Dr. Lara Carlson is currently the Founder and President of the Carlson Laboratory: Research Full Throttle, an organization focused on the safety, health, and performance of athletes. Carlson also has a faculty appointment with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. She was an Assistant and Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and affiliated with the Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences at the University of New England for nine years, and was an Assistant and Associate Professor at Castleton University for seven.

Outside the classroom, Carlson was an U.S. ranked hammer thrower qualifying and competing in four USA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships. She has also competed in Scottish Highland Games, and has coached several NCAA All-Americans in various Track and Field throwing events. Carlson served as the Men’s Ice Hockey Strength and Conditioning Coach at Castleton University where she coached several players to earn the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) All-American Strength and Conditioning recognition. Dr. Carlson has also gained experience working in strength and conditioning with NASCAR pit crew athletes at Hendrick Motorsports.

Carlson is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (FACSM), a 2011 recipient of the New England American College of Sports Medicine (NEACSM) Honor Award, and was elected as President of the NEACSM for an unprecedented second term in their 47-year history. Today, she currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for the NEACSM. Through the NSCA, Carlson is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS).

As a sports scientist, her primary research interests include the effects of resistance exercise on immune and inflammatory responses, and recently, she has been pioneering the physiological challenges observed in automobile racing – the latter leading to her serving on the Medical Advisory Board for the Motorsports Safety Group. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets including WSCH 6, The 207, Bill Green’s Maine, WGME 13, the New York Times, Huffington Post, and also Women’s Health, Men’s Health, Self, and Oxygen magazines. A motorsports documentary featuring Dr. Carlson was nominated for an Emmy by the National Academy of Television Arts and Science – New England Chapter.