May named director of Human Performance Lab
East Carolina University’s College of Health and Human Performance announced Dr. Linda May as the next director of the Human Performance Lab. This comes after May served as co-director of the lab in 2022-23 and the start of her sole term follows decades of service in the role by LeRoy T. Walker Distinguished Professor Dr. Joe Houmard, who joined ECU in 1988. Houmard has charted a distinguished career spanning more than 30 years, beginning with a post-doctoral fellowship and soon thereafter assuming the director of HPL duties.
May arrived at ECU in 2012 and joined the Department of Kinesiology faculty in 2022, appointed as a LeRoy T. Walker Distinguished Scholar. She also serves as the coordinator for the exercise physiology concentration within the Master of Science in Kinesiology program, and leads research and outreach aimed at understanding and improving the health of pregnant women and their children, primarily through exercise (https://exercisefortwo.ecu.edu/).
May.
“We are so very appreciative of the service that Dr. Houmard provided during his term as the director of the HPL,” HHP interim dean Dr. Stacey Altman said. “We look forward to continuing to work with him as he takes a break from college- and unit-level administrative duties. We are grateful to Dr. May for taking on the directorship and look forward to supporting her as she builds on an outstanding foundation to enhance programs and develop the talented scholars affiliated with the HPL. We are eager to continue to support and promote the HPL’s highly regarded people and programs by adding Dr. May’s energy, nationally recognized expertise and administrative acumen to the group.”
May said she wants to continue to tout the lab as a valuable campus-wide resource in conjunction with ECU’s mission.
“The vision is to continue to study disease states such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, muscle wasting, the metabolic syndrome/diabetes, bone weakening, and determine how a healthy lifestyle — physical activity, nutrition — can prevent or decrease the severity and risk of these conditions,” May said. “Importantly, we want to get the word out that the HPL is a campus-wide resource to help meet this mission. With this in mind, we are striving to expand our affiliate faculty members to continue to focus on the ECU mission to discover new knowledge and innovations, to help transform health care, promote wellness and reduce health disparities, and improve quality of life in eastern North Carolina and beyond.”
Dr. Joseph Houmard. (ECU photo by Cliff Hollis)
The Human Performance Lab, which is associated with only the college and not any single department or school, is an interdisciplinary training, research and service unit. The HPL’s activities span support for undergraduate to post-doctoral education, translational research, as well as service to the university and local communities. The main footprint of the HPL is in the Ward Sports Medicine Building; however, affiliated faculty have offices and labs in the East Carolina Diabetes and Obesity Institute, East Carolina Heart Institute, Brody School of Medicine, Minges and other campus and off-campus locations.
“I am thrilled to have Dr. May lead the Human Performance Laboratory, bringing her innovative ideas and leadership to accelerate research that matters to the health and wellbeing of eastern North Carolina,” said Dr. Joseph Lee, associate dean for research in the College of Health and Human Performance.
May earned her doctoral degree in physiology from Kent State University, and a M.S. in exercise physiology and B.S. in sports administration from the University of Florida. At ECU, she served as an assistant professor in ECU’s School of Dental Medicine before returning to her roots in kinesiology. As director of the HPL, it is May’s breadth of expertise and experience that position the HPL to continue to expand its interdisciplinary approaches and cross-campus/institution collaborations.
During the many years of Houmard’s directorship, the HPL enjoyed an outstanding national reputation for its support of the PhD in Bioenergetics and Exercise Science (co-founded with the Department of Physiology and Department of Biochemistry in BSOM), the first program of its kind nationally. Houmard’s leadership also facilitated success in advancing knowledge related to the benefit of exercise from a molecular level perspective, and in securing significant external funding for research and outreach. He advocated for financial support and promotion of achievements and his passion for involving students in research with as few hierarchical barriers as possible provided a training ground for students working with many HPL-affiliated faculty.
“Thanks to the support of many, the HPL has been able to develop a unique learning environment for students, ranging from undergrads to post-doc, and helps them on their way to health-related careers,” Houmard said. “It has also been fun to watch new and younger faculty contribute to the HPL and become successful.”
If interested in aligning with the Human Performance Lab, May can be reached at mayl@ecu.edu to learn more about services and opportunities for collaboration.