Are you interested in becoming a speaker for a Homecoming event? Please complete and submit the Speaker Application form to be considered for a program. Acrobat Reader is required. Completed forms may be typed or hand-written and submitted via mail, fax or e-mail. Please contact heather.starr@palmer.edu with any questions.
2020 Speakers
Steven Conway, D.C., DABCOH, Esq., is a 1983 graduate of Logan Chiropractic College. Dr. Conway (along with his father Dr. Richard and his wife Dr. Cindy) successfully provided chiropractic services to Southern Wisconsin. Dr. Conway entered the legal profession in 1996 after graduating from Stetson University, College of Law. He has since combined both legal and chiropractic backgrounds to successfully defend chiropractors with Medicare audits and state board complaints. His work with Medicare has transformed the chiropractic profession. Together with Dr. Michael Jacklitch, Dr. Conway personally met and worked with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and all Chief Medical Directors of the national Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) to update the review process for chiropractic documentation. His experience with chiropractic Medicare audit defense led to a universal interpretation and subsequent harmonization of review criteria for chiropractic documentation. Drs. Conway and Jacklitch trained the MAC reviewers on the process creating a level playing field for chiropractic. They are now training chiropractors across the United States on the new Medicare documentation interpretation. Doctors of chiropractic are now universally accepting this training and implementing the process learned, providing them the tools to successfully navigate audits.
Dennis Fiorini, D.C., BCAO, was born March 20, 1964 in Mt. Clemens, Michigan. He attended Paul K. Cousino High School in Warren, Michigan in 1982. He attended Eastern Michigan University until 1984 at which time he started Life Chiropractic College in Marietta, Georgia. Dr. Fiorini graduated from Life College in June 1989. He studied extensively with Dr. Roy and Dr. Matthew Sweat at the Sweat Institute for Atlas Orthogonal Chiropractic. In 1992 he and his wife opened Fiorini Chiropractic Center in Tallahassee, Florida where he has practiced ever since. He is the President of the R.W. Sweat Foundation for Chiropractic Research. He is an instructor for the Atlas Orthogonal Procedure. He also is an instructor for Fernandez Consulting. Dr. Fiorini lives in Tallahassee, Florida with his wife Dr. Kim Fiorini. They have 3 children, Katelyn, Chase and Emily.
Mary Frost, D.C., M.B.A., graduated from Palmer’s Davenport campus in 1996. Dr. Frost was in private practice with her husband Dr. Jason Frost for 11 years before joining the Davenport campus faculty in 2008 and has served in the Palmer Clinics as well as in the classroom. In 2010, she was a member of the business curriculum task force to update the business curriculum in the Doctor of Chiropractic Program (DCP). In 2015, she earned an M.B.A. while teaching full time in the DCP. More recently, she served as Senior Director of Accreditation and Licensure Compliance. In this role, Dr. Frost regularly studied and reported on federal and state laws affecting chiropractors, as well as serving as the College's Accreditation Liaison Officer to the Higher Learning Commission. In 2018 she accepted the position of Senior Director for Continuing Education and presently oversees live and online post graduate license renewal programs for all three campuses. She is also an advisor to the Palmer Center for Business Development and currently teaches Financial Management to 8th tri students on the Davenport Campus.
Heidi Haavik, D.C., Ph.D., is a chiropractor who has also gained a Ph.D. in human neurophysiology. She has recently released the book ‘The Reality Check: A quest to Understand Chiropractic from the inside out’. This book describes in easy to understand language what happens in the brain when a chiropractor adjusts dysfunctional segments in the spine. The book is based on cutting edge neuroscience research performed over the past two decades (the book is available @www.heidihaavik.com). Dr Haavik also runs a company that enlightens the world about the science of chiropractic (@www.therealitycheck.com). Dr Haavik has used her neurophysiology expertise to study the effects of adjusting subluxations on the function of the central nervous system. Specifically, she has utilized techniques such as somatosensory evoked electroencephalography and transcranial magnetic brain stimulation to investigate the effects of chiropractic adjustments of vertebral subluxations on somatosensory processing, sensorimotor integration and motor cortical output. Dr Haavik graduated from the New Zealand College of Chiropractic in 1999 and has practiced chiropractic for over 17 years. She was awarded her PhD degree by the University of Auckland in 2008. She is the Director of Research at the New Zealand College of Chiropractic where she established and runs the Centre for Chiropractic Research. Dr Haavik was a member of the World Federation of Chiropractic’s Research Council for ten years. Dr Haavik has received numerous research awards and has published a number of papers in chiropractic and neurophysiology journals. She has presented her work to both chiropractic and neuroscience communities around Australasia, Africa, North America and Europe. She is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Journal of Chiropractic Education, Chiropractic Journal of Australia and is a Review Editor in Movement Science and Sport Psychology for Frontiers in Psychology and Sports Science. She was named Chiropractor of the year in 2007 by both the New Zealand Chiropractic Association and the New Zealand College of Chiropractic Alumni Association. Her online Membership is for those in the profession who want to understand the science of chiropractic and want to be able to appropriately and ethically communicate this science with the public, their patients and other health care providers (@www.therealitycheck.com).
Rachelle Hynes, D.C., LCP, grew up in Clinton, Iowa. She graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic’s Davenport campus in 1997. She practiced in Glasgow, Scotland with her husband, Dr. Roger Hynes, before joining the faculty at Palmer College of Chiropractic. Dr. Hynes is an associate professor in the Technique Department where she is an instructor for the Palpation and Thoraco-lumbar Technique courses.
Roger Hynes, D.C., DPhCS, is from St. John’s, Newfoundland. He is an associate professor at Palmer College of Chiropractic and teaches in the Technique Department where he is the instructor for Principles and Practice, the technique capstone class. In addition, he serves the Palmer Foundation for Chiropractic History and Undergraduate Studies programs. Dr. Hynes is a 1998 graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic. After graduation, Dr. Hynes practiced in Glasgow, Scotland, before returning to Iowa to teach at Palmer. He lives in Iowa with his wife, Rachelle, another Palmer faculty member, and their two children.
Daniel T. Johnston, M.D., M.P.H., is board certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine and retired in June 2018 from Army active service. He served in the US Army for almost 20 years in a variety of clinical, research, operational and educational assignments. He was the first to conduct a study in Iraq leading to a peer reviewed publication demonstrating the massive epidemic of fatty acid deficiencies in the US, particularly young people, and the link between cellular Omega-3 EPA/DHA Index status and AA levels to cognitive health. Working with Dr. Bill Harris, Dr. Johnston built upon an advanced, validated red cell, finger stick dried blood spot collection method into a full clinical decision support tool that combines functional analysis of the brain, so blood data is seen through the lens of functional implications. Upon this focus for helping practitioners bring this science into the clinical space, he founded BrainSpan.
Ward Jones, Ph.D., was born in Minnesota and spent his early childhood on the east coast followed by his teenage years in the Midwest. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Biology and his Master of Arts in Biology at Ball State University. After completing his master’s degree, he accepted a position at Children’s Hospital in Denver, Colo. working with the pre-natal research group studying pregnancy outcomes related to infection and low birth weight. In 1997 he completed his Ph.D. in Immunology at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. His thesis research focused on cell surface markers on gamma delta T cells. After completing his Ph.D., he accepted a position as a member of the Biology Department at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. Ward is a new member of the Life Sciences Department at Palmer College of Chiropractic, teaching courses in cell biology, biochemistry and immunology. Ward is married with two children and three grandchildren.
Siri Leech, D.C., DACBR, is a native of both Montana and South Dakota. She earned her Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic’s Davenport campus in 2011 and her diplomate from the American Chiropractic Board of Radiology in 2016. She was appointed to the Palmer faculty in 2016 as an assistant professor, teaching in the Life Sciences Department.
John Marchese, D.C., graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1996. He has completed coursework for Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician™, Diplomate American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians™, and Carrick Institute of Functional Neurology. Dr. Marchese’s patient base includes athletes from the professional ranks (NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL), as well as USA and international Olympic athletes, youth level athletes, and college/recreational levels. His patient base also includes multiple chronic pain and neurological disorders, with which he takes a unique approach of education, and treatment as to the causes of the disorders and how to best manage them from a non-surgical, non-pharmacological approach. From a strength and conditioning standpoint, Dr. Marchese has also worked, and interned at such facilities as Athletes Performance in Phoenix, AZ, Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning in Woburn, MA, and, most recently, TruStrength Fitness in Stoneham, MA. Furthermore, Dr. Marchese completed his coursework and was certified as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and a Russian Kettlebell Certification (RKC) holder. He continues to train clients/patients on an individual basis upon referral, and lectures on strength and conditioning practices and rehabilitation practices throughout the U.S.
Peter Martin, D.C., graduated from the British College of Naturopathy and Osteopathy in 1964, then earned his doctor of chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1968. He served in faculty and administrative positions at Palmer College and Los Angeles College of Chiropractic from 1968 to 1978; owned a chiropractic equipment and supplies and had a private practice in Lancaster, California, from 1982 to 2000. Dr. Martin was president of Palmer College’s West campus from 1992 to 2000, when he accepted a position as dean of the College of Naturopathic Medicine at the University of Bridgeport. He returned to Palmer West in 2004 as interim president and was named president in February 2005. In July 2005, he assumed the additional duties of president of Palmer’s Florida campus, and since the appointment in November 2006 of Dr. William Meeker as president of Palmer West, has been serving as president of the Florida campus exclusively. Dr. Martin is a past president of the Council on Chiropractic Education and the California Chiropractic Association and is a former board member of the Association of Chiropractic Colleges.
Sherry McAllister, D.C., M.S. (Ed)., CCSP®, serves as executive vice president for the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP), the national public-relations organization creating billions of positive impressions of chiropractic each year. She also consulted with the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards and the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners. A graduate of Palmer’s West campus, Dr. McAllister frequently serves as guest speaker, alumni ambassador, preceptor doctor, commencement speaker and community liaison. She is also a California qualified medical examiner and expert chiropractic witness. She has been in private practice in San Jose since 1996.
Scott Meisel, M.S., D.C., is a 1984 graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic’s Davenport Campus. He received a Master of Science in Anatomy and Physiology from New York Chiropractic College in 2014. Dr. Meisel has 31 combined years of private practice experience in Davenport IA, and Winona MN. Since retirement in 2016 he has been employed with Palmer College of Chiropractic Florida Campus as Assistant Professor teaching Extremity Anatomy and Chiropractic History & Philosophy. He is also a faculty advisor for the Gonstead Club and voluntarily teaches a weekly evening Gonstead “PIT” class. Dr. Meisel has attended hundreds of Gonstead technique seminar hours with GMI (Gonstead Methodology Inc.), and Dr. Herb Wood’s, Gonstead Bootcamp seminars over his career.
Mark Murdock, D.C., R.N., has served as a professor at Palmer College of Chiropractic for 10 years. He is a registered nurse and chiropractor who teaches on first aid, CPR, venipuncture and blood-borne pathogens. His experience in the emergency room combined with more than seven years of clinical practice will help you understand HIV in multifaceted way and provide practical information that you can use in your daily practice.
Lia Nightingale, Ph.D., earned her Ph.D. in food science and human nutrition from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign in 2006. Dr. Nightingale is an associate professor in the Division of Life Sciences at Palmer College of Chiropractic, where she teaches Biochemistry, Nutrition, and Clinical Nutrition. She was named Palmer’s Outstanding Faculty of the Year in 2011 and has been awarded the Thelma Fordyce-Mack Award four times for innovation in teaching. Dr. Nightingale has worked in research and development for the Pepsi-Cola Company, Tate & Lyle North America, and Whitey’s Ice Cream, has volunteered as an educator for several nanotechnology camps, and was co-investigator for a $265,000 grant funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to use her doctorate research to entice junior high students into choosing a science-based career. She has published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Journal of Food Science, Journal of Chiropractic Education, Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics, and Journal of Texture Studies. Dr. Nightingale has presented at many professional conferences, including ACC-RAC, ICA/ACA Joint Pediatric Conference and the Institute of Food Technologists.
Matthew Richardson, D.C., DACBR, serves as director of Clinical Radiology at on Palmer’s Florida campus and provides diagnostic imaging interpretation services through Palmer Imaging Consultation Services. He completed his doctor of chiropractic degree at Palmer’s main campus in 2006. Dr. Richardson became board certified chiropractic radiologist (Diplomate of the American Chiropractic Board of Radiology) in 2010. He is published in peer reviewed literature and contributed to Skeletal Imaging: Atlas of the Spine and Extremities, Second Edition, and Clinical Imaging with Skeletal, Chest, and Abdomen Pattern Differentials, Third Edition.
Greg Rose, D.C., is a board-certified Doctor of Chiropractic and holds an engineering degree from the University of Maryland. Dr. Rose specializes in sports biomechanics, strength and conditioning, manual therapy, rehabilitation, nutritional supplementation and therapeutic exercises as they each relate to sports. Combining an engineering background with an expertise on the human body, Greg helped pioneer the field of analyzing 3-dimensional motion capture models of athletes. That research has helped teaching professionals all over the world gain a better understanding of how the body works during athletic movements. Greg is the Co-Founder of the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI), located in Oceanside, California. TPI is the world-renown research and testing facility built by Titleist, to help analyze, train and develop the best golfers in the world. TPI’s “Body-Swing Connection” seminar series has made Greg one of the most requested speakers in golf health and fitness. Greg was the co-host of The Golf Fitness Academy seen on the Golf Channel for 10 years and was shown in over 30 countries. Greg is also one of the co-developers of the Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA) and co-owners of FMS (Functional Movement Systems). FMS has revolutionized the field of movement assessment and changed the way many sporting organizations and healthcare practitioner diagnose musculo-skeletal injuries. Recently, Greg founded and launched RacquetFit and OnBase University. RacquetFit is the first tennis-specific certification program offered by the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) for health and fitness professionals. While, OnBase University (OnBaseU) is the first baseball-softball specific certification program of its kind, offered for health and fitness professionals.
Trevor Shaw, D.C., DACRB, CSCS, is the new head of clinical rehabilitation and sports performance at Palmer College of Chiropractic’s Florida Campus. He is a graduate of PCCF class 101, is board certified in chiropractic rehab (DACRB), and a professional strength and conditioning coach (CSCS). He believes in bridging the gap from injury to athleticism and looks forward to sharing knowledge and clinical development with the Palmer community.
Alan Smith, D.C., runs a family based, subluxation centered cash practice to which he owes much of his success through the education vs. selling philosophy. His journey in practice is vast which includes a multidisciplinary approach, as well as an Atlas only approach to embrace the necessity and value of custom arch support. His energy and passion are apparent while living as congruent as he can in life and practice. Due to this, his patients become like family who know and trust the education and all that is recommended for their health journey.
Michael Shreeve, D.C., DPhCS, FICA, is a 1974 graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic’s Davenport campus. After 30 years of chiropractic practice in Tampa, Florida, he joined the faculty at Palmer College of Chiropractic’s Florida campus. He also maintains a part-time chiropractic practice in Port Orange, Florida. He wrote several articles published in peer-reviewed literature and is a past board member on the Florida Board of Chiropractic Medicine. He is a past president of the Florida Chiropractic Society and currently vice president of the Gnostic Procedure Society. Dr. Shreeve lectures internationally and was honored by the Florida Chiropractic Society with the Lifetime Achievement Award and by the Florida Board of Chiropractic with the Distinguished Service to the Chiropractic Profession Award.
Thomas Souza, D.C., is author of two textbooks: Sports Injuries of the Shoulder and Differential Diagnosis and Management for the Chiropractor, now in its fifth edition. Dr. Souza speaks both nationally and internationally. He served as Academic Dean at Palmer's West campus for 20 years. He also served as an associate editor for the journal Topics in Clinical Chiropractic. Currently he serves as a consultant to numerous groups and was the team lead for the Upper Extremity section of the Council on Chiropractic Guidelines & Practice Parameters. He has created a website focused on important literature publications using video reviews at the Evidence-Informed Chiropractor.
Michael Tunning, D.C., M.S., ATC, graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 2006. Shortly after graduating, he was hired by the Palmer Chiropractic Clinics to work in the Chiropractic Rehabilitation and Sports Injury Department. In this department, he continued to focus on incorporating active rehabilitation into chiropractic care. In 2009, he was hired as a full-time academic faculty member and in 2016, he was named Associate Dean of Clinical Sciences.
Dan Weinert, D.C., Ph.D., DACRB, is the provost for Palmer College of Chiropractic. Prior to that appointment he served as Main Campus Provost, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dean of Academic Affairs, and Department Chair for the Diagnosis and Radiology Department. Dr. Weinert is a 1996 graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic. As a faculty member, he has taught Physiotherapy, Biomechanics, Anatomy and Physiology and Biochemistry. He’s currently a professor in the Division of Life Sciences. Dr. Weinert received six Thelma Fordyce Mack Faculty Incentive Awards for Teaching Excellence from 1999 through 2005. He was the recipient of the student body’s Faculty of the Year Award for second trimester each year from 2002 through 2010. His master’s degree is in exercise science from the University of Massachusetts, and he received his Ph.D. in higher education, leadership and policy from the University of Iowa. He’s a graduate of Palmer’s Rehabilitation and Sports Injury Residency Program, where he earned a Diplomate from the American Chiropractic Rehabilitation Board and passed the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist examination.
Susan Welsh, D.C., DACBSP®, F.P.A.C., is a 1980 graduate of Palmer’s Davenport Campus. Dr. Welsh practices in Florida and has extensive experience caring for Tampa Bay teams such as the NHL’s Lightning, the NFL’s Buccaneers, the AFL’s Storm, and the MLS’s Mutiny. In 2015, Dr. Welsh joined the clinical faculty at the University of South Florida (USF) in the Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair. Although she continues to practice full-time in the USF Morsani Health Center, she also mentors 4th-year medical students, teaching them about chiropractic in an integrative setting.