Nicolaas P. Pronk, PhD

Elected to Task Force: 2004

Nicolaas P. Pronk, PhD is a member of the Community Preventive Services Task Force. Dr. Pronk is currently vice president for health management and health science officer at HealthPartners in Minneapolis, Minnesota and also a senior research investigator at the HealthPartners Research Foundation. Dr. Pronk holds an adjunct faculty position as professor of society, human development, and health at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Pronk is widely published in both the scientific and practice literature, and he is a national and international speaker on population health and health promotion. Dr. Pronk is president of the International Association for Worksite Health Promotion (IAWHP). Formerly, Dr. Pronk served on the Clinical Obesity Research Panel at the National Institutes of Health, the Carter Center Medical Home initiative, the Defense Health Board (Armed Forces Epidemiological Board), the Health Promotion Advisory Panel at NCQA, and the Institute of Medicine’s Committee to Assess Health Promotion Programs at NASA. He is the senior editor of ACSM’s Worksite Health Handbook, Second Edition and the author of the scientific background paper for the U.S. National Physical Activity Plan for Business and Industry.

Dr. Pronk received his doctorate degree in exercise physiology at Texas A&M University and completed his post-doctoral studies in behavioral medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Service on international/national research, practice or policy boards or committees

• President of the International Association for Worksite Health Promotion
• Advisory Board for the Center for Work, Health, and Wellbeing at the Harvard School of Public Health
• Advisory Board for the Healthier Workforce Center of Excellence at the University of Iowa, College of Public Health
• Carter Center Medical Home Initiative
• Committee on valuing community-based, non-clinical prevention policies and wellness strategies at the Institute of Medicine
• Faculty member for the WHO Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases Seminar; Finnish Ministry of Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland
• Board member, HealthPartners Institute of Medical Education
• Education Committee for the Exercise is Medicine initiative at the American College of Sports Medicine

Service on recent Community Guide reviews

• Prioritization Committee
• Annual Report to Congress Committee
• Worksite reviews
• Cardiovascular disease reviews

National research or practice awards

• Fellow, Association for Worksite Health Promotion (FAWHP) (2000)
• Fellow, American College of Sports Medicine (FACSM) (2001)

Recent Selected Publications

1. Pronk NP, Lowry M, Maciosek M, Gallagher J. The association between health assessment-derived summary health scores and health care costs. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2011;53(8):872-8.
2. Pronk NP, Katz AS, Gallagher J, Austin E, Mullen D, Lowry M, Kottke TE. Adherence to optimal lifestyle behaviors is related to emotional health indicators among employees. Population Health Management 2011;14(2):59-67. [Epub 2010 Nov 19.]
3. Pronk NP, Lowry M, Kottke TE, Austin E, Gallagher J, Katz A. The association between optimal lifestyle adherence and short-term incidence of chronic conditions among employees. Population Health Management 2010;13(6):289-95. Epub 2010 Nov 19.
4. Pronk NP. Physical activity promotion in business and industry: Evidence, context, and recommendations for a national plan. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 2009, 6 (Suppl. 2), S220-35.
5. Pronk NP, Kottke TE. Physical activity promotion as a strategic corporate priority to improve worker health and business performance. Preventive Medicine, 2009;49, 316-21. (doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2009.06.025).
6. Pronk NP, Editor. ACSM’s Worksite Health Handbook, Second Edition. A Guide to Building Healthy and Productive Companies. 2nd Edition. Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL. 2009.