UM Athletics Creates New Performance, Health and Wellness Department
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami Athletics announced Tuesday that it has created a new Performance, Health and Wellness department to better serve its 400-plus student-athletes.
Performance, Health and Wellness encompasses the areas of athletic training, strength and conditioning, physical therapy, nutrition and sports psychology. Dr. Luis Feigenbaum, previously the UHealth Chief of Sports Physical Therapy, has been promoted to Senior Associate Athletics Director for Performance, Health and Wellness, and will oversee the department.
“The daily health and well-being of our student-athletes is paramount to our overall mission as an athletic department,” Deputy Director of Athletics and Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Strawley said. “We conducted a comprehensive assessment of our service offerings and determined that the best model was to have all of these essential areas under one umbrella.
“Luis has been an integral part of our medical team since he arrived at UM, and his background is perfectly suited to leading this new department.”
Feigenbaum is also the program director for the University of Miami Sports Physical Therapy Residency and a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the Miller School of Medicine. He also serves as UM’s NCAA healthcare administrator. Feigenbaum is a Board Certified Sports Clinical Specialist (2008) through the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties, Certified and Licensed Athletic Trainer (2003) by National Athletic Trainers Association, and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (2000) by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, a Certified Blood Flow Restriction Therapy (2016) provider, and has completed a FIFA Diploma in Sports Medicine (2017).
“I’m excited to transition into this position,” Feigenbaum said. “We have a dedicated group of performance, health and wellness specialists who are constantly striving to deliver the best possible student-athlete experience. This collaborative and integrated model will help us build on that foundation and provide even more assistance going forward.”
In addition to Feigenbaum’s new role, Miami has created two new positions within Performance, Health and Wellness.
Dr. Eric Goldstein has joined UM as sports psychologist. He works with athletes from all 18 athletic teams, focusing on performance enhancement, coach-athlete communication/motivation and competition anxiety, as well as helping student-athletes maintain emotional/mental health and well-being.
Prior to coming to Miami, Dr. Goldstein was a consultant in private practice, specializing in performance psychology. In his corporate work, he has worked with more than half of the Fortune 100 companies, the Federal Courts of the United States, law firms, financial services firms and technology start-ups.
Megan McLeod has joined UM as sports nutrition coordinator. She is a licensed registered dietitian and meets with athletes across all Olympic teams to provide individualized nutrition recommendations for a performance edge, addresses medical nutrition conditions, injury prevention/treatment, body composition goals, etc… She also oversees the management and operations of the Nutrition Center, provides team education and develops/oversees nutrition policies and procedures.
Prior to joining the Hurricanes, McLeod worked at Virginia Tech as a Gatorade Sports Nutrition Immersion Program (SNIP) fellow, overseeing individual team nutrition and implementing various programs to enhance student-athletes nutrition skills and knowledge. In addition, she interned at EXOS performance center with the NFL training program, helping educate athletes on appropriate food options to meet their body composition goals for the NFL Combine.
Overall, the Performance, Health and Wellness department houses 34 employees across athletic training, strength and conditioning, physical therapy, nutrition and sports psychology.
