Dr. Jerrilyn Cambron

Dr. Jerrilyn Cambron is the recipient of the 2023 Massage Therapy Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award. She has been engaged in the world of complementary and integrative health for over 30 years and has worked closely with the Massage Therapy Foundation for much of her career. She was integral in the development of the first iteration of MassageNet in 2009; and although she is no longer involved in its operation, her legacy influences the goals of MassageNet today.

Dr. Cambron graduated from chiropractic school in 1991, where she was initially exposed to evidence-based research. She worked as a research assistant throughout her training, but she had no plans to make research her career. After graduating, she was practicing in a chiropractic clinic when she received a call from her school asking her if she would be interested in a research faculty position. She accepted and never looked back.

While engaging in chiropractic research, Dr. Cambron realized that aligning her research with massage therapy would help strengthen some of the chiropractic solutions. It became clear that the body of research in massage therapy was far from extensive. She and a colleague did a small study involving massage therapy, which was well-received upon publication. In order to make herself a more educated researcher with a more poised perspective, Dr. Cambron started training as a massage therapist. She became involved with the Massage Therapy Foundation, recognizing that the Foundation’s goals involving research, education, and community service resonated closely with her own. Dr. Cambron is no longer directly involved in research or teaching, as she currently works in education administration, yet aspires to continue volunteering with the Massage Therapy Foundation even through retirement.

Dr. Cambron’s understanding that research is essential to the advancement of massage therapy influences MassageNet’s goal of involving massage clinicians in research. She believes that the way to ensure the growth of the field of massage therapy is through learning more about what treatments help people. An important part of this is to include real-world practices, clinicians, and clients. These ideas are part of what will strongly connect MassageNet, massage therapy, and massage therapists into the future of healthcare.

Michael S. Rivera

Michael is a massage therapy student in the state of California. He has a background in Sports Medicine, working as an Athletic Trainer in the traditional setting. Michael has a Bachelor of Science degree in Athletic Training from California State University, Long Beach. Currently, he is finishing his master’s degree in Exercise Science at California State University, Long Beach. Dr. Portia Resnick has been instrumental in helping Michael navigate his experience as a young professional with dual credentials.

While in graduate school, Michael observed the lack of detail in research articles pertaining to massage therapy. During his experience as a massage therapy student, Michael would often overhear experiences affecting current students. Merging both experiences has given him inspiration for pursuing massage-focused research.

Research topics that Michael would like to explore involve observing the physiological effects of lymphatic drainage on mental health and sports recovery. Investigating the physiological effects of massage would tap into the extensive exercise physiology background Michael has gained at California State University, Long Beach. Michael would like to eventually pursue a PhD program in Exercise Physiology to continue to inject massage therapy into research.

Michael is finalizing his culminating event for his master’s degree. Utilizing MassageNet has made it possible to complete his research. Michael hopes that other Massage Therapists will be both inspired and encouraged to follow their research endeavors. He believes that it is currently an exciting period to be involved in massage focused research.

Click here to read about Michael’s MassageNet study, Misconceptions of Terminology and Definitions in Deep Tissue and Myofascial Techniques.

Samantha Zabel (Sami)

Sami is a trained massage therapist from Maryland. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Chinese Language and Culture from Saint Mary’s College of Maryland, a Master’s degree in Chinese Art History and Archaeology from the University of London, and an Associate’s degree in Massage Therapy from the College of Southern Maryland.

During massage school, she realized the importance of scientific evidence in massage and how the current body of evidence is not yet well-developed. Sami decided that the best way she could help the massage therapy community and health care in general is to become involved in research herself. She applied to Indiana University’s Health and Rehabilitation Science PhD program, and she started her studies in Fall 2018 as a student of Dr. Niki Munk.

One of the topics that particularly caught Sami’s attention as she started involving herself in research was how massage can be used to support mental health. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent increase of mental health complaints across the world made Sami even more set upon learning more about massage and mental health.

Sami is currently working on her dissertation, the culminating project for a doctoral degree. She has been intricately involved in the development work for MassageNet, putting together much of the administrative and foundation pieces to make MassageNet work. Sami’s dissertation study will use MassageNet’s members to help her learn more about mental health in massage therapy. Read more about this study HERE.