USF Taps Scientist To Lead Chiropractic Research

[USFan]

By ADAM EMERSON The Tampa Tribune

Published: Aug 7, 2007

TAMPA - Backed with money that has a controversial past, the University of South Florida has picked a scientist to lead its foray into chiropractic research.

John Mayer, research director for the U.S. Spine & Sport Foundation, will fill the Lincoln College Endowed Chair in Biomechanical Research at USF, the university announced Monday.

With help from a gift worth $1.8 million, Mayer will develop a program that studies athletes' safety in a way that incorporates chiropractic care.

The largesse, however, was only possible after Florida State University returned the same gift to its benefactors, the Lincoln College Education and Research Fund and the Florida Chiropractic Foundation.

The donors and FSU clashed after the university's failed attempt to launch a chiropractic college, which had $9 million in legislative support. FSU faculty opposed offering degrees in a field one professor described as quackery.

Donation Isn't For Instruction

USF officials say they have no plans to open a chiropractic college. The money jumpstarting the program is used strictly for research, USF Health spokesman Michael Hoad said.

The initial donation to FSU in 1996 - independent of the promise of a chiropractic school - was meant to fund an endowed position in biomechanical research. But the chiropractic foundations asked FSU to return the money in 2005, saying the university did little to advance the endowment or the college.

Talks between the foundations and USF began about a year after that. USF wanted support for its Sports Medicine and Athletic-Related Trauma Institute. But USF leaders say they focused on chiropractic research, not instruction.

USF officials say Mayer's work will blend chiropractic science with sports medicine, physical therapy, orthopedics and neurosurgery. USF spent more than a year searching for someone with a Ph.D. in this type of science.

"It really was difficult," Hoad said. "There are so few of them out there."

Mayer's Specialty Is Rehabilitation

Mayer has spent the past seven years in San Diego directing research for the nonprofit Spine & Sport Foundation, focusing especially on how medical exercise plays a role in physical rehabilitation.

Although efforts to reach him by e-mail Monday were unsuccessful, Mayer said in a written statement that he works with "physical therapists, chiropractors, exercise physiologists, certified athletic trainers, orthopedists, neurosurgeons and other health professionals" involved with spinal care.

The Lincoln College Education and Research Fund and Florida Chiropractic Foundation are endowing his work with a $1.06 million donation eligible for a $750,000 state match.

Debra Brown, chief executive of the Florida Chiropractic Association, last year said the donors did not intend to pressure USF to open a chiropractic school.

http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBJZFHS15F.html

[USFan]

Thank you, FSU?

The donors and FSU clashed after the university's failed attempt to launch a chiropractic college, which had $9 million in legislative support. FSU faculty rose in opposition to offering degrees in a field one professor said was "quackery."

USF officials have said they have no plans to start a chiropractic college. The money they received, USF President Judy Genshaft once said, was strictly for research.

http://northeast2.tbo.com/content/2007/aug/06/usf-chiropractic-and-biomechanical-research-picks-/

[ChiTownBull]

As someone who utilizes a chiropractor from time to time i think they do provide a benneficial service. However, there some in the field who ruin it for others becaise they are ambulance chasers.