James H. Rimmer, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Disability and Human Development and Adjunct Professor in Movement Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He also is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Northwestern University, which is affiliated with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

For the past 25 years, Dr. Rimmer has been developing and directing physical activity and health promotion programs for people with disabilities. He has published more than 85 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on various topics related to physical activity, health promotion, secondary conditions and disability. He is director of two federally funded centers, the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability, and the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Recreational Technologies and Exercise Physiology Benefiting People with Disabilities. Dr. Rimmer has published standardized measurement instruments that can be used to evaluate the accessibility of fitness and recreation facilities for people with disabilities, and was recently funded by NIH to develop a health empowerment zone for people with disabilities in and around the UIC medical campus.

Dr. Rimmer is currently completing a CDC-funded randomized controlled trial titled, “A Physician-Referred Community-Based Approach to Increasing Awareness and Sustainability of Physical Activity for Overweight Adults with Mobility Limitations.” He is a Healthy People 2010 Panel Member and was involved in the development of the Chapter 6 Workplan, Disability and Secondary Conditions. Dr. Rimmer serves on several national committees including the Scientific and Medical Advisory Board for Life Fitness Academy, and the Health Disparities Advisory Committee to the Director of CDC.