UNE's Lara Carlson and Olympic champion Billy Mills present at Pacific Northwest University

Lara Carlson, D.P.E., FACSM, CSCS, associate professor in the University of New England Department of Physical Therapy and the Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences, recently gave a talk at Pacific Northwest University (PNWU) in Yakima, Washtington. Carlson’s talk to the medical students, titled, “More Than Just Turning Left,” discussed her innovative research about the human body’s physiological and thermoregulatory response to the stress of competitive racecar driving with a special focus on fluid balance.

1964 Olympic Champion in the 10K meters and member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, Billy Mills, spoke at the closing ceremony for the Roots to Wings program, a collaboration between PNWU, the Yakama Nation Tribal School and the Mt. Adams School District. The program aims to get more Native American and Hispanic young people interested in careers in medicine and science. Mills told students, “You are laying footprints on Mother Earth just attending the programs that you do.”

Carlson and Mills met in 1992 at the University of South Dakota where Carlson was pursuing her graduate studies, coaching and still competing in the women’s hammer event.

To apply, visit www.une.edu/admissions

To learn more about the University of New England’s Westbrook College of Health Professions visit www.une.edu/wchp