Description of the Program

Bioenergetics is the science of energy transposition under varying metabolic conditions. Metabolic conditions which will be studied in the proposed program will include rest, differing intensities of exercise and work, and pathological states such as obesity, diabetes, and other diseases. The essence of bioenergetics is to determine how energy produced and released by the metabolic process is harnessed to perform the cellular work and activities necessary to sustain the life process.1 Bioenergetics thus ultimately seeks to link cellular or molecular events to how an organism survives in a given environment. The field of bioenergetics is therefore inherently interdisciplinary and incorporates many of the basic science areas. Some of the best examples of bioenergetics research are studies detailing the linkage between metabolism and mechanical events leading to muscle contraction and movement. Findings from these studies led to such notable advancements such as the sliding filament theory of muscle contraction2, which is presented in virtually every biology class at high school to university levels. Such inherent broad implications emphasize the importance of the bioenergetics field and it's interdisciplinary approach.

Each student will receive unique interdisciplinary training integrating exercise physiology, basic physiology, and biochemistry. The goal of the training is to enable graduates to address research questions at the level of the whole body to the gene using a variety of research approaches. Some relevant research areas in the proposed bioenergetics program will include the mechanistic linkage between energy intake, post-prandial metabolism, and responses to physical activity in terms of energy production and utilization when dealing with the metabolic stresses of disease, inactivity, and aging. Graduates from the program would be employed in health care, government, academic, research and service institutions such as the Human Performance Laboratory, and private institutions with the aim to investigate and promote the role of a physically active lifestyle in disease prevention, intervention, and treatment.

1. The Vital Force: A Study of Bioenergetics, Franklin M. Harold, pgs. IX-XI, 1986.

2. Nobel Laureate A.F. Huxley and H.E. Huxley, series of studies between 1956 and 1969.