Kaylee LeCavalier presents research at American College of Sports Medicine

Kaylee LeCavalier (’15), an Applied Exercise Science major who received the New England American College of Sports Medicine Undergraduate Research Grant for her examination of the influence of environmental exposure on immune responses following an acute anaerobic training session, recently presented her research at the American College of Sports Medicine conference in San Diego, California.

LeCavalier's project, titled "Salivary Lymphocyte Responses Following an Acute Bout of Anaerobic Exercise in Warm vs. Cool Climates," was based on a study advised by Lara Carlson, Ph.D., associate professor in the Westbrook College of Health Professions, and Michael Lawrence, M.S., motion analysis laboratory manager and education coordinator. LeCavalier conducted research both in Maine and on a glacier in Iceland as part of an Environmental Physiology course developed by Carlson. 

A collaboration between UNE and AboGen, a Maine biotechnology company, enabled LeCavalier to utilize new technology to obtain the same information from saliva as what previously could only be obtained from blood. AboGen collaborated on a research project on saliva blood cell isolation, conducted by Carlson and Ed Bilsky, Ph.D., vice president for Research and Scholarship.