Dr. David Nieman is a distinguished professor and pioneering researcher in the field of exercise immunology at Appalachian State University. He currently serves as a Professor in the Department of Biology within the College of Arts and Sciences and directs the Human Performance Laboratory at the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis. Holding a Doctor of Public Health degree and recognized as a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, Dr. Nieman has established himself as a leading authority who helped shape the scientific understanding of how physical activity interacts with immune function. His career spans over three decades of dedicated research and academic leadership, including significant roles such as serving as vice-president of the American College of Sports Medicine and president of both the Southeastern American College of Sports Medicine and the International Society of Exercise and Immunology.
Dr. Nieman pioneered the research area of exercise and nutrition immunology, establishing fundamental principles that regular moderate exercise lowers upper respiratory tract infection rates while improving immunosurveillance and that heavy exertion increases infection rates while causing transient changes in immune function. His prolific research career includes over 370 peer-reviewed publications with more than 41,000 citations and a Google Scholar h-index of 101, reflecting substantial scholarly impact across sports medicine and public health disciplines. Securing more than $10.9 million in research funding, he has developed innovative approaches to studying immune responses to exercise using metabolomics-based methodologies and demonstrated how carbohydrate and flavonoid ingestion by athletes attenuates exercise-induced inflammation. His work has transformed clinical and athletic understanding of how nutrition interventions can optimize immune function during physical stress and reduce illness in active populations.
As Editor-in-Chief of the sports nutrition section for journals including Nutrients and Frontiers in Nutrition, Dr. Nieman shapes scholarly discourse in his field while serving on ten editorial boards of prestigious publications such as Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. He has authored nine influential books on health, exercise science, and nutrition, with Nutritional Assessment now in its seventh edition standing as a seminal textbook in the discipline. Recognized with numerous honors including the 100 Scholars Faculty Research Award, Montoye Scholar Award, and ACSM's Citation Award, his contributions extend beyond research to practical applications for athletes and the general public. An accomplished endurance athlete himself with 58 marathons completed, Dr. Nieman continues to advance our understanding of the intricate relationship between physical activity, nutrition, and immune health through his ongoing research at the Human Performance Laboratory.
