Some people find their passions early in life. Amanda Randall developed enthusiasm for sports medicine during high school, where she was a three-sport athlete. Several years later, this native of Milton, New Hampshire, is a senior year athletic training major and nutrition minor at the University of New Hampshire. Through her classes she has received training in injury prevention, management, and rehabilitation, and has chosen to focus on working with those with spinal cord injuries. To support this interest, in 2009 she was awarded a grant by the International Research Opportunities Program (IROP) to conduct research at Walk On, an exercise-based recovery facility for those with spinal cord injuries located in Brisbane, Australia. Amanda’s IROP experience enriched her life both personally and academically, allowing her to experience the people and culture of Australia while also confirming her desire to work in this field. After graduating from UNH in May 2010, Amanda wishes to go to graduate school for physical therapy. Her goal is to continue working with individuals with neurological disorders or injuries by promoting a lifestyle that they are capable of achieving through physical activity.
Dr. Dain LaRoche is an assistant professor in the University of New Hampshire’s Department Of Kinesiology, where he joined the faculty in 2007. While he enjoys teaching physiology of exercise and metabolism, his personal research interest focuses on how physical activity can be used as a tool to maintain function and reduce fall risk in older adults. Dr. LaRoche found working on Amanda’s project very rewarding because it allowed him to learn more about a research area he had not considered previously. However, despite viewing Amanda’s experience in Australia as a wonderful opportunity, he missed the daily contact and interaction that comes from conducting a project with a student in his lab. Dr. LaRoche has served as a mentor to undergraduates at UNH and at Johnson State College in Vermont, where he was assistant professor in the Department of Environmental and Health Sciences.
Emma Dayman, Amanda Randall’s foreign mentor, has a degree in human movement and is the leading recovery specialist at Walk On. Dayman helped the program's current director, David Prast, found Walk On in March 2008.
Read Amanda Randall’s research article Walk On, Australia: An Exceptional Approach to Spinal Cord Injury >>
