Student
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Niki Munk’s research interests focus on aging and the benefits of massage therapy on older adults’ health. Niki has completed her qualifying exams and is currently working on her dissertation study which investigates the extent to which massage therapy decreases the susceptibility to and/or enhances recovery from fatigue and fatigability in older adults. As a licensed massage therapist, Niki is interested in understanding the mechanistic pathways through which massage therapy affects the physiology and psychology of individuals. As a gerontologist, Niki is interested in cost effective, holistic interventions for older adults that will preserve and/or improve function and wellness while not contributing to pharmacologic burden. As a professional in both her fields of interest, Niki is interested in expanding the body of evidence for massage efficacy in order to validate the inclusion of massage therapy into routine and covered health care in the older adult population. Niki’s long-term goal is to develop and lead research that builds a collaborative relationship between the local massage therapy education and scientific communities in an effort to improve the standard of practice for massage therapy and quality of life for older adults.