TORONTO, June 4, 2012 -The following experts from York University are available to comment on the Olympic Games and can be reached directly or through media relations.
Olympic Experience
Frances Flint, Associate Professor, School of Kinesiology & Health Science, fflint@yorku.ca
- Flint can comment on physical or psychological aspects of injury, psychological aspects of performance, sports medicine (not related to performance-enhancing drugs or doping). She has previous experience with Olympic Games in Barcelona and four Pan Am Games teams.
Hernán E. Humaña, Associate Lecturer, School of Kinesiology & Health Science/Head Coach Women’s Volleyball, (416) 736-2100, , ext. 66910, hhumana@yorku.ca
- Humaña was the Team Leader of the Men’s Indoor Volleyball Team in 1992 Olympics and the Canadian Men’s beach volleyball team at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. He also teaches a third-year course, “Politics of the Olympic Games,” an historical and political overview of the modern Olympics.
Sport and Performance
Joe Baker, Associate Professor, School of Kinesiology & Health Science, bakerj@yorku.ca
- Baker can comment on talent identification, athlete training and development, performance and aging, psychological stress associated with performance.
Mazyar Fallah, Associate Professor, School of Kinesiology & Health Science and the Centre for Vision Research, (416) 736-2100, ext. 20555, mfallah@yorku.ca
- Fallah’s research focuses on vision, attention, perception, reaction times, eye movements, systems neuroscience, and cognitive neuroscience. He can also comment on concussions.
Lauren Sergio, Assistant Professor, School of Kinesiology & Health Science, , (416) 736-2100, ext. 33641, lsergio@yorku.ca
- Sergio’s research includes: Brain control of limb movements, eye-limb coordination (racquet sports, ball sports etc.), and the effects of concussion on performance.
Parissa Safai, Associate Professor, School of Kinesiology & Health Science, (416)736-2100, , ext. 23040, psafai@yorku.ca
- Safai can comment on the socio-cultural study of risk and risk-taking in sport; cultures of risk, pain and injury in sport (e.g., the tolerance of health-compromising practices in sport); the social determinants of athletes’ health; and the social organization and history of sport medicine in Canada.
Sports Psychology
Myriam Mongrain, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, (416) 736-2100, ext. 66193, mongrain@yorku.ca
- Mongrain’s research has focused on the personality factors involved in depression. She has also studied the role of personality in athletic competition and can comment on athletes’ response to loss or failure.
Jessica Fraser-Thomas, Assistant Professor, School of Kinesiology & Health Science, (416) 736-2100 ext. 20952, jft@yorku.ca
- Fraser-Thomas can comment on sport psychology, mental training, youth sport, talent development, dropout, psychosocial influences of sport (parents, coaches and peers). Currently doing a study investigating ‘trickle down effect’ of the Olympics among pre-schoolers – i.e. the role of Olympic Games in influencing young children’s sport participation and development.
Advertising/Marketing
Alan Middleton, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Schulich School of Business, (416) 360-7917, amiddleton@schulich.yorku.ca
- Middleton can comment on advertising and promotion, international marketing, marketing management and marketing strategy.
York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 200,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 Faculties and 28 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.
Media Contact:
Janice Walls, Media Relations, York University, (416) 736-2100 ext. 22101 / wallsj@yorku.ca
York University has a Media Studio available for double-ender interviews.
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