Brian Noehren, PT, PhD, FACSM, professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, and Chris Fry, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Athletic Training and Clinical Nutrition, were recently awarded an R01 for $3.2 million for their study, entitled, "Sex-based Muscular Adaptations, Capillary Dysfunction and Functional Decline Impact Knee-related Psychosocial Outcomes After Acute Knee Injury (SMACK)." This five-year study funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases is designed to define the muscle molecular and cellular sex-based differences underlying poor functional recovery, the recovery of muscle function and gait mechanics, as well as determine if biological and functional differences between males and females predict the worse psychosocial response observed in females after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Noehren has also recently been awarded a $1.4 million Clinical Translational Research Award from the U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs for his study, “Accelerating Recovery Following a Lower Extremity Fracture Through Speed HIIT.” The objective of this three-year study is to test a speed-walking intervention originally used to treat patients with a neurological condition combined with high intensity interval training. This novel intervention has the potential to be administered early during recovery following a traumatic fracture to improve a soldier's ability to return to work/duty, functional capabilities and their patient reported outcomes.

The National Institute on Aging awarded Charlotte Peterson, PhD, professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and director of the Center for Muscle Biology, and John McCarthy, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Physiology in the College of Medicine, a $1.8 million R01 for their study, “The Role of Satellite Cells in Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy with Aging.” The purpose of this five-year study is to better understand the role of skeletal muscle stem cells (satellite cells) in the blunted growth response to exercise in the elderly, thereby providing a foundation for the potential use of stem cell therapy to prevent or restore losses in skeletal muscle mass during aging.

Please join the Office of Research and Scholarship, as well as all of us in the College of Health Sciences, in congratulating these faculty on these significant achievements!