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PERC Consultants

Meet our consultants:

Neil Armstrong, pediatric physiologistNeil Armstrong, PhD, paediatric physiologist and former provost of the University of Exeter

Armstrong graduated from Loughborough with BEd and MSc degrees and earned his PhD and higher doctorate (DSc) at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. He has received honorary doctorates from Coimbra University in Portugal (ScD) and Brock University in Canada (LLD). Armstrong’s research won the first (and to date only) Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher Education to be awarded for research in sport and exercise medicine. The Queen’s Anniversary Prize, awarded for "world-class work which is of outstanding quality and importance to the nation," was presented by the queen at Buckingham Palace.

Armstrong has authored/edited 16 books, contributed more than 350 book chapters and peer-reviewed papers, and has made keynote presentations at conferences in 44 countries. He is a fellow of the British, European and American Colleges of Sport Medicine/Science and has served as chair or member of numerous international committees focused on the promotion of children’s physical activity, sport, health and well-being. An active sportsman in his youth, Armstrong represented England in national leagues as a teenager and played professional soccer for 10 years. He remains a sad but optimistic supporter of Newcastle United despite the fact that they have not won a domestic trophy since 1955 and were relegated from the Premier League in 2016.

 

Kennth Baldwin, UC Irvine professor emeritus, Department of Physiology and Biophysics

Kenneth M. Baldwin, PhD, professor emeritus, Physiology & Biophysics, UC Irvine School of Medicine

Baldwin's research has focused on cardiac and skeletal muscle plasticity in response to physical activity and inactivity. During his career, he published more than 225 peer-reviewed manuscripts, textbook chapters and leading review articles concerning physical activity and inactivity. His academic distinctions include the 1995 APS Edward Adolph Award, the 1998 American College of Sports Medicine Southwest Chapter Achievement Award and the 1999 NASA Public Service Medal for Space Biology Research.

Baldwin also received the 2006 APS Exercise and Environmental Honor Award, the 2003 NASA-NSBRI Award for space science research, the 2006 NASA Public Service Medal for Advisory Service to the Administrator, and the 2011 ACSM Honor Award for Research. He served as chair of the NASA Life and Microgravity Sciences Advisory Committee and as a member of the NASA Advisory Council.

 

Baraket Falk, physiologist

Bareket Falk, PhD, professor, Brock University

Falk is the editor-in-chief of the journal Pediatric Exercise Science and she plays an active role in the North American Society of Pediatric Exercise Medicine, as well as in the European Group of Pediatric Work Physiology. She is a pediatric exercise physiologist with the Department of Kinesiology at Brock University. She received her PhD from McMaster University (1991) in Canada under the mentorship of Oded Bar-Or. She then headed up the physiology unit and served as acting director of the Research and Sports Medicine Center at the Wingate Institute in Israel.

Falk's research spans many areas in pediatric exercise physiology, including thermoregulation, metabolism during and following exercise, and the effects of physical activity and training on bone growth and muscle function. She has performed her research in clinical and research settings. Her more recent research focus includes the effect of exercise and physical training on bone health and on neuro-muscular function during growth and maturation.