We study the short and long-term effects of severe energy restriction, commonly occurring during anorexia nervosa. This can include how skeletal muscle is directly affected by anorexia nervosa or how skeletal muscle health may influence other systems and organs such as the brain, bones etc.
Our laboratory mission is to pursue excellence in all scientific endeavors with robust experimental design, precise analytical techniques, and critical analysis of our work. Using a teamwork-centered approach, we recognize the most impactful scientific discoveries rarely occur in our comfort zone and when those breakthroughs do occur, celebrations are always necessary. In our laboratory, everyone is an important member of the team, and no one is above any task. With our work, we facilitate the development of future scientists and clinicians, improve our current understanding of physiological ramifications of severe energy restriction, and have some fun along the way.
Our work has been funded by agencies such as Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Arkansas Biosciences Institute, National Institutes of Health and others.
Previous and Current Funding
Current Funding
| 2024 | Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center Pilot Grant: Metabolic Alterations to Skeletal Muscle in a Rodent Model of Anorexia Nervosa | |
| Role: PI | Status: Awarded | |
| Direct Costs: $50,000 Goals: Evaluate metabolic alterations in the skeletal muscle of rats undergoing simulated anorexia nervosa | ||
Previous Funding
| 2024 | Arkansas Biosciences Institute Gap Funding Title: ABI Gap 2024: Muscle-Brain Cross-talk: Investigating Neurological Proteomics in Relation to Muscle Health in Anorexia Nervosa | |
| Role: PI | Status: Awarded | |
| Direct Costs: $21,000 Goals: Evaluate proteomic alterations within the brains of rats with a prior AN to determine long-term alterations to cognitive function. | ||
| 2023 | Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Spark Hubs Grant Title: Myokines as a novel regulator of neural integrity in anorexia nervosa | |
| Role: PI | Status: Awarded | |
| Direct Costs: $50,000 Goals: Determine the relationship between muscle size, myokines, and gray matter volume in rodents and humans during anorexia nervosa and following bodyweight recovery. | ||
| 2022 | BIRCWH: Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health | |
| Title: Determining the relationship between estrogen status and long term musculoskeletal alterations due to restrictive eating disorders | ||
| Role: PI | Status: Awarded, Study complete | |
| Direct Costs: $215,000 Goals: Determine the recovery trajectory of musculoskeletal changes upon restoration of food consumption after restrictive eating disorders and how estrogen status may influence this recovery trajectory. | ||
| 2020 | NASA Research Opportunities in Space Biology Post-Doctoral Fellowship | |
| Title: Influence of sex hormones on nervous system and musculoskeletal health in micro- and Martian fractional gravity in rat analogues | ||
| Role: PI | Status: Awarded, Study Complete | |
| Direct Costs: $140,000 Goals: To determine how the presence or absence of sex hormones influences the trajectory of musculoskeletal outcomes during exposure to micro- and partial gravity environments. | ||