Associate Professor Christopher Kline Honored as Fellow of American Heart Association

Kline’s research contributions connect sleep, exercise, and cardiovascular health

Christopher Kline, associate professor in the Department of Health and Human Development at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education, has been named a Fellow of the American Heart Association, a prestigious designation recognizing substantial contributions to cardiovascular research.

The honor, announced in March 2025, places Kline among a distinguished group of researchers whose work has significantly advanced the field of cardiovascular health. It also opens new research opportunities through access to American Heart Association grant funding.

For Kline, whose research focuses on the intersection of sleep, physical activity, and heart health, the recognition represents years of dedication to understanding how lifestyle factors influence cardiovascular outcomes.

“It’s good to have that independent verification or recognition,” Kline said of the designation. “I hold it in a really high regard, and I feel like it gives legitimacy to my research program and my research interests.”

Pioneering Sleep and Cardiovascular Research

Kline’s journey into sleep research began somewhat serendipitously during his graduate studies at the University of South Carolina. Originally planning to become an exercise physiologist or cross country coach, he was assigned to work with a new faculty member who was studying sleep and circadian rhythms. What started as a graduate assistantship evolved into a passion for understanding the connections between daily behavior and nighttime sleep quality.

“I saw that there was a definite connection between how we behave, how we move during the day, and how well we sleep at night,” Kline explained. “But quite frankly, the quality of the evidence [in research studies] was pretty poor, and I felt like I could make a contribution.”

Kline’s research, which has continued in his nearly 10 years as a faculty member at the School of Education, has yielded several significant findings that are reshaping how medical professionals approach sleep disorders and weight management.

One of his most impactful studies demonstrated that exercise programs meeting basic public health guidelines—walking about two-and-a-half hours per week combined with resistance training—can reduce sleep apnea severity by 25-30%, even if no weight loss occurs.

“Prior to that research, exercise would always be prescribed for people with sleep apnea but really only as a way to lose weight,” Kline said. “It was actually pretty liberating for a lot of the participants because they found that when exercising, even if they didn’t lose weight, they were feeling better, sleeping better, and their sleep apnea was getting better.”

Broader Health Connections

Kline’s research also examines how sleep quality affects weight loss outcomes more broadly. His team discovered that sleep health—which encompasses not just duration but also quality, timing, and consistency—significantly predicts a person’s success in behavioral weight loss interventions.

“We found that people with better sleep health lost more weight during the weight loss intervention,” he said. “The better weight loss seems to manifest through better adherence to the very behaviors that you need to prescribe to in order to lose weight,” Kline added.

This holistic approach to sleep health reflects a broader shift in sleep medicine toward considering multiple facets of sleep rather than focusing solely on getting seven to nine hours per night.

When Kline began his career in the early 2000s, sleep research was a niche topic within exercise science. Today, it is a mainstream focus in cardiovascular health and popular culture, with many bestselling books and podcasts dedicated to sleep optimization.

“If someone had told me that… I would have thought you were crazy,” Kline said.

As sleep continues to gain recognition as a crucial component of overall health, Kline’s research is providing more evidence-based guidance for clinicians and individuals seeking to optimize their cardiovascular health through better sleep and exercise habits.