Dr. Johna Register-Mihalik is the Associate Chair for Curricula and Faculty Affairs and an Associate Professor in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also a core faculty member in the Matthew Gfeller Center and serves as the Co-Director of the STAR Heel Performance Laboratory and Traumatic Division Director for the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research. 

Her primary research work is based in her background as an Athletic Trainer and centers on novel behavioral and clinical interventions to improve concussion care across the lifespan. She has been the recipient of several research grants to pursue this line of work including funding from the Department of Defense, the Centers for Disease Control, and several foundations. Dr. Register-Mihalik is also an active member of many professional organizations including the National Athletic Trainers' Association and the American College of Sports Medicine and is a Fellow in both organizations. 

Robert G. Watkins, IV, MD, is a board-certified orthopedic spine surgeon. He specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery, artificial disc replacement, and computer-guided spine surgery. He is the Director of the Marina Spine Center, past Chief of Staff of Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital, and current spine surgeon for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Rams, Lakers, Clippers, and Kings. He regularly advises the Los Angeles Chargers, Angels, Ducks, Galaxy, and LAFC. He also provides consultation for many professional teams: 15 NFL, 5 MLB, 4 NBA, and 4 NHL. He and his father created of the Back Doctor App, which is a comprehensive back and neck rehabilitation program. Drs. Watkins have given away this program to help hundreds of thousands of people suffering with back and neck pain. He is the author of the two largest publications on surgery in professional athletes for cervical and lumbar spine, as well as, many chapters on spinal injuries in athletes. He is regularly invited to be faculty for medical courses and a guest lecturer on spinal injuries in athletes. Dr Watkins, IV, has been named Top Doctor for the past ten years and to Who’s Who in America list.

BJ Anderson is dedicated to promoting healthy lifestyles with a variety of activities. He currently serves as Sports Medicine Director at Augsburg University and is a past Team Physician for the Gopher wrestling and football teams. He also serves on the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee for the MSHSL and is a medical advisor for MN/USA wrestling.

BJ enjoys spending time with his family, rock climbing, skiing, theater, and his three dogs. He has performed multiple clinical studies on antiviral medication in controlling and preventing outbreaks of Herpes Gladiatorum in wrestlers. BJ has also written numerous papers on using valacyclovir for Herpes Gladiatorum, which presently serves as the landmark guideline for treating this infectious agent in high school, collegiate, and Olympic athletes.

Dr. Jimmy Onate joined The Ohio State University in January 2010. He earned his PhD in Human Movement Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2002 with a focus in biomechanics and motor learning. He has been an academic research faculty member interested in all aspects of human movement relative to injury prevention and performance optimization since 2003. He currently serves as the director of the PhD program in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, chair of graduate studies in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, a co-director of Ohio State's Sports Medicine's Movement Analysis & Performance (MAP) research program, a research scholar for the National Federation of High School Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, and a research consultant to Naval Special Warfare groups based in Virginia Beach, VA.His main research focus lies in developing functional motion assessment research that bridges the gap across research to clinical systems to allow for evidence-based outcomes for aiding individuals to sustain optimal health and performance throughout their careers and lives.

Research Focus

The specific aims of his research are focused to answer specific issues related to lower extremity injury, in particular anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, pre-participation examinations and human performance optimization. Funding for his work has been provided through the National Institutes of Health, Office of Naval Research, United States Special Operations Command and Naval Special Warfare Development Group for evaluating lower extremity injury in collegiate athletes and the development of physical performance models in military soldiers. The interaction of these two areas initially seems distinct, yet his approach to the questions lies along the fundamental concept of creating a parsimonious screening approach for evaluating injury risk and performance enhancement for physically active individuals, utilizing the movement assessment information to develop an instructional feedback approach to enhance performance and prevent injury and to integrate these two approaches into an implementable scientific model-driven approach to aid physically active individuals throughout their careers and lifetime to optimize health and performance. Dr. Onate acts as a key component in building the bridges between exercise and performance areas relative to all aspects of personalized health care in the hopes of developing proactive integrative approaches for wellness-based medicine aimed at optimizing lifelong health and performance.

Dr. Steve Jordan is a board certified, fellowship trained orthopaedic surgeon. Dr. Jordan earned his Medical Degree from Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Jordan specializes in sports medicine; however, he takes a special interest in shoulder injuries, throwing injuries, ACL reconstruction, and Tommy John reconstruction. Dr. Jordan is the Team Physician for both Washington High School and Chipola College.

Darin A. Padua is the Associate Provost for Academic Operations of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As an academic leader, he works to listen, collaborate, and empower others to work as a team towards our shared mission, vision, and priorities.

The Joseph Curtis Sloane Distinguished Professor of Exercise and Sport Science, Padua has been a member of UNC’s faculty since 2001. He teaches courses in biomechanics, human anatomy, and kinesiology with a focus on injury risk mitigation and optimizing human performance. Throughout his career, Padua has mentored fellow faculty, along with hundreds of graduate and undergraduate students. He served as chair in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science from 2013 to 2023.

With more than 25 years of experience, Padua is an internationally recognized scholar and is the Co-Director of the Musculoskeletal Injury Prevention (MOTION) Science Institute. His research revolves around prevention of musculoskeletal injuries, such as ACL rupture, by studying the role of movement quality and biomechanics as injury risk factors and intervention targets. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles, and his work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, and the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. He

He received the Young Investigator Award by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (2006) and was later awarded the O’Donoghue Sports Injury Research Award for the most outstanding sport injury related research paper by the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (2008). He attained Fellow status in the National Academy of Kinesiology, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, and received the Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award. His career research achievements were recognized by the by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association with receipt of the Medal for Distinguished Research (2017).

Padua earned a B.S. in athletic training from San Diego State University, M.A. in exercise and sport science/athletic training from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and PhD in sports medicine from the University of Virginia. Born and raised in Visalia, California, he lives with his wife Jody and three daughters in Durham, NC.