The HaMM Laboratory provides opportunities for students interested in pursuing research on metabolic adaptations that occur in both cardiac and skeletal muscle. 

The Heart and Muscle Metabolism (HaMM) research laboratory in the Health and Exercise Physiology Department at Ursinus College is interested in understanding the precise metabolic adaptations that occur in cardiac and skeletal muscle during both health and disease states. One major focus is uncovering the role that changes in lipid metabolism play in the development of both cardiac and skeletal muscle dysfunction. These research projects utilize mouse models of high-fat feeding, including ketogenic diet, to identify changes in the structure and function of various organs. Another focus is identifying the metabolic changes that result from acute and chronic exercise training. In these projects mouse models of exercise training, including treadmill or voluntary wheel running, are used to investigate changes in various metabolic pathways

Recent Student Projects

  • Luca Walborn, “Effects of ketogenic diet on cardiac-ischemia reperfusion injury”
  • Mya Knappenberger, “The contribution of ketogenic diet to behavioral alterations and brain development”
  • Erica Locke, “The effects of voluntary wheel running on hemoglobin in male and female mice”
  • Jack Thompson, “Sex differences in insulin sensitivity after acute exercise”
  • Ken Sprankle, “Exploring sex differences in mice fed the ketogenic diet”
  • Mya Knappenberger, “Behavioral changes in female mice fed a high fat diet”
  • Caitlin O’Neill, “The effects of exercise training on glucose homeostasis in Type I diabetic female mice”
  • Lola Holcomb, “Differences in endurance exercise and metabolic gene expression in male and female mice”
  • Katie Kurzinsky, “The effects of ketogenic diet on Type I diabetes in mice”

Innovation and Discovery Center

The HaMM Lab is located in the
Innovative Discovery Center, IDC#216.

 

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