Faculty, staff and students shine at NEACSM conference; Lara Carlson rocks as president

Lara Carlson, DPE., associate professor in the Westbrook College of Health Professions, recently became the president of the New England Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine (NEACSM). The gavel of presidency was passed to Carlson during the NEACSM annual fall conference, held in Providence Rhode Island, November 13-14, 2014.

In addition to organizing the event, a duty of the incoming president, Carlson also presented at the conference with invited speaker and IndyCar driver Charlie Kimball. 

Michele Polacsek, Ph.D., M.H.S., associate professor in the School of Community and Population Health, served as another invited speaker. Amy Litterini, P.T., D.P.T., assistant clinical professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, and Michael Lawrence, M.S., manager of the Motion Analysis Laboratory (MAL) and adjunct lecturer, gave presentations as well.

In addition, Kaylee LeCavalier (’15) and Chad Lyons (’15), both Applied Exercise Science majors, were honored for their student research.

Carlson’s talk was the first presentation of her pioneering research on motorsports physiology during competitive racecar driving. Her presentation, "The 200 mph Athlete," was one of two related to racecar driving that led into Kimball’s lecture, "Living in the Fast Lane."

Polacsek presented "School Food & Beverage Marketing & its Impact on School Environments;" Litterini discussed "Using Physical Activity in the Care of Cancer Survivors;" and Lawrence presented "Squat Like a Powerlifter."

Both LeCavalier and Lyons were awarded undergraduate research grants. Lyons, whose research was titled "Force Production and Muscle Activity during Sprint Start while Pulling a Weighted Sled," was advised by Lawrence.

LeCavalier also received the Research Investigator Award for her examination of the influence of environmental exposure on immune responses following an acute anaerobic training session—a study advised by Carlson. "Salivary Lymphocyte Responses Following an Acute Bout of Anaerobic Exercise in Warm vs. Cool Climates" was based on research conducted in Maine and on a glacier in Iceland.

A collaboration between UNE and AboGen, a Maine biotechnology company, enabled LeCavalier to utilize cutting edge technology to collect saliva and obtain the same information from it as only blood could have provided in the past. The same technology from AboGen is now being utilized in an ongoing research project on saliva blood cell isolation, conducted by Carlson and Ed Bilsky, Ph.D., vice president for Research and Scholarship.

Conference highlights included a presentation of entertainment combined with research. Carlson, a drummer, joined fellow conference presenter Tim Lighfoot of Texas A&M, who plays bass guitar, as well as two other musicians for Lightfoot’s presentation, titled "Rockin’ Physiology." The presentation was an exploration of the physical and mental stresses experienced by performing musicians. While wearing heart rate monitors, the performers demonstrated via real time that playing music induced moderate to heavy physiological stress, especially during public performance. The group extended their performance by jamming during the conference reception for an audience of approximately 700 people.

Carlson’s presidency of NEACSM is for a three-year term. She was previously elected as president in 2006 and is the first person in the organization’s 40-year history to hold the honor twice

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.