Dr. Alex Lee | Sports Specialist Chiropractor
Dr. Alex Lee’s mission is to increase the research capacity of
Canadian chiropractors working in sport, caring for athletes.
“A lot of people don’t know that up to 50 per cent of chiropractors report seeing athletes often in their practice. This made me want to ensure that as health care professionals, we do the best we can in treating this unique population and supporting their goals.”
Dr. Lee and his research team was awarded runner-up in the 2025 IBCE Poster Award competition during the 18th World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) Biennial Congress
Background highlights:
- Graduate from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) in 2007
- Completed CMCC’s residency program in sports sciences in 2009
- Primary Clinician at CMCC from 2011-2023
- Director of Education at CMCC since 2023
- Chair of the Research and Education Committee of the Royal College of Chiropractic Sports Sciences (Canada)
- Member of the International Federation of Sports Chiropractic Research Commission (FICS)
- Research focus is how chiropractors work in sport to improve health care delivery to athletes, in their practices and in interprofessional sports health care teams
- A sports specialist chiropractor at Velocity Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, with clinics in Oakville and Burlington
- Recipient of the 2024 OCA Research and Academic Award
What got you interested in sports chiropractic care?
It’s funny because I don’t play sports very much! However, I’m passionate about sports and chiropractic, which is what got me interested in this area. Sports was the perfect setting to use all the different domains of chiropractic care that I was interested in – function, biomechanics, moving efficiently, lots of exercise, and hands-on care.
Working with sports teams is a very collaborative and interprofessional health care environment, which I was also drawn to.
What inspired you to pursue research in sports chiropractic care?
A lot of people don’t know that up to 50 per cent of chiropractors report seeing athletes often in their practice. This is a significant segment of our patient population. So there’s a high likelihood that as a chiropractor, you’re going to be treating athletes at some point in your career. This made me want to ensure that as health care professionals, we do the best we can in treating this unique population and supporting their goals.
What specific questions are you aiming to address in your research?
Our first research priority is how chiropractors can best serve athletes. We found that athletes are specifically interested in research that investigates the impact of our care on athletic outcomes that matter to them – return to play, performance, and injury prevention. We hope to determine how chiropractic care can help athletes achieve their goals in these areas.
Our second research priority is how chiropractors can best integrate into sports health care teams. We have two ongoing research projects to address this; one that looks at creating a toolkit to better understand athlete-centred care; and the other that looks at investigating the full spectrum of what chiropractors can do to support athletic performance. This question takes a global view at the overall care approach we as chiropractors can provide to athletes.
How does your research contribute to the advancement of chiropractic care?
Our overall goal is to have our research findings be relevant to clinical practice. In 2020, we established the Sports and Exercise Research Collaborative for Health Practice-based Research Network (SERCH-PBRN). To date, we have over 20 clinics across Canada as part of the network, conducting research in their practices.
Our other goal is to advance how we work within integrated sports health care teams for the betterment of the team and players. Most sports teams have chiropractors. We hope to find out how we can better serve athletes for improved performance and advance athlete-centred care.
Where can we learn more about your research work?
In October 2024, our research team (led by Dr. Corrie Myburgh, a sports chiropractor from Denmark) published a study in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine called Finding a way in and making it stick: an exploration of chiropractor experiences working in team-oriented elite sport practice settings. Through interviews with chiropractors that have successfully integrated into sports health care teams, this work shed light on the unique skillset and qualities that chiropractors can offer to an integrated sports health care team environment.
We found that to integrate well, chiropractors need to be cognizant about what the athlete’s, athletic team’s, and sports health care team’s unique needs are, and the gaps in their overall collective team competency that chiropractors can fill.
What are the next steps for your research?
There are several goals we’re looking to meet soon, including finding additional ways to disseminate our research, tackle our research priorities, and build our research capacity.
We also aim to collaborate with sports chiropractic researchers from around the world. In the end, our goal is to ensure that our research can be translated into real-life scenarios, so chiropractors can provide the best care they can to athletes.
The Ontario Chiropractic Association (OCA) is committed to raising awareness of the importance of chiropractic care research, promote increasing evidence base for the profession, and highlight members who’ve committed to advancing chiropractic care research. The OCA’s innovative electronic health record (EHR) and practice management solution, Aspire is designed to advance chiropractic research and support researchers by gathering data insights and creating customized tools. Learn more by visiting us at chiropractic.on.ca.
