overview

• After successfully running my own construction contracting business, a life changing event caused me to shift gears and pursue a career in biomedical research. The effects of a car accident left me out of work for 6 months and I underwent extensive therapy on the road to full recovery. The science behind the treatments intrigued me, and even after returning to work, my newfound interest in physical medicine and human physiology led me to ponder a career change. I decided to return to college with the initial intention of becoming a clinician, inspired by the physiatrist who helped me during my rehabilitation. I quickly became enamored with performing and interpreting experiments in my undergraduate science courses; and sought out a position in a research lab studying the effect of ischemic stroke on the peripheral neuromuscular system in a rat model. While in a Biology of Aging course, a sarcopenia lecture catalyzed a shift in my educational focus towards a research PhD.
  After completing a dual major BS degree in biology and physiology, I earned my PhD researching aging skeletal muscle physiology/biology using rodent models of sarcopenia, frailty, and exercise. I then completed a postdoc in aging muscle metabolism/physiology, working on a multitude of projects ranging from large team science clinical trials to generating transgenic mouse models. I am now a tenured associate professor of physical therapy at East Carolina University. Currently, my lab's research focuses on uncovering mechanisms of age-associated neuromuscular decline using mouse models of exercise and aging, omics technology (Next Generation Sequencing RNAseq and tandem mass spectrometry), and our novel composite scoring systems, the comprehensive functional assessment battery (CFAB) for physical function and CAB (cognitive assessment battery) for cognitive function. We are particularly interested in the mechanisms responsible for differential functional aging, i.e., why some individuals age at different rates, and how exercise can modify the aging trajectory. My career goal is to impactfully improve human healthspan by mitigating disease through basic, applied, translational and reverse translational biomedical research, specializing in aging physiology/biology, in the context of sarcopenia/frailty, cognitive decline, exercise, and rehabilitation.