Physical Activity and Cardiovascular
Research Lab (PACR)
Faculty Members
The PACR lab encompasses over 1400 square feet of recently completed (2009) wet labs and clinical space with state of the art exercise and health equipment. Our multi-disciplinary research team, housed within the Department of Kinesiology, focuses on disease prevention and intervention from the cell to society. Populations of interest include children, adolescents, healthy adults, clinical populations (e.g., individuals diagnosed with obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and/or cardiovascular disease), and older adults. Additionally, the proximity of the University of Windsor’s Athletic Department allows the PACR lab to be involved in the assessment and training of some of Canada’s top ranked varsity teams and athletes.
-
Insufficient sleep and vascular endothelial function
-
Cerebrovascular physiology
-
Exercise and vascular health
-
Heat stress
-
Hypoxemia and high altitude
Research Interests
-
Skeletal muscle function and structure
-
The molecular basis of skeletal muscle fibre types
-
Cellular and molecular regulation of skeletal muscle repair following injury
-
The role of biomarkers such as Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor (PAI)-1 in the regulation of skeletal muscle repair following acute injury
-
The effects of acute and chronic exercise on skeletal muscle repair and fibre type
-
Characterization of impairments to muscle repair in various populations such as young vs aged, healthy vs disease states such as diabetes or cancer cachexia
-
The relationship between skeletal muscle health and disease progression
Research Interests
-
Mechanisms that alter autonomic function and/or augment sympathetic nervous system activity in persons with cardiovascular disease and related disorders using:
-
Intraneural recordings of sympathetic outflow to muscle (MSNA; microneurography),
-
MSNA variability and reflex modulation (power spectral transfer function),
-
Heart rate in the time and frequency domains,
-
Blood markers of sympathetic nervous system activity, and
-
Associated stimuli (cold pressor test, handgrip test, apnea test),
-
Vascular health
-
Doppler ultrasound applied for the purpose of assessing endothelium-dependent and -independent vasodilation (conduit artery and resistance vessel function),
-
Reactive hyperemia ,
-
Resting brachial, femoral, popliteal and carotid artery diameters
-
Venous occlusion plethysmography, and
-
Blood markers of vascular function
-
Blood pressure (resting and ambulatory)
-
Neurovascular interactions at rest, and the response to acute and chronic exercise in both healthy and diseased populations
-
Interventions that target the pathological mechanisms of autonomic and vascular dysfunction in cardiovascular disease and associated risk factors
Research Interests:
-
The stress response to exercise, including:
-
The expression and regulation of intra- and extracellular heat shock proteins
-
The expression and regulation of circulating hormones or hormone-like (e.g. cytokines, adipokines) factors in response to exercise
-
How exercise of various intensities affects these responses
-
Sexual dimorphism in human performance and health, which involves the following questions:
-
How do the sex hormones influence exercise related adaptations in untrained humans?
-
How is athletic performance in competitive athletes modified by sex hormones and associated adaptations to training?
-
How can exercise training or increased physical activity be modified to take advantage of sex-specific adaptations?
-
-
The influence of exercise intensity and related responses on health in diseases associated with the metabolic syndrome (e.g. diabetes, heart disease)