NMRL Faculty Members Promoted to Associate Professor

 

Kim Beals, PhD, RD, CSSD, LDN has been promoted to Associate Professor in the Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh.  Kimis the Associate Director of the Neuromuscular Research Laboratory (NMRL) and Warrior Human Performance Research Center. Beals completed her PhD in Exercise Physiology at the University of Pittsburgh and her Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition at Drexel University. She is a registered dietitian and board certified specialist in sports dietetics. Her research interest and involvement have been focused on: 1) the use of foods and nutrients to improve diet quality, physical performance and body composition and reduce systemic inflammation 2) identify body composition factors related to reducing musculoskeletal injuries and improving physical performance 3) evaluating the impact diet has on a healthy gut microbiome and metabolome and how that affects overall health, recovery and resiliency.

 

Mita Lovalekar, MBBS, PhD, MPH, has been promoted to Associate Professor in the Department of Sport Medicine and Nutrition, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh. Mita is a research epidemiologist and co-PI on several research studies conducted by the Neuromuscular Research Laboratory, and teaches in the Master of Science in Sports Medicine program. She has trained as a physician in Mumbai, India, and completed her PhD and Master of Public Health in Epidemiology at the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh. Mita's research interests include injury epidemiology and surveillance, data issues related to injury research, and chronic disease epidemiology.

 

A note from Associate Professor and Department Chair, Kevin Conley, PhD, ATC:  "Dr. Beals and Dr. Lovalekar have been critical components of the success the NMRL has enjoyed over the past 12 years.  Their contributions, their collegiality and their commitment to the science of human performance and injury prevention has helped to position the NMRL among the truly outstanding laboratories of its kind in the world.  As we look forward into the future of this new generation for the NMRL and all the opportunities that await us, I am confident we will continue to stand at the forefront of scientific inquiry and innovation as it relates to optimizing the human system, and I am encouraged that we have faculty such as Dr. Beals and Dr. Lovalekar to help lead us to even greater reaches of discovery.  I am very proud to call them colleagues."