Research Team

Stephanie G. B. Sullivan

D.C., Ph.D. - CCR Director

Dr. Stephanie Sullivan, Graduate of Life University’s College of Chiropractic 2008, serves as the Director of the Life University Dr. Sid E. Williams Center for Chiropractic Research (CCR). Dr. Sullivan’s responsibilities include mission driven leadership and advancement of the CCR, research compliance, and the conduct of chiropractic research. Utilizing her background in banking, marketing, and management Dr. Sullivan has worked to increase the number of research projects conducted at Life University as well as raise the rigor of studies to include high-impact clinical trials.

Dr. Sullivan is also a neuroscience Ph.D. graduate of the Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute at the University of Georgia. Her research focus includes investigating attention, sensory gating, cognitive efficiency and the effect of chiropractic and applied clinical neuroscience care on brain-body neuroplasticity.

Contact:
770-426-2632
Stephanie.Sullivan@life.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Brent Russell

MS, D.C. - Research Faculty

Dr. Russell received a Doctor of Chiropractic degree in 1983 from Life University and a master’s degree in 2011 from Georgia State University (Exercise Science, Biomechanics Concentration.) As a professor at Life University, he teaches the courses Introduction to Research Methods and Selected Topics in Biomechanics. The majority of his time is devoted to biomechanics-related research.

Research Interests:

Biomechanical outcomes measures of chiropractic care

Recent publications & conference presentations:

Russell BS, Hosek RS, Hoiriis KT, Drake ED. A case study involving Chronic Progressive External Ophthalmoplegia and Bilateral Vestibular Hypofunction: balance, gait, and eye movement, before and after multimodal chiropractic care. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine. 2019;18(2):144-54.
Minicozzi SJ, Russell BS. Increased low back pain in performance of a pelvic tilt maneuver: a short report of 2 cases. Journal of the Academy of Chiropractic Orthopedists. 2019;16(1):3-17.
Russell BS, Wynd SE, Hosek RS, Owens EF, Hoiriis KT. Rotational kinematics of supine cervical spine manipulation: a pilot study [abstract]. Congress of the World Federation of Chiropractic and European Chiropractors’ Union, March 2019.
Owens EF, Hosek RS, Russell BS. Mechanical properties of a thoracic spine mannequin with variable stiffness control. Association of Chiropractic Colleges’ Research Agenda Conference (ACC-RAC), March 2019.
Russell BS, Hoiriis KT, Hosek RS. Walking gait before and after chiropractic care following fifth metatarsal fractures: a single case kinetic and kinematic study. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine. 2018;17(2):106-16.
Owens EF, Russell BS, Hosek RS, Sullivan SGB, Dever LL, Mullin LE. Changes in adjustment force, speed, and direction factors in chiropractic students after 10 weeks undergoing standard technique training. Journal of Chiropractic Education. 2017;32(1):3-9.
Hoiriis KT, Russell BS. Case report: a patient with low back pain and somatic referred pain concomitant with intermittent claudication in a chiropractic practice. Topics in Integrative Health Care. 2014;5(1):ID 5.1004.
Russell BS, Hoiriis KT, Guagliardo J. Correlation between student performances on course level integrated clinical skills examinations and Objective Structured Clinical Examinations in a chiropractic college program. Journal of Chiropractic Education. 2012 Fall;26(2);138-45.
Russell BS, Muhlenkamp KA, Hoiriis KT, DeSimone CM. Measurement of lumbar lordosis in static standing posture, with and without high-heeled shoes. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine. 2012;11(3):145-53.

Contact:
770-426-2641
BRussell@life.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Ronald Hosek

MPH, D.C., Ph.D - Senior Research Scientist

Ron Hosek has worked in research, both basic and applied since his undergraduate days. This work has been directed primarily in the medical and chiropractic fields but has included projects in many other diverse areas as well. He served on the research faculty of Life University through most of the 1980s, serving as department chair from 1983 to 1986. Prior to coming to Life, he served as Research Director for the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Miami School of Medicine. Since leaving the Life faculty, he has been in the private practice of chiropractic and has worked as a consultant, focusing mainly on projects involving internet database and website creation. Dr. Hosek holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Marquette University, a DC degree from Life and an MPH in epidemiology and biostatistics from Emory University.

Contact:
770-426-2641
Ronald.Hosek@life.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Edward F. Owens, Jr.

MS, D.C. - Senior Research Scientist

Ed Owens has been involved in chiropractic research for more than 30 years. His background is in biomechanics with an MS in Engineering Science & Mechanics from Georgia Tech and a DC degree from Life University. He worked in the Life University research department from 1982-1999, serving on the research faculty and as editor of CRJ. He was then Research Director at Sherman College and also worked at Palmer College in biomechanics research and Northwestern Health Sciences University as Director of their Office of Data Management, an arm of the research department. Owens has over 40 publications and many conference presentations, including 3 award-winning papers. He is currently research director at TriMax Direct, a marketing firm in St. Paul where he is mastering database design and programming as well as statistical analysis.

He has worked with Ron Hosek on many projects over the years, both in research and in database software design. Together, they developed an office management system they marketed and maintained for 10 years. The system was written in an MS-DOS system but never ported to Windows or a more modern platform. They also co-developed software in the Visual BASIC/MS-SQL environment to manage patient recruitment and screening for research projects.

Contact:
770-426-2636
edward.owens@life.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Johnathan H. Moore

Ph.D. - Research Scientist

Contact:
O: 678-331-4471
Johnathon.moore@LIFE.edu

Emily Drake

MS – Research Scientist

Emily Drake is a research scientist for the Dr. Sid E. Williams Center for Chiropractic Research at Life University. She leads a neurophysiology line of research investigating how the chiropractic adjustment influences brain function, which can provide insight into the relationship between chiropractic and neuroplasticity. She received a Bachelor of Science in biopsychology from Life University in 2016 and a Master of Science in human performance-clinical from Liberty University in 2022. She has worked with the Sid E. Williams Center for Chiropractic Research since 2016. Her research interests include understanding more about chiropractic’s impact on the brain, daily function, and overall health and well-being.

Curriculum Vitae

Contact:
O: 770-426-2636 x1635
EDrake@LIFE.edu

Kate Hayes

Technical Research Scientist

Kate Hayes has been engaging with data since her undergraduate career. She earned her Bachelor of Physics from the University of North Georgia where she focused on astronomy. Following her passion for learning, she attended Vanderbilt to enhance test methods for radiation-hardened semiconductor devices. She graduated with a master’s in electrical engineering.

After formal education, Kate served as the Tennessee Dept of Agriculture’s metrologist. She tested and enforced the state’s legal weights and measures for accuracy and traceability to National and International Standards. Her heavy use of statistics in the metrology field prompted an intentional pursuit of a data science and analytics career. The experience of data analysis utilizing Excel and Python Kate gained over the years is now benefiting the CCR. Joining the CCR team in 2021, Kate serves as the Technical Research Analyst and participates with various projects. When not crunching data, Kate enjoys mountain biking, hiking, and reading

Contact:
O: 678-331-4405
Kate.Hayes@LIFE.edu