Executive Committee

E-mail: bdegenhardt@atsu.edu

I have spent my career trying to integrate scientific pursuits into clinical practice. As a specialist in osteopathic neuromusculoskeletal medicine, I am captivated by the diverse ways the neuromusculoskeletal system responds to life’s events. I am also fascinated by the ways it responds to various forms of physical touch. These observations have fueled my passion for the clinical and scientific work I have performed throughout my career, and I have come to appreciate that science should be a communal process, not one performed in isolation. Unfortunately, research in isolation has been common in the manual therapy professions. It is for this reason that the ICMT is important to me as a means of facilitating knowledge and the practice and effectiveness of manual therapies.

E-mail: jessicacorrick@atsu.edu
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I am the Operations Assistant for the A.T. Still Research Institute, a position I have held for the last three and a half years. I have a great interest in translational, health policy, and services research to improve mental health equity. I have a BSN from Truman State University and an MHA from A.T. Still University’s College of Graduate Health Studies (ATSU-CGHS); I am also a class of 2021 candidate for a Doctorate of Health Administration degree from ATSU-CGHS. I strive to advocate for diversity in the workplace: I am trained in Mental Health First Aid and serve as a Safe Zone Ally. One career highlight is planning and coordinating the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Symposium, a regional research conference, for the past three years. In my rare spare time, I enjoy outdoor activities with my family and animals.

Pronouns: they/them
E-mail: gfranklin@atsu.edu
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I have been the Data Manager for the A.T. Still Research Institute since 2015. I am an applied data scientist evaluating methods for delivering scientific content to the general public and creating partnerships for diverse viewpoints in the scientific community to ensure equitable access to data. I have an MBA and a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from Western Governors University and an Associate in Emergency Management from Frederick Community College. One of the highlights of my career was the creation of OPComp, the judging platform used by the American Academy of Osteopathy, A.T. Still Research Institute, and A.T. Still University for their poster sessions. I drive a robot to work.

Pronouns: she (they/them/their)

I have been in massage therapy practice for 40+ years including over 25 years of integrating massage therapy into professional athletics. I have a Bachelors of Health Science from Central Michigan University and a Masters in Organizational Leadership. Additionally, I have a Board Certification in Massage Therapy. For 35 years I have been the owner and lead instructor at Health Enrichment Center School of Massage Therapy in Lapeer, Michigan. For 25 years I have authored massage therapy textbooks published by Elsevier. With many years of leadership and activity in the massage therapy community, I balance my life as a proud grandma and gardener.

Dr. Kettner is the Dean of Research, Emeritus Professor of the Department of Radiology at Logan University. He has served on the faculty since 1980 and in 1984 was appointed Chair of the Department of Radiology. Dr. Kettner was elected president of the American Chiropractic College of Radiology in 1991. He has served as a grant reviewer for the NIH/NCCAM Special Emphasis Panel in Basic Science. Dr. Kettner is a reviewer for many journals including the Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Pain, Journal of Pain, Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, BMC Pediatrics and is an editorial board member in the Musculoskeletal section of Pain Medicine. He has lectured on complementary and alternative health care to audiences including Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine and the Walter Reed Army Hospital.

Dr. Kettner’s current research interests include advanced brain imaging techniques used to explore the neural mechanisms underlying chronic pain and the brain responses to acupuncture and spinal manipulation. To carry out this work, Dr. Kettner developed a research collaboration with the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging of Massachusetts General Hospital, the largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. Over the course of his career, he has authored numerous publications with national and international conference presentations in the field of chiropractic radiology and functional neuroimaging. His papers are published in prestigious journals such as NeuroImage, Human Brain Mapping, Pain and Brain.

E-mail: lesondakda@upmc.edu

David Lesondak, BCSI, ATSI, FST, VMT, FFT, IAHE, is a member of the Allied Health Professional Staff in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). He is a board-certified Structural Integrator, visceral manipulator, fascial stretch therapist, and more. His 1st book, Fascia: What it is and Why it Matters, now available in 9 languages, led to being asked to architect and edit the first-ever textbook on fascia designed for the medical and healthcare field – Fascia, Function, and Medical Applications. His most recent venture is the podcast BodyTalk.

Helping people recover their resilience and live a more pain-free life is at the heart of his clinical work. His personal need to understand why things work and why sometimes they don’t drive his continuing search for the latest scientific knowledge and innovative approaches. These inclinations make him a natural fit for the ICMT. 

Says David: “The ICMT project is an opportunity to increase the recognition of the importance of manual therapy in medicine and increase our own understanding of the science underlying how manual therapies achieve their results. We’re creating an interdisciplinary level playing field, cultivating collaboration, and creating a common language to depict what we do accurately. This will mean better research, better understanding,  and most importantly, better outcomes for our patients and the people we serve. It’s hard but necessary work, and it’s also completely irresistible .”

Previous to entering the healthcare field in 1991, David’s various career incarnations were in television, advertising, and the funeral arts. Including over a decade-long stint as a DJ on WYEP-FM in Pittsburgh. He maintains an avid interest in music and can be often be heard at Pittsburgh’s singer/songwriter Open Mic scene.