Health and Human Performance
Molecular Cardiology and Myology Laboratory
Led by Ashley Smuder · Applied Physiology and Kinesiology
What we study
The lab studies how physical activity protects heart and muscle health, focusing on molecular pathways. Researchers use experiments to understand how exercise prevents muscle damage from diseases like chemotherapy.
What working here is like
- Wet lab
- Project
- 1
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Mechanisms by which physical activity can preserve cardiorespiratory muscle function following exposure to chemotherapy
Investigating how exercise protects muscle health during chemotherapy treatment.
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Chronic Doxorubicin-induced Cardiac Dysfunction is Prevented by both Concomitant and Rehabilitation High-intensity Interval Training
2026 · Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology Plus
- Effect of age on the development of acute Doxorubicin-induced respiratory muscle dysfunction
2026 · Physiology
Shows that older adults are more likely to develop diaphragm weakness after doxorubicin treatment.
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- Effects of mitochondrial ABCB7 transporter upregulation on acute doxorubicin cardiorespiratory muscle injury
2026 · Journal of Applied Physiology
Finds that increasing ABCB7 protein in the heart doesn't protect against doxorubicin toxicity but improves diaphragm function.
- Antioxidant Upregulation Contributes to Improvements in Diaphragm Function Following Cervical Spinal Cord Injury and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
2026 · Antioxidants
Tests whether hyperbaric oxygen therapy boosts antioxidants in diaphragm muscles after spinal cord injury.
- Severe heat stress exposure as a hidden driver of future cardiovascular disease: a narrative review of animal and human studies
2026 · American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology
Reviews how severe heat stress harms the heart and lungs in humans and animals.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
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