Clinical Advisory Representative
Dr. Mark Lavallee
MD, CSCS, FACSM, FAMSSM
Dr. Mark E. Lavallee is a board-certified sports medicine physician who has dedicated more than 30 years to caring for individuals with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes. Living with classical Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (cEDS) himself, he brings both professional expertise and personal experience to his work, with a mission to help every patient become the best version of themselves possible. Throughout his career, Dr. Lavallee has established three specialized EDS clinics, serving thousands of patients from across the United States and internationally. He currently practices at UPMC in York, Pennsylvania, where he continues to care for individuals with EDS while advancing research, education, and clinical training in the field. As a former Olympic weightlifter and lifelong strength athlete, Dr. Lavallee's interests include EDS research, musculoskeletal health, and finding ways that patients can lead active lives. His compassionate, patient-centered approach is shaped not only by decades of clinical experience, but also by his own journey navigating life with cEDS.
Why CAN?
As an original member of the Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation (EDNF) in 1987, we focused on all subtypes equally. The mission was to educate and support people with EDS, educate and engage medical professionals, and help advance care and research for all types of EDS. That's what CAN is striving to become.
As a person with cEDS, the parent of a child with hEDS, and someone who has started and run three EDS clinics over the last three decades that have served thousands of EDS patients — while remaining actively involved in evidence-based, clinically relevant EDS research — I feel CAN has a focus on research and advocacy for the other 13 subtypes that aligns with my personal and professional focus.