US Performance Center Research Collaboration

Immediate Plans + Initiatives in Place

  1. Dr. Joe Marino will be our USPC research project director and he will start his duties in this role in January (Spring 23 semester).
  2. We will be launching 2 projects in the spring that will directly inform USPC: 1) long-term athlete development & health outcomes, and 2) longitudinal/injury surveillance using diagnostic ultrasound. These projects will directly benefit USPC stakeholders (e.g., coaches, S&C personnel, etc). APHCS faculty will be leading these efforts and we are using USPC funds to support these initiatives.
  3. As the USPC research project director, Dr. Marino will facilitate research projects specific to USPC needs. He is meeting with USPC performance coaches (strength & conditioning coaches) to determine the data feedback & research needs among USPC teams. Drs. Marino and Barfield will coordinate collaborator involvement as needed specific to each project & Dr. Marino will have funding for travel & equipment to collect data off-site as needed (also supported by USPC).

Potential Partnerships

We foresee using multiple collaborative partners to support USPC needs. Drs. Marino and Barfield have professional connections with research collaborators at multiple stakeholder sites, including:

  • US Olympic & Paralympic training facilities (Lakeshore Foundation, Birmingham; University of Illinois; Turnstone, Fort Wayne)
  • Strategic exercise physiology labs within the UNC system (Appalachian State, UNC, East Carolina University)
  • Strategic exercise physiology labs outside the UNC system (ETSU, Penn State University, Boston University).

Millennial Campus

The USPC model is an ideal component of a future millennial campus as the collaboration with APHCS & UNC Charlotte provides opportunities for research, student engagement (through internships & graduate research assistantships), and economic development in the region. Without USPC, APHCS would not have the research capacity or capabilities to pursue such impact studies nor incorporate student research & development into the process. The agreement with USPS unquestionably expands the research enterprise and funding opportunities through our unit. Additionally, the USPC will benefit directly from the data analytics, research, performance enhancement, and strategic planning that this collaboration affords. We are increasing their capacity to make data-informed decisions for their organization, teams they serve, and their athletes. This partnership is a model collaborative between public & private entities and simultaneously serves the mission of UNC Charlotte and the needs of USPC.