Key Project Personnel

Tamara Valovich McLeod, PhD, ATC, FNATA
John P. Wood, D.O., Endowed Chair for Sports Medicine
PBRN Director
Dr. Valovich McLeod is an Associate Professor in the Athletic Training Program and director of the Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory at A.T. Still University. Dr. Valovich McLeod is the Director of the PBRN, principal scientist for pediatric research, including concussion specific studies and pediatric overuse injuries. As the Director, she is responsible for all investigations within the PBRN, oversees other PBRN personnel, and communicates regularly with clinical practice sites and the soon to be established advisory board. She is also responsible for coordinating studies in her content areas. Dr. Valovich McLeod teaches an Evidence-Based Practice course to both Post-Professional athletic training students and doctoral level healthcare professionals. Additionally, she is a Co-Principal Investigator on ongoing studies, including the development and implementation of the CORE-AT EMR system and studies the impact of sport-related musculoskeletal injury on HRQOL in adolescent athletes. She is also the principal investigator of a study assessing concussion, headache and HRQOL in athletes sponsored by the National Headache Foundation. She has co-authored several published or in-press manuscripts on the topics of evidence-based practice and healthcare outcomes. In addition, Dr. Valovich McLeod serves as an outcomes grant reviewer for the NATA Foundation and as an Editorial Board member of the Journal of Sport Rehabilitation, Athletic Training and Sports Health Care and Journal of Athletic Training.

Alison Snyder, PhD, ATC
Assistant Director of Research Support
Dr. Snyder is an Associate Professor in the Athletic Training Program and Director of the Center for Clinical Outcomes Studies at A.T. Still University. Within the PBRN, Dr. Snyder is the principal scientist for Outcomes and Surveillance Research. In this role, she oversees our research support personnel and coordinates scientific studies in the areas of clinical outcomes assessment and epidemiology. Dr. Snyder is a Co-Principal Investigator on ongoing studies, including the development and implementation of the CORE-AT EMR system and an investigation of the impact of sport-related musculoskeletal injury on HRQOL in adolescent athletes. She has co-authored several published or in-press manuscripts on the topics of evidence-based practice and healthcare outcomes. Dr. Snyder is in the last months of a post-doctoral fellowship in Clinical Outcomes Assessment and completed a Certificate in Epidemiology (18 credits) from the University of Michigan. Additionally, Dr. Snyder has taught a healthcare outcomes course to both Post-Professional athletic training students and doctoral level healthcare professionals. Dr. Snyder is a member of the NATA's Outcomes Advisor Panel, a NATA Foundation Outcomes Grant Reviewer, and Co-Guest Editor for the Journal of Sport Rehabilitation's special issue on Clinical Outcomes.

John Parsons, PhD, ATC
Director of Health Informatics and Policy
Dr. Parsons is an Assistant Professor and the Athletic Training Program Director at A.T. Still University. He serves as the Director Health Informatics and Policy of the PBRN and is a scientist with interest in HRQOL outcomes, informatics, and technology. Dr. Parsons instructs a Healthcare Informatics and Technology course for Post-professional athletic training students and is the point of contact for technology-related issues. He has published several articles and given national presentations on technology and technology-related topics and has experience in technology intensive research projects and data management. His is an expert in technology utilization, HIPPA/FERPA issues, and practice patterns related to healthcare professions. He is a Co-investigator on the study of sport-related musculoskeletal injury on HRQOL in adolescent athletes. Dr. Parsons serves on the Post-Professional Education Committee, which will be beneficial in disseminating project information to other athletic education programs.

Barton Anderson, MS, ATC
EMR Manager
Mr. Anderson is an Assistant Professor and Clinical Education Coordinator in the Athletic Training Program at A.T. Still University. Within the PBRN, Mr. Anderson serves as the EMR Manager and the clinical practice site coordinator for the PBRNs Arizona secondary schools. As the EMR Manager, Mr. Anderson serves as the liaison between clinical practice sites and Essentialtalk™. Mr. Anderson has clinical and technology experience with EMR's and was integral in establishing the CORE-AT EMR system. His over 10 years of clinical practice is instrumental in assisting clinicians with maximizing the usefulness of the CORE-AT EMR system.

Kenneth Lam, ScD, ATC
Clinical Practice Site Coordinator
Dr. Kenneth Lam is our Post-Doctoral Research Fellow and serves as the Clinical Practice Site Coordinator of within the PBRN. Dr. Lam oversees the day-to-day function of the EMR and will monitor completeness of data collection as a means for quality control. Additionally, Dr. Lam is integral in delivering our clinical practice site education and training program as well as fielding questions from clinical practice site participants.

Eric L. Sauers, PhD,ATC,FNATA
Research Scientist
Dr. Sauers is an Associate Professor and the Chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences at A.T Still University. Dr. Sauers serves as a scientist within the PBRN, with expertise in studies of shoulder injuries and overhead athletes. He is a Co-investigator on ongoing studies, including the development and implementation of the CORE-AT EMR system, a study on sport-related musculoskeletal injury on HRQOL in adolescent athletes, and the design and development of a region specific patient self-report scale for throwing athletes. Dr. Sauers serves voluntarily on the advisory board of one of their subsidiary companies, Ice Dental Systems, and has assisted them in developing a comprehensive dental practice management system that is in use by the ATSU Dental School. His role on the advisory board has been to promote and plan for the integration of patient self-report instruments for oral health-related quality of life into the system and to develop a centralized data base system from which to examine these issues. Dr. Sauers chairs the Post-Professional Education Committee, and is a member of the Strategic Implementation Team, Executive Committee of the Education Council, Athletic Training Services (i.e., practice guidelines) Steering Committee, and the Pronouncements Committee. He presented at the 2009 Educators Conference on training clinical researchers for evidence-based practice and was an invited speaker at the 2008 NATA Annual Meeting on the topic of "The Future of Athletic Training Education and Evidence-Based Athletic Training". Dr. Sauers is Associate Editor for Clinical Outcomes for the Journal of Sport Rehabilitations, Co-Guest Editor for the Journal of Sport Rehabilitations Clinical Outcomes Special Issue, and an Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Athletic Training.

Kellie C. Huxel, PhD, ATC
Research Scientist
Dr. Huxel is an Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Athletic Training in the Department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences at A. T. Still University. Dr. Huxel is a participating scientist within the PBRN and has interest and expertise in shoulder injuries and conditions. Additionally, she is leading an investigation regarding factors that impact AT and patient utilization of EMR systems in the secondary school setting, an important issue synergistic with this project. Dr. Huxel is a faculty thesis advisor for studies on scapular function and HRQOL, and she has participated in the creation of a specific outcome measure for throwing athletes with shoulder injury, the Functional Arm Scale for Throwers (FAST). She serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Sport Rehabilitation and is a manuscript reviewer for the Journal of Athletic Training.

R. Curtis Bay, PhD
Principle Biostatistician
Dr. Bay is an Associate Professor of Biostatistics in the Department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences at A.T. Still University. He serves as the Principal Biostatistician in the PBRN and is responsible for oversight of all research methodologies and analyses of projects in the PBRN, including this project. His roles include managing the project database and performing statistical analysis of the de-identified aggregated data provided by Essentialtalk™ . Dr. Bay is a Co-investigator on ongoing studies, including the development and implementation of an EMR system, a study on sport-related musculoskeletal injury on HRQOL in adolescent athletes, and a study of outcomes in patients seen in a special needs dental clinic. He is also the principal scientist involved with the cost-effectiveness analyses.

Kathleen Mathieson, PhD
Human Subjects Protection Compliance Officer
Dr. Mathieson is an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics in the Department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences at A.T Still University. She serves as the PBRN Human Subjects Protection Compliance Officer and a scientist in the areas of HRQOL, gender differences, and sociological issues related to adolescents and sport. Dr. Mathieson has served as a research analyst and biostatistician at a major teaching hospital in Phoenix (2002-2007) and as an assistant professor of biostatistics at A.T. Still University (2009-present). She has provided design and analysis support to numerous research projects and grants, resulting in publications in over 13 peer-reviewed journals, several book chapters, and numerous presentations at national and international conferences. Additionally, her expertise in surveillance research and epidemiology, including methods and analyses, is integral to the PBRN.

Research Support

Mariel Yakuboff, MS, ATC
Research Coordinator
Mariel Yakuboff is the Research Coordinator for the Mesa campus of A.T. Still University. Ms. Yakuboff oversees the day-to-day function of the EMR, including communicating with users regarding logistics of the system. Additionally, Ms. Yakuboff is integral in delivering our clinical practice site education and training program as well as fielding questions from clinical practice site participants. Ms. Yakuboff has used the system as a clinician in the secondary school setting for nearly two years and is available to offer insight for current clinical practice site participants.

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