Translational Research on Aging
and Chronic Disease Laboratory

What do we study?

We take an integrative approach to studying age-associated chronic diseases. We are primarily focused on how to maintain muscle, both skeletal and cardiac, over the lifespan. Special areas of focus include mitochondria, redox balance, protein stability, and hypoxia. Finally, we focus on strategies that incorporate nutritional strategies as well as exercise for the prevention and treatment of chronic disease.

How do we study it?

Through the combined expertise of the lab co-directors we are able to address research questions using cell culture, animal models, in vivo human studies, and clinical interventions. We have established cardiac, skeletal muscle, and human coronary endothelial cell models. Additionally, we use long-lived animal models and animal models for hypoxia, myocardial ischemia-reperfusion, exercise training, and voluntary physical activity. In human subjects we rely on stable isotopic tracer techniques as well as tissue sampling. Cells and tissues are analyzed using a variety of biochemical and molecular techniques.