Faculty – School of Kinesiology

Department Chair

Gary McIlvain, EdD, LAT/ATC

School of Kinesiology, Professor, Athletic Training
Phone: 304-696-2930
Office Location: Gullickson Hall D Level, GH 112
E-mail: mcilvain2@marshall.edu

Gary McIlvain, EdD, LAT/ATC, serves as the College of Health Professions Associate Dean of Student Affairs, School of Kinesiology Department Chair and Associate Professor at Marshall University. He received his Bachelors of Science from Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN, Masters of Science degree from Middle Tennessee State University and completed his Doctorate in Kinesiology and Health Promotion at the University of Kentucky. He started at Marshall in the fall of 1999 and has taught in the CAATE accredited athletic training education program serving as clinical coordinator and program director. Dr. McIlvain’s research interests are in injury prevention, specifically in regard to athletic injury prevention.

Athletic Training

William (Zach) Garrett, DHSc, ATC, Program Director

School of Kinesiology, Associate Professor, Athletic Training
Phone: 304-696-2924
Office Location: Gullickson Hall F Level, GH 203E
E-mail: garrett46@marshall.edu

Dr. Zach Garrett is a native of Clarksburg, WV and currently serves as the Program Director for Marshall University’s Athletic Training Program. From 2012-2019, Zach served as the Clinical Education Coordinator for the Athletic Training Program. He’s a proud Son of Marshall with an undergraduate degree in Athletic Training and dual Master’s degrees in Exercise Science and Health Care Administration. Zach completed his Doctor of Health Science degree at Nova Southeastern University in the fall of 2016.

Zach has a variety of experiences in the field of athletic training while practicing in high school, collegiate, professional, and clinical settings. He currently practices at Riverside Physical Therapy part-time. His research interests include injury prevention, concussion education and prevention, clinical education, and professional ethics. He is currently conducting collaborative research evaluating forces generated during tackling in rugby and football. Dr. Garrett has also been awarded the NFL/AHA Back to Sports grant, which is a funded program that provides parents and coaches free CPR training and injury prevention and education for youth athletes. He serves on the West Virginia Athletic Trainers’ Association Executive Board as the President-Elect and was formally the Secretary. During his time on the executive committee, Zach has been an advocate for obtaining athletic training licensure, promoting the NATA Safe Schools Sports Award, and served as the WVATA Annual Symposium planner for two years. Since 2012, Dr. Garrett has served as the club adviser for the Marshall University Athletic Trainers’ Association, which provides students the opportunity to network professionally, fund raise, socialize with students interested in sports medicine, and provide community service to the tri-state area. In 2016, Zach began serving on the NATA Committee on Professional Ethics which educates and ensures the enforcement of the NATA Code of Ethics. In 2017, Zach was awarded WVATA Athletic Training Educator of the Year and was selected to participate in the NATA Leadership Academy. In fall of 2018, Dr. Garrett was selected to participate in the inaugural class of the John Marshall Leadership Fellows Program. Zach currently resides in Huntington, WV with his wife Kathryn and daughter Sofia.

Jenni Johnson, ATC, Clinical Coordinator

School of Kinesiology, Assistant Professor, Athletic Training
Phone: 304-696-2929
Office Location: Gullickson Hall F Level, GH 203D
E-mail: johnsonjen@marshall.edu

Jenni Johnson joined the Marshall Athletic Training staff as an Assistant Professor/Clinical Coordinator in August 2019. She completed her undergraduate studies at West Virginia University with a degree in Physical Education/Athletic Training. In her time at WVU she worked with the football, swimming & diving, men’s tennis, and gymnastics teams. Following her time at WVU, she earned her MS in Health & Wellness – Health Sciences from the University of Kentucky. While at UK, she provided coverage for the football, women’s basketball and gymnastics teams. She also completed a post graduate certification in sports counseling from the University of California of Pennsylvania.

Prior to joining the faculty at Marshall she was employed as an Associate Head Athletic Trainer and a faculty member in the Athletic Training Education Program at the University of Charleston. Her primary roles outside of the classroom involved working with the baseball and women’s soccer programs while providing secondary coverage of men’s & women’s tennis and men’s & women’s golf. She also served as mentor in the first year program to transition new students to college and campus life.

Jenni was also previously employed as the Director of Rehabilitation at WorldWide Chiropractic & Sports Medicine for 14 years as well as the Head Athletic Trainer for Ripley High School. Other recent positions have included being the Athletic Trainer for Revolution Gymnastics and Flip Fest Gymnastics Summer Camps. She also served as the Athletic Trainer for the Level 9 National Gymnastics Championships in Charleston and as the Athletic Trainer for the WV Lightning and Rockets Semi-Professional Football teams.

Jenni is a member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA), Mid-Athletic Athletic Trainers’ Association (MAATA), and West Virginia Athletic Trainers’ Association (WVATA), where she is currently the acting President. Under her tenure as President she led the efforts to obtain state legislation to provide licensure for athletic trainers in the state of West Virginia, which will become state law in January 2020. She has also been the Chairperson of the Governmental Affairs Committee and is a current member of the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission (WVSSAC) Sports Medicine Committee. Jenni has received many national recognitions for her efforts throughout her career. She was awarded with the 2019 Board of Certification (BOC) Public Advocacy award and in 2013 she was awarded the Athletic Trainer Service Award from the National Athletic Trainer’s Association (NATA).

Mark Timmons, PhD, ATC

School of Kinesiology, Professor, Athletic Training
Phone: 304-696-2925
Office Location: Gullickson Hall D Level, GH 109
E-mail: timmonsm@marshall.edu

Dr. Mark Timmons, Ph.D., ATC, is a Professor of Athletic Training within the Marshall University School of Kinesiology. His research career to date has investigated the mechanisms leading to the development of upper extremity pain, injury, and dysfunction. His research and clinical focus is to improve understanding and treatment of patients with shoulder pain by investigating the effects of repeated arm motion on shoulder and arm function. Dr. Timmons’ research interests include scapular kinematics, rotator cuff injury and treatment, upper extremity function, athletic training for the tactical athlete/military, performing arts athletic training, diagnostic ultrasound, ultrasound speckle tracking, electromyography, electromagnetic motion tracking, and tendon strain. Prospective students are encouraged to contact Dr. Timmons about research opportunities and paid graduate assistantships.

Prior to his position at Marshall, Dr. Timmons worked as an Athletic Trainer for the University of Chicago. He completed a Master of Science in Kinesiology from the University of Michigan, and received a Ph.D. from the University of Toledo in Exercise Science and Biomechanics in 2007. He then held a position as a visiting assistant professor for two years at the University of Toledo. In 2009, Dr. Timmons was selected for an Interprofessional Polytrauma and Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation Research Fellowship. During this fellowship, he researched the mechanisms leading to shoulder pain in United States Military Veterans at the Richmond Veterans Health Administration Medical Center and the Department of Physical Therapy at Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, Virginia. Currently, Dr. Timmons holds a faculty position at Marshall University, where he teaches in the Professional level and Post-Graduate Athletic Training Education programs. Additionally, he serves as a Co-Director of the Center for Wellness in the Arts, and supervises the clinical and research activities of the Military Athletic Training Program. He is the primary contact for students and collaborators interested in working within the Performing Arts & Tactical Athlete Research Lab located in Gullickson Hall.

Biomechanics

Suzanne Konz, Ph.D., ATC, CSCS

Program Director, Undergraduate and Graduate Biomechanics
School of Kinesiology, Professor, Biomechanics
Phone: 304-696-2926
Office Location: Gullickson Hall D Level, GH 114A
E-mail: konz@marshall.edu

Suzanne M. Konz, Ph.D., ATC, CSCS, is a Professor of Biomechanics and currently serves as the Biomechanics Program Director for the School of Kinesiology at Marshall University. A native of Iowa, Dr. Konz received a Ph.D. in Exercise Science from Brigham Young University, a Master of Science in Kinesiology from Indiana University – Bloomington, and a Bachelor of Science from Iowa Wesleyan College. Suzanne has worked as a certified athletic trainer and certified strength and conditioning specialist in clinical, high school, collegiate, and professional athletic settings for over 25 years. Suzanne was appointed the chair of the NATA’s Committee on Professional Ethics (COPE) in 2019 having served as COPE member for nine previous years. She also serves as the WVATA’s Governmental Affairs Committee chair assisting the WVATA in advocating for athlete health and safety in the State of West Virginia. Her research interests include concussion, sports performance as it relates to injury risk and prevention, hammer throw technique, and equipment reliability. Dr. Konz’s concussion research surrounds low load, high-frequency activities and the effect on brain health. The concussion research group was awarded a NASA Director’s Discretionary Grant. She is involved with USA Track & Field as a member of the Sports Science Biomechanics group, specializing in the throwing events and is specifically assigned to hammer throw. She has worked with this group assisting Olympic caliber athletes improve performance since 2003. The USATF Sport Science group uses the latest technology to provide instant feedback as well as 3-D analysis of technique kinematics and kinetics. Dr. Konz was awarded the C. Harmon Brown award in 2019 by USATF to acknowledge the benefit her work has contributed to the athletes and coaches of USATF at the national level. Suzanne also has worked the NFL Combine performing isokinetic testing on NFL prospects since 2009.

Find out more about Dr. Konz in this 2015 Marshall Minute video.

Steven Leigh, PhD, AMInstP

School of Kinesiology, Associate Professor, Biomechanics
Phone: 304-696-5405
Office Location: Gullickson Hall D Level, GH 114B
E-mail: leighs@marshall.edu

Dr. Steven Leigh, PhD, AMInstP is an Associate Professor of Biomechanics with the School of Kinesiology at Marshall University. Steve received a Bachelor of Science from Loughborough University in the UK, and completed his doctoral work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Steve is interested in the interrelationships between technique, athletic performance and injury. His research explores sports performance enhancement through modifying technique. He also investigates the causes of non-contact injuries. He applies this line of research by designing and evaluating performance training, injury prevention, and injury rehabilitation programs. Steve’s research emphasis is with throwing sports in general, and injuries to the shoulder and elbow specifically. He has analyzed the throwing motion of elite javelin and discus throwers for USA track and field, and baseball pitchers, to help them reduce their risk for injury and improve their performance. Steve is also interested in the core methodology of biomechanics, and ways of applying biomechanics research to real-life situations effectively. He has worked with clinicians to investigate how to assess patients’ rehabilitation progress objectively using biomechanical methods, and to provide feedback that is meaningful.

Exercise Science

Rob Powell

Robert Powell, PhD, CEP, CDE, CSCS

Program Director, Undergraduate and Graduate Exercise Science
School of Kinesiology, Associate Professor, Exercise Science
Office Location: Henderson Center C Level, HC 2011A
Phone: 304-696-2513
E-mail: powellro@marshall.edu

Robert Powell, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator within the Department of Exercise Science. Dr. Powell also serves as Director of the Diabetes and Cardiometabolic Exercise Center located on Marshall’s Campus. In addition to these roles, he is the Lead Exercise Physiologist with Diabetes Training Camp™ where he helps adult and teen individuals with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes effectively manage their blood sugar and insulin levels to achieve their fitness and sport goals (ranging from walking programs, competitive team sports and Ironman triathlons). Prior to his academic position at Marshall, he spent 11 years the University of Pittsburgh Diabetes Institute. There, he was involved in both clinical and community based research programs throughout southwestern Pennsylvania relating to diabetes, obesity and physical activity. In 2012, Dr. Powell became one of very few exercise physiologists throughout the country to obtain the Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) credential (now Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES)) and began working in the primary care settings as a diabetes specialist. He received both his PhD and M.S. in Exercise Physiology from the University of Pittsburgh and obtained his B.S in Health Science from Slippery Rock University. Dr. Powell also holds the American College of Sports Medicine- Clinical Exercise Physiologist (CEP) certification and the National Strength and Conditioning Association- Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) certification. His primary research interests involve the therapeutic effects of exercise on diabetes; exercise and management strategies in diabetes and sport performance and fitness and conditioning principles across the lifespan.

Kumika Toma, Ph.D.

School of Kinesiology, Associate Professor, Exercise Science
Office Location: Gullickson Hall D Level, GH107A
Phone: 304-696-2651
E-mail: tomak@marshall.edu

Kumika Toma, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in School of Kinesiology at Marshall University. Dr. Toma earned her Ph.D. degree in Muscle Biology and Exercise Physiology from the Ohio University Department of Biological Sciences and completed her postdoctoral training at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. Her research interests include human skeletal muscle responses to various stresses, such as training and de-training. As a clinical acupuncturist for the Japanese National Team, she became interested in neuromuscular injury and disease. She is also a visiting scholar at Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute, where she is investigating sympathetic nerve activity in response to stress by directly recording nerve activity from human nerve. Dr. Toma is excited to explore new opportunities and bring innovative research topics and activities to the Marshall University College of Health Professions.

Brandon Jones, PhD, CSCS

School of Kinesiology, Assistant Professor, Exercise Science
Office Location: HC 2015, on the C Level of the Henderson Center
Phone: 304-696-2824
E-mail: jonesbra@marshall.edu

Brandon Jones, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Exercise Science at Marshall University. Dr. Jones received his Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology at the University of Northern Colorado. His research interests include strength and power training, rock climbing physiology, hormone therapy, skeletal muscle adaptations, myosin heavy chain shifts, chemotherapy treatment and muscle function. He is a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and has worked as a personal trainer in multiple gyms over the past 10 years. As a faculty member in the Kinesiology department, Dr. Jones strives to increase physical activity and health in the Huntington community.