A’Naja Newsome is a Lecturer in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Central Florida. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science from Georgia State University and earned a doctoral degree from the University of South Florida.

Newsome is an exercise physiologist and has worked in clinical settings to integrate physical activity and exercise in patient care and rehabilitation. Her research focuses on the role that exercise plays in clinical and mental healthcare. Newsome is also interested in the psychosocial aspects of exercise in health promotion such as self-efficacy and motivation. She has more than a decade of leadership experience in collegiate recreation, clinical exercise physiology, and sport performance coaching. Newsome is a highly regarded content expert in exercise psychology, behavior change, and DEI in physical activity research, assessment, and program evaluation.

Newsome aims to continue her work with the ACSM Exercise is Medicine initiative to increase the integration of physical activity assessment and promotion as a standard in clinical healthcare.