Rate My Professor Michael LaMonte

Michael J. LaMonte, PhD, MPH, is a Research Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at the University at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions, where he also serves as Director of Graduate Studies for the MS and PhD programs. His research focuses on the measurement of physical activity and functional capacity and their influence on the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease and healthy aging. He earned a BS in Physical Education/Athletic Training from Canisius College in 1990, an MS in Physical Education (Athletic Training/Exercise Physiology) from Marshall University in 1992, a PhD in Exercise Physiology from the University of Utah in 1997, and an MPH in Epidemiology from the University of South Carolina in 2000. Prior to joining the University at Buffalo, LaMonte held positions as director of epidemiologic research at the Cooper Institute in Dallas, Texas; assistant professor in Cardiology at the University of Utah Medical School and director of the Exercise Testing Laboratory in the Cardiology Division at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah; and assistant professor of Exercise Science at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. He completed postdoctoral training as a fellow in Physical Activity Epidemiology at the University of South Carolina Prevention Research Center from 1999 to 2001.

LaMonte is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention. He has contributed to major studies including the Women’s Health Initiative, with key publications such as “Contributions of the Women’s Health Initiative to CVD research” in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2022) and studies on physical activity, sedentary behavior, and health outcomes in postmenopausal women published in journals including Circulation: Heart Failure (2020) and JAMA Network Open (2019). In 2026, he was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Kinesiology. His work has advanced understanding of how even light physical activity can reduce mortality risk in older adults.