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About
Our Mission
The mission of the Muscle Physiology Laboratory located within the McKnight Brain Institute (MBI) at the University of Florida is to non-invasively quantify the plasticity of skeletal muscle from disease, disuse, and aging. This area of research is key to the fields of physical therapy, physiology, rehabilitation, muscle biology, aging, and imaging. Drs. Krista Vandenborne, PT, PhD, and Glenn Walter, PhD, lead the other lab members consisting of several PhD students through the Rehabilitation Science Program and Interdisciplinary Program in Biomedical Sciences as well as individuals interested in pursuing a post-doctoral fellowship investigating plasticity of the neuromusculoskeletal system.
Lab Members
Our lab members are from diverse cultural and professional (physical therapy, physiology, medicine, engineering, muscle biology) backgrounds. In our interdisciplinary research endeavors, we utilize some of the most powerful magnets in the world through the Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy facility also located within the MBI to perform magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy (MRS) in both patient populations as well as in rodent models.
Research
Our translational research involves studies investigating muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury, immobilization/rehabilitation, aging, and factors associated with muscular growth and repair (i.e. IGF-I).
Projects are funded through the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, and the Paralyzed Veterans of America.