, the National Dairy Council, NIH, and USDA. Dr. Pescatello has served in multiple leadership roles for ACSM.