Health Sciences & Human Performance
The Department of Health Sciences and Human Performance serves over 700 students pursuing careers in health and wellness fields. The Department houses an anatomy lab and a human performance laboratory (HPL) where faculty provide comprehensive training to students through classroom and research-based experiences. In the HPL, under the guidance of the Exercise Science faculty, students perform hands on testing and assessment of health and wellness with the laboratory's state of the art equipment. This includes metabolic testing, muscular fitness, disease prevention, biochemistry and biomechanics.
Each year, students at the undergraduate and master's level, participate in projects with the department faculty, either as research assistants who are collecting and analyzing data, or as test subjects. Faculty from across the University also participate, as many projects are interdisciplinary and target many components of health science and human performance research. Students are encouraged to take an active leadership role in projects and develop the necessary skills to be successful in their future careers or further education. Students in the HSHP department have earned multiple campus awards such as outstanding thesis awards and often present their work at CSU research events as well as at regional and national scientific conferences. Recently, the HSHP department has started serving the community by offering performance testing to community members and athletes and designing wellness programming for first responders. A new partnership with local organizations in the special needs community has also provided opportunities to develop research and programming to address health disparities in this population. All these experiences engage students in the learning process, prepare them for their careers and provide an opportunity to give back.
Our goal for Giving Day is to continue funding student research projects in the HPL. Donations will directly impact student success by:
- Providing resources for research projects such as specialized equipment purchases, blood analysis supplies, and training costs.
- Facilitating presentations and publications by assisting with associated fees and travel.
- Supporting the cost of participant recruitment for student led research
- Funding community engagement events where students can interact with individuals throughout the Cleveland area to discuss health and wellness topics
The cost of student research projects within the lab can range from $500 - $3000. We aim to raise the funds to fully or partially cover the costs for multiple students. On average, there are 3 student research studies being carried out in the HPL per semester. Thank you for your support!
