The University of Maryland College Park Department of Kinesiology exercise biology and aging program has a history of producing well-trained PhDs who complete postdoctoral training and become productive faculty members. We have supported 18 trainees over the first 9 yrs of this program with 12 completing their PhD degrees, 5 still in training, and 1 pursuing an MD/PhD degree in a different discipline (neuroscience). Eleven of the 12 who graduated (92%) have gone on to NIH postdoctoral research fellowships. Seven of these 12 graduates are now in tenure-track academic positions, 1 is in industry, 1 is part-time faculty, and 3 are still in postdoctoral positions. Furthermore, we have graduated 3 African-American women who have gone on to NIH postdoctoral research fellowships at UT-Southwestern, Wake Forest, and Temple. This program provides trainees with the skills necessary for them to complete high-quality dissertation research projects addressing: 1) age-related changes in body composition, metabolic, CV, and musculoskeletal function, and CV disease risk factors;2) exercise training-induced changes in these same parameters;3) the genetic architecture underlying the baseline measures of these parameters, their changes with aging, and their changes with exercise training interventions;and 4) the mechanisms responsible for these responses in animal and cell culture models using cell and molecular biology methodologies. A substantial enhancement of this renewal Training Program is this translational component, whereby trainees can extend their studies from human physiological studies to investigations in animal models and cell culture to delineate the underlying cell and molecular mechanisms. Trainees'research can be conducted with Primary, Secondary, and Associate Mentors at closely collaborating laboratories at the University of Maryland School of Medicine Division of Gerontology, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition, Department of Physiology, and School of Nursing and Childrens National Medical Center Research Center for Genetic Medicine. Trainees complete coursework in the basic biology of aging;specific knowledge in exercise, CV, musculoskeletal, metabolic, cell, and molecular biology and physiology;genetics;and biostatistics and research design. We propose to continue this program to fund each of 6 predoctoral trainees for 4 yrs to complete their PhD degrees with high-quality coursework and a dissertation research project that will prepare them for an NIH postdoctoral research fellowship and an eventual academic faculty position with a research program focusing on exercise biology and aging.

Public Health Relevance

This program will support 6 trainees/yr who will complete their PhD degrees with high quality research projects. The long-term goal is to prepare trainees to pursue high-level NIH postdoctoral research fellowships and, eventually, academic faculty positions that focus on research and teaching in the prevention of such major age-associated issues as sarcopenia, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and CV disease.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Institutional National Research Service Award (T32)
Project #
5T32AG000268-13
Application #
8066026
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZAG1-ZIJ-7 (J4))
Program Officer
Dutta, Chhanda
Project Start
1999-05-01
Project End
2014-04-30
Budget Start
2011-05-01
Budget End
2012-04-30
Support Year
13
Fiscal Year
2011
Total Cost
$210,924
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Maryland College Park
Department
Miscellaneous
Type
Schools of Public Health
DUNS #
790934285
City
College Park
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
20742
Jackson, Kathryn C; Tarpey, Michael D; Valencia, Ana P et al. (2018) Induced Cre-mediated knockdown of Brca1 in skeletal muscle reduces mitochondrial respiration and prevents glucose intolerance in adult mice on a high-fat diet. FASEB J 32:3070-3084
Ludlow, Andrew T; Gratidão, Laila; Ludlow, Lindsay W et al. (2017) Acute exercise activates p38 MAPK and increases the expression of telomere-protective genes in cardiac muscle. Exp Physiol 102:397-410
Iyer, Shama R; Valencia, Ana P; Hernández-Ochoa, Erick O et al. (2016) In Vivo Assessment of Muscle Contractility in Animal Studies. Methods Mol Biol 1460:293-307
Landers-Ramos, Rian Q; Corrigan, Kelsey J; Guth, Lisa M et al. (2016) Short-term exercise training improves flow-mediated dilation and circulating angiogenic cell number in older sedentary adults. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 41:832-41
Venezia, Andrew C; Guth, Lisa M; Sapp, Ryan M et al. (2016) Sex-dependent and independent effects of long-term voluntary wheel running on Bdnf mRNA and protein expression. Physiol Behav 156:8-15
Valencia, Ana P; Schappal, Anna E; Morris, E Matthew et al. (2016) The presence of the ovary prevents hepatic mitochondrial oxidative stress in young and aged female mice through glutathione peroxidase 1. Exp Gerontol 73:14-22
Walsh, Sean; Ludlow, Andrew T; Metter, E Jeffrey et al. (2016) Replication study of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) genotype association with skeletal muscle traits and sarcopenia. Aging Clin Exp Res 28:435-42
Valencia, Ana P; Iyer, Shama R; Pratt, Stephen J P et al. (2016) A method to test contractility of the supraspinatus muscle in mouse, rat, and rabbit. J Appl Physiol (1985) 120:310-7
Sarzynski, Mark A; Burton, Jeffrey; Rankinen, Tuomo et al. (2015) The effects of exercise on the lipoprotein subclass profile: A meta-analysis of 10 interventions. Atherosclerosis 243:364-72
Mázala, Davi A G; Pratt, Stephen J P; Chen, Dapeng et al. (2015) SERCA1 overexpression minimizes skeletal muscle damage in dystrophic mouse models. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 308:C699-709

Showing the most recent 10 out of 52 publications