My name is Heather Vincent, PhD, and I am the vice chair of research and director of the UF Health Sports Performance Center at the University of Florida Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. I earned my PhD from UF and completed my postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Virginia. I am an active researcher in the health benefits of exercise and using physical activity to prevent injury and fight diseases, such as obesity and osteoarthritis. Exercise is medicine!

I am an active member of organizations, such as the American College of Sports Medicine, Osteoarthritis Research Society International and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Patients of all ages and backgrounds see me for fitness and exercise consults, sport and health assessments, including gait analysis, motion analysis, VO2 and lactate threshold testing, and custom bike fittings and/or pedal analysis. As a fellowship-trained expert in the field, it is my goal to keep people active and moving from youth through old age while enjoying life – no matter where you are starting your journey!

To keep myself balanced, I enjoy trail runs and walks, painting, shelling on the beach, landscaping and nature. Most importantly, I love to spend time with my husband and our three sons laughing together.