Department of Public Health Education

Dr. Mike Perko is Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health Education and got his start in worksite wellness the old fashioned way; by playing Vince, one of the crash test dummies during 3:00am shift work presentations for Alabama Power’s Good Health Makes Sense Program. As Associate Director of that program, he met the needs of 16,000 employees, spouses, and retiree's of both Alabama and Gulf Power Companies. In 1995 this program was recognized with the National Health and Human Secretary’s Award as one of the top 10 programs in America. Dr. Perko also hosted the only known live television show on worksite wellness for 4 years. Later, as Chair of the Department of Health Science at the University of Alabama, Dr. Perko led the university’s successful nationwide search for the first ever Director of Health Promotion and Wellness. Dr. Perko’s current research efforts focus on how companies can create better work environments for employees to engage in physical activity, not to be confused with exercise. As part of this research he has interviewed some of the leaders in this area including Dr. Steven Blair, Dr. Tyler Cooper of the Cooper Clinic and the legend himself, Jack LaLanne.

Dr. Perko works with companies across the country and has been invited to speak on health promotion and disease prevention initiatives at many national forums including the Institute for Organizational Management, the U.S. National Chamber of Commerce Executive Training Seminar, and the Johns Hopkins University Graduate School of Public Health. He has been invited numerous times to Capitol Hill to advocate to congressional leaders for healthier schools and greater access for kids to become physically fit. He served on WELCOA’s Medical Advisory Board and over five years wrote 125 articles on health and fitness for WELCOA’s Well Workplace Newsletter.

Dr. Perko’s research in this area focuses on young athletes and their use of sport performance products and takes a health behavior and educational approach rather than clinical approach. While many researchers focus on the testing of a particular sports performance enhancer (Creatine, NO2, HMB), Dr. Perko insists a crucial factor is the process of decision-making towards taking these products, and the influences that help athletes make good decisions (physicians, athletic trainers) or poor decisions (Media, dietary supplement industry) towards use.

His overriding philosophy is that sports products come and go, but the process stays the same. Dr. Perko is author of the books “Taking One for the Team: The New Thinking on Dietary Supplements and Young Athletes” and “Can You Win Without Supplements?” Both of these books focus on the unregulated dietary supplement industry and the potential health risks faced by vulnerable young athletes.

Dr. Perko has testified at Senate hearings, served as an NCAA Expert Speaker, appeared on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" and been quoted numerous times in Sports Illustrated, the NY Times and many other media outlets on his research in this area.

In 2008 Dr. Perko was named the nation’s Health Educator of the Year and has been recognized by 3 universities as their outstanding alumnus, prior to that Dr. Perko was named Health Educator of the Year in North Carolina and also received the Chancellors Teaching Award from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. The author of 2 books, 40 articles in professional journals and 90 peer-reviewed presentations, he has been quoted in both the New York and Los Angeles Times, and has appeared in Sports Illustrated and ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” to join in on the national debate on the health effects of performance enhancers on athletes. He lives in Jamestown, NC with his wife Sarah and kids Jack and Elena Rose.