Dr. Gao most recently was a faculty member at University of Utah. He received his doctorate from the Louisiana State University. Dr. Gao’s primary area of research has focused on the promotion of children’s health-related physical fitness and fighting childhood obesity through school-based physical activity intervention programs (e.g., physical education programs, after-school physical activity programs, recess programs) and ways to motivate student to participate in physical activities. Dr. Gao has received several grants associated with his research.