Candidates
President
Mike Holmstrup
Dr. Michael Holmstrup is an Assistant Professor of Exercise
Science at Slippery Rock University, where he teaches courses
in Exercise Physiology, Resistance Training, Fitness
Assessment, and Measurement and Statistics in Exercise
Science. He completed both his B.S. and M.S. degrees in
Exercise Physiology at East Stroudsburg University, and
received his Ph.D. in Science Education/Exercise Science from
Syracuse University. Michael’s recent research examines
cognitive and procedural aspects of health-related fitness
assessment, and the safe and effective implementation of
kettlebells. He enjoys mentoring undergraduate students in the
research process, and exploring some of the directions that their
creativity inspires. Michael has a passion for everything related
to weight training, and has worked with SRU students to
implement a weekly Resistance Training Workshop for the past
2 years. He has served the MARC region for the past several years in various capacities
including Student Representative, Secretary/Treasurer, and Member-at-Large. During his tenure
with the organization, he helped to develop the popular College Bowl, Meet the Experts, and
Fitness Challenge activities. Michael hopes to contribute back to the MARC region in the role of
President, as our regional chapter has provided valuable mentorship, community, and
professional development opportunities over the years. He will bring his years of experience on
the MARC board to play in ensuring that these opportunities continue for upcoming students and
young professionals in our region. In his free time, Michael enjoys spending time with his wife
Ria, and children Christian, Mia, and new addition Jack.
Secretary
(select one)
John Abt
Dr. John Abt is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences where he is faculty in the graduate programs. He also serves as Associate Director of the Neuromuscular Research Laboratory, Warrior Human Performance Research Center. He is a member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and American College of Sports Medicine and is a Certified Athletic Trainer by the NATA Board of Certification. Dr. Abt completed his PhD in Rehabilitation Science at the University of Pittsburgh as well as his Master’s degree in Sports Medicine. His research for the past 10 years has involved studying injury prevention and human performance methods in the military and Special Operations. Dr. Abt is currently a Member at Large on the MARC Executive Committee and previously served on the MARC research and program committees.
Doug Burns
Doug serves as the program director for Sport and Exercise Science at DeSales University. This undergraduate program provides the bachelor of science degree for the 114 students currently enrolled in the major. He teaches courses in Human Structure and Function, Exercise
Physiology, Fitness Assessment and Exercise Prescription, Injury Prevention and Care, contributes to the Advanced Exercise Programming course. He completed his undergraduate degree in physiology at Washington State University working with Philip Gollnick, and his graduate work with Elsworth Buskirk at The Pennsylvania State University. Following three years of research in life-support equipment for aviators at the Naval Air Development Center, he taught physics and research courses at Archbishop Wood High School in Warminster, PA. Called to ordained ministry, he was ordained to priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church and has taught at DeSales University for the past 15 years. In addition to teaching and mentoring student research activities, Doug serves the University as chair of the Institutional Review Board and as the institution’s Faculty Athletic Representative.
Member at Large
(Select two)
Dave Edwards
Dr. David Edwards is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE where he teaches
undergraduate and graduate courses and coordinates the Applied Physiology doctoral program. He received his BS from the University of Florida, MS from Wake Forest University, and PhD from the University of Florida. His research focus is in the area of vascular physiology and is funded by the National Institutes of Health. He involves both undergraduate and graduate students in his research and encourages his students to present their work at scientific meetings with many routinely presenting at the annual MARC-ACSM meeting. Dr. Edwards has organized sessions, given talks, and participated on the annual meeting program committee for MARC-ACSM and looks forward to the opportunity to serve MARC-ACSM as a member-at-large.
Kevin Heffernan
Kevin Heffernan is an assistant Professor and director of the Human Performance Laboratory (HPL) in the Department of Exercise Science at Syracuse University. He received his BS in Exercise Science from the University of Scranton, his MS in Applied Physiology and Nutrition from Teachers College- Columbia
University, and his PhD in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the guidance and dedicated mentorship of Dr. Bo Fernhall. He has been a member of ACSM since 2000 and serves as a member of the ACSM Foundation grant review committee. He received the New Investigator Award from ACSM in 2010. Dr. Heffernan engages students in an active lab
environment.The HPL is currently conducting several funded studies on the interaction of diet, nutritional supplementation and exercise (with an emphasis on resistance exercise) on vascular function across the human lifespan. He thoroughly (thoroughly) enjoys his time in the lab collecting data with students and writing papers with students. Almost all of his publications have student trainees (undergraduate students, graduate students, medical students, post docs etc) as co-authors. Students in the HPL regularly present at MARC and the national ACSM conference and have received regional and national recognition for their scholarship.
Member at Large (cont.)
Matthew Muller
Dr. Muller is currently Assistant Professor of Medicine at Penn State Hershey Heart & Vascular Institute/Penn State College of Medicine. His experiments focus on how the cardiovascular system adapts to activation of the sympathetic nervous system (i.e., the “fight or flight response”). To study this process, he uses the techniques of microneurography and
transthoracic Doppler echocardiography as well as beat-by-beat measures of heart rate and blood pressure in human subjects. Over the past few years, he has focused on three specific areas of research: 1) effect of cold temperature and exercise on the cardiovascular system; 2) coronary vasodilation and left ventricular function in response to beta-adrenergic stimulation; and 3) neurovascular responses to arterial chemoreflex activation. He uses a variety of pharmacological and physiological approaches to better understand autonomic control of the
circulation during stress. This is a fascinating area to study because sympathetic stressors (e.g., exercise, hypoxia, and mental stress) often trigger heart attack and stroke in susceptible populations. Dr. Muller has published 40 peer-review publications in the past 5 years and serves on the MARC ACSM research council.
Kory Stauffer
Kory A. Stauffer, Ph.D, ATC, HFS is currently an Assistant Professor and Lab Coordinator in the Sport & Exercise Science Department at Gannon
University. Kory recently became program coordinator for the Master’s degree in Sport and Human Performance. Kory has presented at the MARC-ACSM conference and has served as a moderator for both poster and speaker sessions. Kory is running for the position of Member-at-Large because of his growing interest in the MARC-ACSM and wants to be involved in the organization and planning of the yearly conference. Kory would also like to use this opportunity to network and meet faculty from other institutions for future collaboration.
Physician at Large
(Select one)
Mark Lavellee
Mark E. Lavallee, M.D., C.S.C.S., F.A.C.S.M., received both his undergraduate and medical school degrees from Pennsylvania State University. After completing a family medicine residency at York Hospital in York, PA, and a sports medicine fellowship at the Crozer-Keystone Health System in Philadelphia, PA, he acquired the C.A.Q. in sports medicine and his certification as Strength and Condition Specialist from the NSCA. In 1998, He was recruited by the Memorial Family Medicine Residency to start the South Bend Sports Medicine Fellowship, where he currently acts as its co-director. Dr. Lavallee is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, has served on the board of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (2004-2008), associate editor of the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine (2004-2008), and had a faculty appointment as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Family Medicine at Indiana University College of Medicine.
On a national and international level, Dr. Lavallee has been the IWF medical director for the World Masters Weightlifting championships in Glascow, Scotland (1999), Orlando, Florida (2000), Kefalonia, Greece (2001), the World Masters Games in Melbourne, Australia (2002) Savannah, GA (2003), Vienna, Austria (2004), World Masters Games in Edmonton, Alberta (2005), Bordeaux, France, (2006)
Karcinbarcika, Hungary (2007), Kefalonia, Greece (2008), Sydeny, Austalia (2009) and Chiechenow, Poland (2010) and Lviv, Ukraine (2012) and the 2013 World Masters Games in Turin, Italy (2013) and Copenhagen, Denmark (2014).
Dr. Lavallee sees both family medicine and sports medicine patients in his two practice sites in York, PA.. His areas of clinical interest include musculoskeletal ultrasound, Platelet-rich plasma injections, fracture care, concussion management, strength sports, and FAST technique by TENEX. When not at work, he enjoys distance swimming, weightlifting, gunsmithing, collecting coins, working on his old jeeps, Scouting and spending time with his wife, Tara and his two sons.
Mark Mirabelli
A graduate of Cornell University, Dr. Mirabelli earned his medical degree from New York Medical College and completed a Family Medicine Residency at the University of Michigan where he served as chief resident. He completed a Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Family Medicine and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of
Rochester. He is the director of the primary care sports medicine fellowship and the family medicine residency's musculoskeletal curriculum. Dr Mirabelli serves as faculty in the sports concussion center and the hip and knee arthritis clinic. Dr. Mirabelli serves as a team physician for St John Fisher College, the Rochester Knighthawks and Rochester Rattlers and is a consultant to multiple other professional and college teams. He is a ring side physician and former medical advisory board member for the New York State Athletic Commission. He is an author of multiple papers and textbook.
