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University of Wyoming

INBRE Related Programs

 

Thematic Research- Community Based Participatory Research

Thematic Research- Fertility and Women's Health

Thematic Research- Integrative Physiology

Thematic Research- Community Based Participatory Research

Community-focused Health and Biophysiological Research - Top
Dr. Derek T. Smith, Project Investigator
Asst Professor, Kinesiology and Health
smithdt@uwyo.edu

Dr. Clarann L. Weinert, Mentor/Collaborator
Professor, College of Nursing
Montana State University
cweinert@montana.edu

Project Summary
Physical inactivity (PI) is a leading public health challenge. Being physically inactive has numerous health consequences, including premature death, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, and diminished quality of life. The benefits of a habitually physically active lifestyle are also numerous and include reversal and/or restoration of many of these negative consequences. The beneficial physiological and psychosocial adaptations that occur from habitual physical activity have been well established at the cellular/molecular, system, and human levels in controlled research environments. Despite this knowledge, more than 60% of U.S. adults are not meeting the current physical activity recommendations and 25% are not active at all. PI is not merely an adult problem either; half of 12-21 year olds are not vigorously active on a regular basis.

The substantive question is, WHY are Americans so inactive? The physical activity research continuum, from epidemiology to the molecule, is clear. A habitually physically active lifestyle is beneficial and likely necessary to maintain quality of life. However, a gap exists in this continuum, specifically how do we translate what has been established in the controlled research laboratory to the population level. Based on this apparent gap in the physical activity research continuum, the long term goals of the Community-focused Health and Biophysiological Research arm of the Clinical Outcomes in Rural Populations Core are:

1) to better understand how to get people to adopt and maintain a physically active lifestyle;

2) to identify the mediating variables that modulate the adoption and maintenance of a physically active lifestyle; and

3) to better understand the physical activity dose-response curves relative to beneficial changes in cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk factors.

An obvious barrier to pursuing these long term goals is how to expand the delivery of effective physical activity behavior change programs beyond the research laboratory to the public practice level. Advances in technology, specifically internet communications, may be a likely medium upon which this barrier could be overcome. Using the internet to deliver evidence-based theory-driven physical activity behavior change programs and developing internet-based physical activity tools are two current focus areas of the Community-focused Health and Biophysiological Research arm. The Human Integrative Physiology Laboratory has undertaken three research projects within these focus areas intended to help us make progress toward our long term goals. For more detailed information regarding these projects, please visit:

Research Project Summaries


Thematic Research- Fertility and Women's Health

Vitamin E, Ovarian Cancer and Fertility - Top
Dr. William J. Murdoch, Mentor/Collaborator
Professor, Animal Science
wmurdoch@uwyo.edu

Summary
The specific objectives of this proposal using an ovine paradigm are to: 

I) determine the dose-response effects of vitamin E on ovulation/luteinization and oxidant insults to DNA of the ovarian epithelium;

II) assess in vitro responses of p53-attenuated cells following an in vivo exposure to vitamin E;

III) evaluate the functional capacity and lifespan of the corpus luteum in ewes treated during the preovulatory period with vitamin E; and IV) monitor the effects of vitamin E on conception and pregnancy outcome.


Thematic Research- Integrative Physiology

Placentomal Vascular Adaptations to Early maternal Nutrient Restriction in the Ewe - Top
Dr. Stephen P. Ford, Mentor/Collaborator
Professor, Animal Science
spford@uwyo.edu

Summary
The impact of maternal under nutrition during gestation on placental/endometrial vascular growth, development and function in precocial species is a largely unexplored area. Clinical practice currently utilizes monitoring of fetal growth, fetal renal function through amniotic fluid volume determination, and blood flow velocimetry in the fetoplacental circuit to manage cases of intra-uterine growth retardation (IUGR). However, little research has been conducted to evaluate the specific role of alterations in structure and function of the placental and associated endometrial vasculature in this phenomenon. This proposal will contribute directly to our understanding of the vascular changes at the fetal-maternal interface (placentome), that occur during the development of IUGR in an ovine model. The studies outlined below examine the overarching hypotheses that restriction in fetal growth in under nourished mothers:

1. is initially a result of decreased somatic growth (days 28-78) due to limited maternal nutrient supply associated with inadequate nutrient transfer across the placentomal vasculature.

2. can be alleviated by placentomal (fetal and maternal components) morphological and vascular adaptations in structure and function intended to maximize nutrient delivery to the fetus, which occur in association with the conversion of A type placentomes to more efficient types (i.e. B, C and D).