Wisconsin Injury in Sport Laboratory Info

David R. Bell, PhD, ATC
I am an athletic trainer and associate professor in the departments of kinesiology and orthopedics and rehabilitation at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. I earned my BA and PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2001 & 2010) and master’s degree from the University of Virginia in 2002. I teach in the Athletic Training Program and serve as the director of the Wisconsin Injury in Sport Laboratory. My research focuses on identifying risk factors for musculoskeletal injuries with a focus on sport specialization. Additionally, I focus on improving outcomes after knee surgery including refining rehabilitation strategies, return to activity guidelines, and risk factors for second ACL injuries. I have athletic training clinical experience at the Division I and II levels as well as high school clinic outreach. I have more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and 100 abstract presentations. My work has been funded by the National Athletic Trainer’s Association, the American Medical Society of Sports Medicine, and the American College of Sports Medicine. I was named the 2017 New Investigator Award from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Research and Education Foundation.

Mayrena Isamar Hernandez
Mayrena Isamar Hernandez MPH, LAT, ATC is a fourth-year doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She obtained a bachelor of science in athletic training from the University of Texas-Arlington in 2016. In 2018, she graduated from Kansas State University with her master’s in public health. May worked as a graduate assistant athletic trainer for the cross country and track and field men’s and women’s team during her time at Kansas State. May is currently a research assistant in the Wisconsin Injury in Sport Laboratory, teaching assistant for various courses, and a University Health Services athletic trainer for their walk-in clinic at UW–Madison. May’s dissertation focuses on qualitative and quantitative studies that examine how low socioeconomic status and/or minority race/ethnicity youth athlete families are impacted by the negative consequences of sport specialization. Additionally, she is interested in how athletic trainers’ clinical decisions may be impacted by a youth athletes’ socioeconomic status.

Kevin Biese
Kevin is a fifth-year doctoral student in the Wisconsin Injury in Sport Lab. Kevin is from Kaukauna, Wisconsin, and received his BS in athletic training from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the fall of 2014. He went on to receive his MA in exercise and sport science at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 2017. While in North Carolina, Kevin gained clinical experience as the graduate assistant athletic trainer for UNC’s varsity baseball and wrestling teams. Kevin’s main research interest is to identify modifiable risk factors for sport-related injuries in adolescent populations. Kevin has a particular niche in the association of sport specialization and sports-related concussions with adolescent sport injuries.

Daniel Schaefer
Dan is a doctoral candidate in the Wisconsin Injury in Sport Lab. He graduated with a BS in exercise and sport science from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse in 2011. In 2013, he completed his MS in sport sciences at Florida State University. During his graduate work, he was hired by the Florida State Athletics Department and eventually became the Director of Strength and Conditioning. As director, his mission was to integrate science and technology to increase sport performance, create individualized workout prescriptions, and provide an unrivaled student-athlete experience. This led to his current research interests which include the utilization of technology and performance sciences to promote optimum athletic performance.

Austin Powell
Austin Powell is a second-year masters student in the Wisconsin Injury in Sport lab. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a BS in exercise and movement science in 2019. In 2020 he accepted a strength and conditioning graduate assistant position at UW–Madison working with the Men’s and Women’s rowing and Men’s and Women’s golf programs. Working with athletes piqued his interest in sport science and trying to find ways to decrease injury and increase performance. This led to Austin’s research which is examining differences in training load variables across the season in collegiate volleyball players and how that could impact their performance during a competitive match.

Madi Sehmer
Madi Sehmer is a first-year PhD student in the Wisconsin Injury in Sport Lab. Madi is from Stoughton, Wisconsin, and graduated from Drake University with her BS in clinical and applied health sciences and MS in athletic training in 2021. At Drake University, Madi researched factors that influence functional movement patterns within the police officer population. She hopes to continue to study injury risk factors at UW–Madison using biometric data so athletic populations of all ages can safely play sports. Madi is currently a teaching assistant for human anatomy lab and will serve as an athletic trainer for the University Health Services walk-in clinic in the spring.