Rate My Professor Susan Zacharia

Zacharia's research specializes in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for managing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular conditions and arthritis, comprehensive lifestyle interventions to boost physical activity and mitigate disease risk, and interventions to improve balance and functional performance in middle-aged and older adults for fall prevention and healthy aging. Notable publications are "Effects of a Yoga Intervention on Adults with Lower Limb Osteoarthritis: a Randomized Controlled Trial" (2018, American Journal of Health Studies), "Effects of an 8-week Tai Chi exercise program on physical functional performance in middle-aged women" (2013, Journal of Applied Gerontology), and "Internet-based physical activity interventions at the worksite: A systematic review" (2013, American Journal of Health Studies). A Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) since 2016, she has earned the University of Oklahoma's Doctoral Dissertation Research Award (2015) and various travel grants for national conferences. At VCU, she teaches courses on substance abuse, exercise psychology, disease trends, and health behavior change. Zacharia maintains affiliations with the Society for Public Health Education, American Public Health Association, and American College of Sports Medicine, and recently secured a VCU Catalyst Award for her project on cultural line dancing for healthy aging in older African Americans (2022-2023).