A 2005 graduate of Two Rivers High School has a career that most would envy, but only a select few can attain.
Mackenzie Herzog has a PhD and is Director of Epidemiology in Injury Surveillance and Analytics for a consulting company called IQVIA.
Herzog, who advises pro teams, tells Seehafer News that she started in high school as a job shadow at a local physical therapy clinic and developed a real interest in sports medicine and orthopedics.
She later earned her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University before pursuing her unique career path.
“After college, I ended up working at a research institute for sports medicine and deciding to go back to get my degree in epidemiology, specifically studying sports injuries,” she said. “I did my masters at Emory, my PhD at UNC-Chapel Hill and after I graduated with my PhD I ended up getting a job with a consulting company that works with the NFL and NBA in their player health department.”
Mackenzie explains her focus is primarily on musculoskeletal injuries and she’s done a lot of work on ankle sprains in the NBA and lower extremity injuries in the NFL.
IQVIA works through those league offices and her job does take her back to our state sports teams on occasion.
“I’m obviously a Wisconsin native and so it’s always fun for me to come back to Green Bay to go visit the Packers, or to Milwaukee to visit the Bucks,” Herzog explained. “Those are particularly fun for me, but we work with everyone, all clubs within the league and all teams in the NBA.”
Mackenzie’s work with the NFL earned her a trip to the Super Bowl in Arizona this year and that was a personal highlight for her.
She said, “The best part of it was when I thanked my client for inviting me to attend, he said it was really from the work I did that got me there. And that really felt the most rewarding because we really are seeing positive impacts to our leagues in terms of improving player health and it was really rewarding to see that work recognized.”
The lakeshore native is now based in Colorado but travels throughout the country in her role.
Herzog gave credit to her parents for supporting her in everything she’s done, naming her mom Linda, her stepdad Bob Beck and her father Mike Herzog.
