Epidemiology for Athletic Trainers

Melanie Adams, PhD, CSCS, AT-Ret has been an Assistant Professor at Keene State College since 2012. She teaches courses in Exercise Science and Athletic Training. Prior to completing a doctorate degree in Kinesiology, Dr. Adams was a certified athletic trainer for 15 years at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and III levels. She brings a variety of experiences to her teaching and scholarship. Although the health and performance of competitive athletes were her early focuses, she is currently more interested in promoting physical activity across the lifespan. She emphasizes evidence-based practice in Athletic Training and Exercise Science courses and helps students develop the skills needed to understand and apply scientific literature.

Originally from Tennessee, Dr. Adams's education and career have taken her up and down the East Coast. She is a graduate of Keene State College, the University of Virginia, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Adams was the Coordinator for Sports Medicine and an Instructor of Physical Education at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, before pursuing her PhD. While at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, she was selected as a research mentee for the National Institutes of Health Center of Excellence for Health Disparities, housed in the School of Nursing. It was here where she developed her research skills and strong interest in epidemiology.

Her own research focuses on increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behavior in populations at risk for chronic disease. In addition, she collaborates with students in the Athletic Training Education Program on their senior research projects. Dr. Adams has published articles on physical activity's link to quality of life and on strategies to decrease sedentary behavior in overweight adults. She has presented her work at the annual meetings of the North American Society for Sport and Physical Activity, American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, the Association of Applied Sport Psychologists, and at New England chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Wanda Swiger, EdD, ATC, CES is the Program Director of Athletic Training and an Associate Professor at Keene State College, where she teaches courses in Athletic Training, Physical Education, and Exercise Science. A native of Tionesta, Pennsylvania, Dr. Swiger earned her undergraduate and doctoral degrees from West Virginia University and her master's degree from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Swiger has been a practicing athletic trainer for more than 20 years, with experience at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Collegiate and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Collegiate and interscholastic levels of sport and has practiced in multiple states in an outpatient setting. She has had the opportunity to work in alternative settings. Dr. Swiger has been teaching in higher education since 2000 and has been a program director since 2005. Dr. Swiger's passion is developing curricula that focus on a bottom-up philosophy and are grounded in the natural sciences. Her assessment work has focused on academic standards within athletic training and has led her to serve as Chair of the Academic Standards Committee approving academic admissions standards. Dr. Swiger served on the Academic Overview Committee reviewing the quality of educational programs at Keene State College.

Her teaching has fostered undergraduate research in many areas, such as evaluation, rehabilitation, pharmacology, and general medical conditions. With her background in Special Education and Adapted Physical Education, Dr. Swiger has focused her service activities around physical disabilities and sport participation. While at her previous institution, she was the coordinator for an adaptive sports program that provided multiple sports activities for youth. Since 2008, Dr. Swiger has been part of the medical teams covering the Boston Marathon. She served as co-medical director for the 2013 USA Deaflympic games after being a member of the medical staffs for USA Track and Field and Deaflympics beginning in 2009. Dr. Swiger has presented locally and nationally on the needs of deaf athletes and on emergency preparedness and management of large athletic events.