Mark T. Pfefer, RN, MS, DC, is a 1988 graduate of Cleveland Chiropractic College and practiced full-time for 11 years and continues to practice part-time in the Kansas City area. Dr. Pfefer returned to Cleveland Chiropractic College in 1997, completing a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and is currently working at the chiropractic college as an Associate Professor and Director of Research for the Kansas City Campus. In 2000 he earned an M.S. degree in Exercise Science with emphasis in sports biomechanics and nutrition education from the University of Kansas. 

Dr. Pfefer has received research funding from the National Institute for Chiropractic Research and is on the review board for the Journal of Chiropractic Education. He is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Public Health Association. He has received certification by the American Chiropractic Association’s Chiropractic Rehabilitation Association. 

Dr. Pfefer is interested in health promotion and prevention, geriatrics, and physical performance enhancement and maintains a strong interest in teaching and mentoring chiropractic students. He is an avid participant in many sports and coaches little league baseball. 

James W. Brantingham DC, PhD, is a 1983 graduate of Los Angeles College of Chiropractic and practiced full-time for 14 years. In 2005 he earned a PhD in Clinical Research from the University of Surrey in England. Dr. Brantingham has many publications in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Journal of the Neuromusculoskeletal System, European Journal of Chiropractic and Clinical Chiropractic.

Dr. Brantingham was supervisor and coauthor of the first two randomized clinical trials of adjusting the ankle for treatment of inversion sprain. He has conducted and published numerous clinical trials of chiropractic care for a variety of lower extremity disorders and has been appointed to the Council on Chiropractic Guidelines and Practice Parameters as a reviewer for lower extremity neuromusculoskeletal conditions.

Dr. Brantingham is currently Associate Professor of Research Methods and Lower Extremity Adjusting at Cleveland Chiropractic College Los Angeles.

Alexander J Annala, PhD, MS, MSMIS, earned three graduate degrees (1995 PhD Neurobiology and 1990 MS Molecular Biology from USC; 1985 MS Management of Information Systems from Claremont Graduate School) and pursued additional post-doctoral training in Genetic Engineering at University College London and Molecular Biology and Non-Invasive Imaging of Gene Expression at UCLA School of Medicine. His studies were supported by Chevron, USA National Merit Fellowship, James Irvine Foundation Merit Fellowship, The Wellcome Trust Senior Faculty Research Fellowship, USC Pre-Doctoral Research Fellowship, UCLA Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship and grants from IBM for Bio-Medical Imaging and NIH/NIDA for Neuropsychiatric Research.

Dr. Annala's faculty appointments include Associate Professor Medical Physiology at Cleveland Chiropractic College (2006-present), Associate Professor Anatomy and Physiology at West Coast University (2005-2006), Associate Research Neuroscientist and Manager Clinical Research at UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute & Hospital (2005), Faculty Research Scientist and Director of Surgical Research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (2003-2004), Post-Graduate Researcher and Postdoctoral Scholar in Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at UCLA School of Medicine (1997-2002), and Wellcome Trust Senior Faculty Research Fellow at University College London (1995-1997).

Dr. Annala's research program ("Neurobiological Substrates of Complementary & Alternative Medicine Treatment Effects" focuses on high density electroencephalographic source localization and non-invasive imaging of functional activity in the brain, spine, and muscles with the goal of developing an objective pain measurement system and characterizing the mechanism of action of manual therapies. This research program, involving collaboration with many doctoral students, interns, clinical and didactic faculty, promises to produce new insight into the brain's role in chiropractic treatment effects. It may also be a basis for EEG guided improvement of diagnostic testing and therapeutic treatment by practitioners of manual therapeutics.

Dr. Annala's published articles appear in many peer-reviewed journals including Behavioral and Neural Biology, Circulation, Gene Therapy, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, Journal of Neuroscience, Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Medicine, and Physiological Genomics.

Richard Strunk, DC, MS is a 1995 graduate of New York Chiropractic College and practiced full time for 8 years. He taught spinal manipulative technique and active physical rehabilitation protocols for 2 years at the University Of Bridgeport College Of Chiropractic. In 2006, he received a Masters of Science degree in clinical research from Palmer Chiropractic College. His masters degree practicum project was entitled; “A feasibility study assessing spinal manipulative care and bimodal care in sub acute and chronic neck pain patients.”

Currently, Dr. Strunk is a research clinician and teaching clinician at the Kansas City campus of Cleveland Chiropractic College. He research interests include spinal manipulation/manual therapy effectiveness for chronic neck pain, cervicogenic vertigo, and balance problems and documenting adverse reactions from spinal manipulation/ manual therapy techniques.

Michael Ramcharan, DC, CCEP, MUA-C, MPH(c), is a graduate of Life University and has been in clinical practice for the past 5 years working in multidisciplinary practices. Currently, he is an assistant professor in the clinical sciences, diagnostic sciences, chiropractic technique and research department. He is also a teaching clinician and research clinician at the Cleveland Chiropractic Health center and is fully credentialed.

Dr. Ramcharan has been a postgraduate lecturer at the college and is currently a co-investigator on several ongoing research studies at the college. His research interests include manipulation/manual therapy and its effect on proprioceptive deficits in the lower extremities in relation to sports injuries or balance disorders. He is a Certified Chiropractic Extremity Practitioner, certified in Manipulation under Anesthesia and has completed over 100 hours in the areas of acupuncture, sports medicine, pain management and clinical research.