Department of Exercise Science research effort centers on the investigation of health-related aspects of exercise. Department faculty research is integrative and allows for study at the cellular, tissue, and whole organism level. General research interests of faculty in the Exercise Science Department include:
- Anti-inflammatory effects of exercise
- Effect of gene and environmental interactions on human athletic ability, health, and disease
- Skeletal muscle adaptations to disuse and aging
- Obesity and Diabetes
- Physical activity promotion for individuals with disabilities and their families (Kinesiology for Individuals with Disabilities)
We also collaborate with the SUNY Upstate Medical University on projects and share some research and laboratory space. Collaborative research, clinical and educational opportunities are available for our students through SUNY UMU as well. The Institute for Human Performance, part of the SUNY UMU campus, is a 40,000 square foot facility of dedicated laboratory space for research in Human Performance.
Exercise Science research facilities include:
- Altitude Simulation Laboratory
- Clinical Research Laboratory
- Exercise Prescription Lab (ExRx Lab)
- Human Performance Laboratory
- Kinesmetrics Lab
Students in Research
As a student in Falk College, you will have opportunities to work with researchers, professors, and fellow students (both graduate and undergraduate) exploring a variety of fields and approaches in each of the Falk disciplines. Research experience allows students to better understand published works, balance collaborative and individual effort, grow interest in graduate studies and influence career trajectories.
Graduate students in Exercise Science are encouraged to become involved in the research process by participating as part of a team on various projects during their first semester on campus. Both M.S. and Ph.D. students also direct their own projects after their first year. Graduate student research in the department is of exceptional quality and the students publish their papers in professional journals. Many students have also received grant support for their research.
Faculty Projects
Opportunities exist for students to participate in exciting research opportunities with Exercise Science staff. here are some ongoing research opportunities:
Clinical Research Laboratory
Joon Young Kim’s expertise is in human research on obesity, metabolism and type 2 diabetes. His current research focuses on physical and metabolic contrast in pathophysiological risk for type 2 diabetes between obese youth versus obese adults. His Clinical Research Laboratory is equipped with YSI Glucose/Lactate Analyzer, Luminex MAGPIX, and InBoday770, allowing faculty and students to study the pathophysiology of and/or risk factors for chronic disease, and the effects of lifestyle intervention on biomarkers of cardio-metabolic disease risk in youth and adults.
Human Performance Laboratory
Kevin Heffernan’s research examines the interaction of diet, nutritional supplementation, and exercise (with an emphasis on resistance exercise) on vascular function in health, disease, and disability throughout the human lifespan. His Human Performance Laboratory includes equipment such as a bodpod to measure body composition.
Altitude Simulation Laboratory
Tom Brutsaert, focuses his work on how genes and environment interact to produce variation in human athletic ability and health and disease. He conducts field research in high-altitude environments, such as the Andes in Peru and Mount Everest in Nepal. His on-campus Altitude Simulation Laboratory houses a human-scale hypoxia chamber that is large enough to accommodate several test subjects during metabolic testing under simulated altitude conditions up to 20,000 feet.
Hypoxia Lab
The Hypoxia Lab features a full-scale normobaric hypoxia chamber for simulated altitude training, investigations of the human physiological response to low oxygen, and for the staging/testing of protocols that are used during field research conducted in the Andes and Himalayas.
Kinesmetrics Lab
The goal of the Kinesmetrics Lab is to advance the knowledge of physical behavior’s consequences on health. Dr. Tiago Barreira is an expert in the objective measurement of human physical behavior, more specifically in the use of pedometers and accelerometers. The lab seeks to establish the validity and reliability of measurement tools and their use in motivation, as well as investigate the relationship between behaviors and cardiovascular disease risk factors. Learn more about the lab and its research.