Heather K. Vincent
Associate Professor | University of Florida
Gainesville, FL, UNITED STATES
Heather K. Vincent studies exercise medicine and active lifestyles to prevent injury and improve sports performance in people of all ages.
Biography
Heather K. Vincent is an associate professor and Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine. She researches and work directly with adults and children on exercise and active lifestyles to prevent injury, fight disability and combat diseases like obesity and osteoarthritis. Heather's main clinical research focus is the study of the effects of obesity on joint disease mechanisms such as osteoarthritis, and the development of exercise-based interventions to reduce disease pathology, pain and disability. She uses an integrative approach in her research and combines physiological assessment, biochemical markers, biomechanical measures and patient subjective measures to study these relationships. Heather is the director of research and director of the the UF Health Sports Performance Center (SPC) and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. In the Sports Performance Center, Heather oversees the development of numerous health, fitness and motion analysis services. Her main sport foci include running for health and the study of lacrosse. Her specialty for lifestyle change includes the use of exercise and nutrition modification for weight management and health. She is active at the national level with organizations like the ACSM, OARSI and AAPMR. Foundation funds, NIH funding and industry have supported her work. Since 2008, the SPC has served people from all over the USA and internationally.
Areas of Expertise (8)
Physical Function
Injury Prevention
Lifestyle
Sports
Exercise Medicine
Physical Activity
Sports Performance
Exercise
Articles (2)
Helping Children with Obesity “Move Well” To Move More: An Applied Clinical Review
Current Sports Medicine ReportsMargarita D. Tsiros, Heather K. Vincent, et al.
2021-07-01
Children with obesity experience musculoskeletal pain and reduced physical function and well-being, which collectively impact their fitness, strength, motor skills, and even their ability to undertake simple tasks, like walking and climbing stairs. Disrupting obesity-related disability may be critical to increasing children's physical activity. Thus, barriers to movement should be considered by health practitioners to improve the efficacy of prescribed physical activity. This applied clinical review highlights key subjective and objective findings from a hypothetical case scenario, linking those findings to the research evidence, before exploring strategies to enhance movement and increase physical activity.
Musculoskeletal pain in lacrosse officials impacts function on the field
Research in Sports MedicineHeather K. Vincent, Michelle Bruner, et al.
2020-12-22
This study determined the prevalence of joint pain among lacrosse officials and described the impact of pain thereof on current officiating duties on the field. Members of the US Lacrosse Officials Development Programme were provided with an electronic survey (a 15.7% response rate resulted in N = 1,441 of completed surveys). Pain sites and severity, previous injuries and current impact of musculoskeletal pain on officiating duties were captured.
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