ABOUT JAMES S. SKINNER, Ph.D., FACSM

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James S. Skinner, Ph.D., FACSM is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Kinesiology, Indiana University. He is a former 1) president of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), 2) Chair, International Advisory Council for Exercise is Medicine, 3) Vice President, International Council on Sport Sciences and Physical Education, and 4) Chair, Medical Advisory Committee of the YMCA of the USA. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel for the American Council on Exercise and their Senior Advisor on Exercise Science. He is the ACSM representative to RAFA/PANA (Physical Activity Network of the Americas) and a member of its Executive Committee. He was one of the five principal investigators of the HERITAGE Family Study, a large multi-center investigation of the role that genetic factors play in the response to training of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. As principal investigator, co-principal investigator or member of an executive committee, he has been involved in research grants totaling more than $50 million. He received the 2014 ACSM Honor Award, the highest award in his field. In 2011, he received a Doctor Honoris Causa from Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary. He was recently selected to be a Fulbright Specialist for three years (2020-2023). Dr. Skinner has published over 295 articles and book chapters, 8 books, 2 books that he translated from German, and 21 educational DVDs. He has been actively investigating the relationships between exercise, training and health for more than 55 years and has lectured in English, French, German and Spanish in 67 countries about these relationships.

Expert Witness Work

Cases since 2013

Black v. YMCA

No. 09-CI-011986

05/2013 – 03/2014

J. Douglas Mory
The Mory Law Office, PSC
138 South Third Street
Louisville, KY 40202
(502) 568-6679

 

Expert witness for plaintiff regarding injury during exercise testing session. Report, consultation and 6-hour deposition. Settled in favor of plaintiff.

Davis v. Schafer and Synergy Health & Fitness

02/2014 – 07/2014

Mr. Greg Surber
David, Kamp & Frank, LLC
739 Thimble Shoals Boulevard, Suite 105
Newport News, VA 23606
(757) 595-4500

Expert witness for plaintiff regarding injury during personal training session. Report and consultation. Settled out of court in favor of plaintiff.

Medlock v. Reebok / Icon Health

07/2014 – 09/2014

Mr. Brad Risinger
Smith, Moore & Leatherwood
434 Fayetteville Street, Suite 2800
Raleigh, NC 27601
(919) 755-8848

Expert witness for defendant regarding injury while using resistance exercise equipment. Report and consultation only.

Torres v. Krank, LLC

04/2015 – 01/2016

Christina T. Williamson
McCormick & Priore, P.C.
301 Carnegie Center Boulevard
Suite 101
Princeton, NJ 08540
(732) 324-7600

Expert witness for defendant regarding injury during personal training session. Report and consultation.
Result: Summary judgment against plaintiff whose claims were dismissed.

Casella v. Virtua, Power Wellness & M. Bryson

12/2015 – 05/2016

Littleton, Joyce, Ughetta, Park & Kelly, LLP
Christine Emery
141 West Front Street
Suite 120
Red Bank, NJ 07701
(732) 530-9110

Expert witness for defendants regarding injury during a personal training session. Written report sent March, 2016. Settled out of court.

Sedita v. Zamboni Enterprises, LLC d/b/a Snap Fitness

08/2016 – 10/2016

No. 2014–CA-004750
Brasfield, Freeman, Goldis & Cash, P.A.
Joshua Goldis
2553 1 st Avenue North
St. Petersburg, FL 33713
(727) 327-2258

Expert witness for defendants regarding injury during a personal training session. Written report sent September, 2016. Video testimony end of September, 2016. Result: plaintiff’s claims were dismissed.

Benhardt v. WUSHU et al.

08/2017 – 03/2018

Docket No. MID-L-2724-16
Shamy, Shipers & Lonski, P.C.
Kelley W. Lavery, Esquire
911 Livingston Avenue
North Brunswick, NJ 08902
(732) 247-1133

Expert witness for plaintiff regarding injury during a martial arts training session. Result: Case settled in favor of the plaintiff.

Warner v. Planet Fitness

11/16 – 01/20

Uricchio, Howe, Krell, Jacobson, Toporek, Theos & Keith, P.A.

J. DeVeaux Stockton

17½ Broad Street

Charleston, SC 29401

(843) 723-7491

Expert witness for plaintiff regarding injury during a personal training session. Report, consultation and 6-hour deposition. Written report in December, 2019. Negotiated settlement in favor of the plaintiff.

Walczak v. Anytime Fitness

9/19 – 1/20

Murphy & Prachthauser, S. C.

Keith R. Stachowiak

330 East Kilbourn Ave

Suite 1200

Milwaukee, WI 53202

(414) 271-1011

Expert witness for plaintiff regarding injury during a personal training session. Written report in December, Case settled out of court in favor of the plaintiff.

Malcolm v. LA Fitness

3/20 – Present

Ferderigos & Lambe, PL

Michael Ferderigos, Esq.

941 N. Orange Ave

Winter Park, FL 32789

(407) 592-0035

Email: [email protected]

Expert witness for plaintiff regarding injury during a personal training session. After reviewing information on the case, I advised attorney that there was insufficient cause for a lawsuit. Attorney agreed, case was dropped.

Medical peer reviews

Insurance companies often have clients whose long-term disability claims are being terminated based on medical opinion. When the client asks for a further review and submits results from exercise tests to support their claim that they are still disabled, an expert in the area of exercise physiology may be asked to review the exercise test results and to write a report. He has reviewed and written extensive reports 6 times in 2018 and 3 times in 2019.

Lecture Topics

Can be given in English, French, German or Spanish

General Topics
  • Exercise is Medicine
  • Benefits of Exercise for Employers, Employees, and Everyone Else
  • Exercise and quality of life
  • Be more active and less inactive – Both are important
  • Physical activity and health
  • Differences between men and women: exercise and training
  • Differences between children and adults: exercise and training
  • Diet and performance
Genetics
  • Effect on response to training
  • Effect on health
Exercise Prescription
  • General principles of exercise prescription

 

Exercise Prescription for Cardiovascular Disease

  • Coronary Heart Disease
  • Hypertension
  • Peripheral arterial disease

 

Exercise Prescription for Respiratory Disease

  • Asthma
  • Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

 

Exercise Prescription for Metabolic Disease

  • Obesity
  • Diabetes (Type 1 and Type 2)
  • Lipid disorders
  • Cancer

 

Exercise Prescription for Bone/Joint Disease

  • Arthritis (osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis)
  • Osteoporosis
Exercise Prescription for Other Health Conditions
  • Pregnancy
  • Chronic fatigue syndrome/Fibromyalgia
  • Older adult

PUBLICATIONS

With over 300 publications, James S. Skinner also has published 21 educational DVDs

  • Fox SM, JS Skinner. Physical activity and cardiovascular health. Am. J. Cardiol. 14: 731-746, 1964.
  • Skinner JS, JO Holloszy, TK Cureton. Effects of a program of endurance exercises on physical work capacity and anthropometric measurements of fifteen middle-aged men. Am. J. Cardiol. 14: 747-752, 1964.
  • Holloszy JO, JS Skinner, G Toro, TK Cureton. Effects of a six-month program of endurance exercise on the serum lipids of middle-aged men. Am. J. Cardiol. 14: 753-760, 1964.
SEE ALL

PROFESSIONAL AND ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

1963-67
U. S. Public Health Service Commissioned Officer (Lt. Cmdr.) Heart Disease Control Program, USPHS
1. 1963: Physical Activity Consultant, Washington, D.C.
2. 1965: Research Associate, Division of Cardiology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington
3. 1966: Visiting Assistant Professor, Laboratory for Human Performance Research, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
1967-70
Assistant Professor, Applied Physiology, Laboratory for Human Performance Research, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
1970-71
Wissenschaftlicher Assistent, Herzfunktionslabor, Lehrstuhl für Kreislaufforschung und Leistungsmedizin, Medizinische Universitätsklinik, Freiburg, West Germany
1970-77
Professeur Agrégé (Associate Professor), Département d'Education Physique, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec
1971-75
Agrégé de Recherche (Research Associate), Institut de Cardiologie de Montréal, Montréal, Québec
1975-76
Conseiller scientifique, Centre EPIC de Médecine Préventive et d'Activité Physique, Montréal, Québec
1977-83
Professor, Faculty of Physical Education, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario
1982-83
Director, Human Performance Laboratory
1983-95
Professor, Department of Exercise Science and Physical Education, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
1983-95
Director, Exercise and Sport Research Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
1996-99
Adjunct Professor, Department of Medicine, Indiana University, Indianapolis
1996-2006

Professor, Department of Kinesiology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

2006-Current
Professor Emeritus, Indiana University
2009-2019
American College of Sports Medicine – Co-Chair, Program Committee, Exercise is Medicine World Congress
2015-Current
American Council on Exercise – Member, Scientific Advisory Panel
2017-2019
Pan American Network of the Americas – Member, Executive Committee
2017-Current
American Council on Exercise – Senior Advisor on Exercise Science

HONORS AND AWARDS

1985

Recipient, Citation Award
American College of Sports Medicine

1995

Recipient, Recognition Award
Southwest Chapter of the ACSM

1996

Recipient, Philip Noel Baker Research Award
International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education

2001

Recipient, Sport Science Award
IOC and ICSSPE

2001

Thomas K. Cureton Lecturer
American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting

2001

Peter C. Farrell International Visiting Professor
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

2002

Michael L. Pollock Lecturer
American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting

2011

Doctor Honoris Causa
Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

2014

Recipient, Honor Award
American College of Sports Medicine

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