Featured Speakers
IBEC 2026: Exercise and Healthspan
June 1-5
Featured Speakers
I started my independent lab in 2012 after I obtained a position at both the University of Padova as an assistant professor, as well as a position as Principal Investigator at the Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM) in Padova. My main interests are: a) understanding the cellular mechanisms that influence skeletal muscle adaptation in health and disease, and b) developing preventative and therapeutic interventions to reduce the incidence and severity of muscle-related diseases in our communities, placing particular emphasis on the role of exercise. My research places an emphasis on new transgenic mouse models and analyses of muscle biopsies impinging on pathways regulating muscle growth and function.
Dr. Bouzakri received his Ph.D. at the University of Lyon, studying insulin signalling in Type 2 diabetes with Dr. Vidal. In 2004 he joined the group of Dr. Juleen Zierath at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, where he spent 2 years as postdoctoral Fellow. Dr. Bouzakri decided to join the European Center for the Study of Diabetes chaired by Dr. Michel Pinget in Strasbourg. There, Dr. Bouzakri was able to show that previously identified myokines may have the potential to prevent disease progression in rodent models of induced Type 2 diabetes. Dr. Bouzakri founded Ilonov in 2020 which have been selected by the very selective BaselLaunch program and became an international company based in Basel, Switzerland.
Dr. Nicholas Broskey is an Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at East Carolina University and serves as the interim Director of the East Carolina Diabetes & Obesity Institute. He conducts human translational research with a focus on skeletal muscle physiology and the integration of whole-body and cellular metabolism. Particularly, Dr. Broskey is interested in the role of mitochondria in health and disease and how exercise interventions can help ameliorate conditions of metabolic disease through changes in mitochondrial bioenergetics. His research skillset spans biochemistry, exercise physiology, and mitochondrial bioenergetics, with additional training in conducting pregnancy research and exploring the link between maternal and infant health.
II am a translational vascular physiologist focused on understanding the mechanisms that drive vascular dysfunction during normal aging and in populations experiencing premature aging, such as cancer survivors. By identifying these underlying mechanisms, our goal is to uncover therapeutic targets that can be "aimed" at with pharmacological treatments and/or lifestyle interventions (e.g., aerobic exercise). We consider aerobic exercise the gold standard for improving vascular health and are particularly interested in uncovering how it exerts its beneficial effects. We believe that insights from this work can guide the development of pharmacological therapies, especially for individuals who are unable to engage in regular exercise training.
Fernanda De Felice is a Professor at the Center for Neurosciences Studies & Departments of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences at Queen’s University, Canada. In 2024 De Felice has been nominated Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Brain Resilience. She further holds a position at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and at IDOR, Brazil. De Felice has been investigating Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and its intersection with hormones and physical exercise. De Felice conducted seminal work on the mechanisms leading to defective hormonal signaling in Alzheimer’s disease. Her studies, along with clinical observations, have contribute to understand how neuronal dysfunction occurs in the brains of AD patients and are contributing to comprehend how lifestyle interventions, in particular physical exercise, have the potential to preserve brain health and prevent or delay AD. De Felice is a fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. She serves as Senior Editor of Neuropharmacology and is Associate Editor of Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
Wim Derave is a full professor at the Department of Movement and Sports Sciences at Ghent University (Belgium), where he teaches and leads a dynamic research team in exercise physiology, sport nutrition and muscle metabolism. Since 2005, Wim established his own laboratory in Ghent, which has taken a lead in the research regarding beta-alanine supplementation and the role of carnosine in skeletal muscle, both with respect to sport as to chronic metabolic diseases. An emerging research topic of his group relates to the development of an MRI-based - thus non-invasive - evaluation of muscle fiber type composition, and its applications towards sports and health. In 2017, Wim spent a 6-month sabbatical at the Gold Coast (Australia) as a visiting professor of Griffith University. Wim Derave has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed international scientific publications.
Dr. Erickson is a young investigator at the Translational Research Institute, which is part of AdventHealth in Orlando, Fl. Her broad research interest is understanding the role of exercise in the prevention and treatment of metabolic disease. She specifically focuses on how circadian-related mechanisms modify physiology and metabolism in humans, which applications to shiftwork. Erickson received doctoral training in exercise physiology from the University of Georgia, followed by postdoctoral fellowships in metabolism and obesity at the Cleveland Clinic and Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
Zhenji Gan, Ph.D., is a Professor at the Model Animal Research Center, Medical School of Nanjing University. His research focuses on mitochondrial biology and skeletal muscle metabolism, with particular emphasis on how mitochondrial regulation impacts exercise adaptation and metabolic disease. He has published extensively in leading journals such as Nature Cell Biology, Science Translational Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Nature Communications, Science Advances, and PNAS, and is a recipient of China’s National Distinguished Young Scholar award. His laboratory aims to uncover novel molecular mechanisms underlying muscle function and systemic energy homeostasis.
Brian Glancy graduated with a B.A. in Sport Science from the University of the Pacific prior to receiving a Master’s degree in Kinesiology and a Ph.D. in Exercise Science from Arizona State University working with Wayne Willis. He was a postdoctoral fellow with Robert Balaban at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute from 2009 to 2016. Dr. Glancy became an Earl Stadtman Investigator at the NIH with a dual appointment between NHLBI and NIAMS in 2016 and became a tenured Senior Investigator in 2023. He is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Physiological Society.
Dr. Goodpaster’s primary research is in the pathophysiology of obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, and aging, and to help decipher biological mechanisms underlying the health benefits of exercise. He has received a number of awards and honors for his work, including the Nathan Shock Award from the National Institute of Aging in 2008, for his work investigating the role of muscle fat infiltration in aging and muscle quality. He is particularly well known for “the athlete’s paradox” which has shifted the paradigm in Type 2 diabetes research to investigate, how and why does fat accumulation in muscle cause insulin resistance in some subjects but not others? He currently serves as a PI on the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium (MoTrPAC). Dr. Goodpaster obtained a B.S. in Biology from Purdue, and after completing a Pre-doctoral Fellowship at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, received his Ph.D. in Human Bioenergetics from Ball State University in 1995.
Laurie Goodyear is a Senior Investigator at the Joslin Diabetes Center and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She holds several positions at Joslin Diabetes Center, including Co-Head of the Section on Integrative Physiology and Metabolism, Director the Fellowship Committee, Director of the Animal Physiology Core and founder and director of the Human Exercise Physiology Research Laboratory at Joslin. The long-standing goal of the Goodyear laboratory is to elucidate the molecular basis for the benefits of exercise on health. Regular physical activity can have a plethora of beneficial effects including improved glycemic control, improved lipid profiles, and reduced rates of cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and other complications. The importance of exercise therefore cannot be understated, especially in people with obesity and type 2 diabetes. Her group has been at the forefront of basic and translational research aimed at determining mechanisms for many of these important effects of exercise, publishing more than 200 primary papers and reviews investigating cell systems, rodent models, and human subjects.
Danny, a Winthrop Professor in the School of Human Sciences (Sport and Exercise Science) at The University of Western Australia, is a cardiovascular exercise physiologist specializing in chronic disease prevention. His research spans all ages, from preventing atherosclerosis in obese youth to optimizing exercise and medication for heart disease, stroke, diabetes and heart failure. He leads UWA’s Cardiovascular Research Group, which develops early disease detection and personalized prevention strategies through transdisciplinary collaborations in science, engineering, and medicine.
I am a research assistant professor and director of the GEMM Core at the University of Virginia, with over a decade of experience in genetically engineered mouse models and vertebrate model systems. My background combines deep technical expertise in CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing, embryo manipulation, AAV-based gene delivery, and translational retinal disease research. In my current role, I oversee all aspects of the GEMM Core, from project design and execution to researcher training and new technology adoption. I have a strong publication record, a history of collaborative work with diverse research groups, and a commitment to ethical and efficient use of animal models to advance biomedical science.
Dr. Hood is a former 3-term NSERC Tier I Canada Research Chair in Cell Physiology and was the Founder of the Muscle Health Research Centre, the leading centre in Canada for the study of muscle health and disease. He has published >200 peer reviewed articles and is recognized internationally for his work on mitochondrial biogenesis and turnover. He has given 160 presentations both nationally and internationally and has directly supervised >200 trainees at the graduate, undergraduate and post-doctoral levels. He has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) Honour Award (2010) and the Michel Sarrazin award from the Canadian Physiological Society (2025). In the last 5 years he has accrued more than $2M in research funding.
Christina Hugenschmidt, Ph.D., is the Rebecca E. Shaw Professor and Director of the Memory Counseling Program and Associate Professor of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She is a neuroscientist committed to research that maintains dignity and purpose for older adults across the range of physical and cognitive function they experience. Her research investigates how age-related changes in movement and metabolism interact with the brain and cognition, and the potential of lifestyle interventions to support healthy brain and body function in aging. Her work on arts and aging with her close collaborator and former Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow Christina Soriano, MFA, MBA has led to community collaborations and unique outreach opportunities.
Lee Jones, Ph.D., is a Professor and Head of the Exercise-Oncology Program in the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope in Los Angeles. His academic career has focused on a translational approach to elucidating the effects and mechanisms of controlled exercise therapy on cancer pathogenesis. His team has leveraged large observational data sets to perform several novel analyses investigating the relationship between exercise and cancer incidence and prognosis. In related analyses, he has linked clinical annotation of exercise with tumor molecular characterization to examine whether the influence of exercise on cancer outcomes differs based on tumor features. In translation to the clinic, his team has published multiple landmark prospective clinical trials investigating the tolerability and safety of exercise therapy across the entire cancer trajectory (i.e., prevention to advanced disease). In close adherence with the team's translational framework for rigorous development of exercise therapy as an anticancer strategy, they have recently completed the first phase 1-type trials to evaluate the maximum feasibility (tolerability) and biological efficacy of exercise therapy in several oncology settings. The lab has also leveraged biospecimen collection in these trials to conduct correlative studies to elucidate the mechanistic underpinnings of exercise therapy via the adoption of a systems-levek approach.
Dr. Langston is an Assistant Professor of Pathology at Yale School of Medicine and a member of the Yale Center for Research on Aging (Y-Age). He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University for his work in Dr. Tiffany Horng's laboratory on metabolic regulation of macrophage activation and tolerance. He completed his postdoctoral training with Drs. Diane Mathis and Christophe Benoist in the Department of Immunology at Harvard Medical School. At Yale, the Langston laboratory is further defining the cellular and molecular features of exercise-induced inflammatory responses in youth and during aging – an endeavor that is partly supported by an NIA/NIH K22 award – with an emphasis on elucidating how non-parenchymal cells sense exercise and regulate its benefits. An ultimate goal of this work is to design exercise-inspired interventions to combat modern afflictions associated with chronic inflammation, improve regeneration and performance after injury, reduce the pathology of musculoskeletal diseases, and combat age-related frailty (i.e., increase healthspan).
Steen Larsen is an Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen, specializing in mitochondrial biology. His work investigates how physical activity modulates mitochondrial function and how various drugs influence mitochondrial health. His research, primarily conducted in humans, aims to uncover mechanisms that could lead to improved treatments for metabolic diseases and enhanced physical performance. He is also affiliated as a guest Professor at the Medical University in Bialystok, Poland. He has been publishing more than 130 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Brian is a lecturer in the Discipline of Physiology at the University of Galway, Ireland and previously worked as a lecturer in Musculoskeletal Biology at the University of Liverpool. He has extensive experience in the analysis and handling of large data “omic” experiments from a variety of different platforms including proteomics, RNA-Seq and ribosomal profiling. His research interests include understanding the adaptive response to exercise and ageing in skeletal muscle. In particular he is trying to understand the redox dependent cellular signalling pathways that regulate mitochondrial dynamics including the assembly of mitochondrial ER contact sites (MERCS). MERCS assembly is promoted during exercise but disrupted in a number of age-related conditions leading to disturbed intracellular homeostasis. Currently the research group are using a number of approaches to target MERCS assembly including exercise, selective microRNAs and targeting the ER stress response using the nematode C. elegans, animal and cell models.
Dr. Miller received a Ph.D. from UC-Berkeley and completed a post-doc at the Muscle Research Center in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 2018, he moved from Colorado State University to the Aging and Metabolism Research Program at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF). Dr. Miller’s expertise is in skeletal muscle, aging, mitochondria, stable isotope labeling, proteostasis and drug and lifestyle (primarily exercise) interventions. His work with tracers and in muscle aging is nationally recognized and has led to many collaborations, extensive mentoring, and leadership positions. Dr. Miller’s work is almost exclusively focused on prolonging the period spent in good health (i.e., healthspan) by targeting mitochondrial energetics and proteostatic maintenance. The Miller lab is truly translational in that the studies span from pre-clinical models to clinical trials and back. The Miller lab has focused on training the next generation of scientists and many from the lab have gone on to their own exceptional careers.
Dr. Morris is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She Co-Directs the KU Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Biomarker Core and serves as Director of the KU Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Developmental Projects Program. Dr. Morris’ research is focused on relationship between systemic and brain energy metabolism and Alzheimer's Disease. Her lab leverages translational approaches including cell models, blood based biomarkers, and neuroimaging and she has led multiple NIH funded clinical trials focused on exercise, metabolism, and brain health.
Kevin A. Murach, Ph.D., received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, completed a master’s degree in Exercise Physiology at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, then earned his Ph.D. in Human Bioenergetics from the Ball State Human Performance Laboratory in Muncie, Indiana. His dissertation was a collaboration with NASA aimed at optimizing the exercise prescription for astronauts on the International Space Station. Dr. Murach spent six years as a post-doctoral fellow/scholar studying muscle stem cells at the University of Kentucky Center for Muscle Biology in Lexington. He now is an Associate Professor at the University of Arkansas and PI of the Molecular Muscle Mass Regulation (M3R) Laboratory. His current research uses human muscle samples, primary cell culture, genetically modified mouse models, omics, and computation to understand the molecular cues that drive exercise adaptations and aging, and the interaction between the two.
Dr. Neufer is Professor and Chief, Section of Molecular Medicine, Departments of Internal Medicine and Biochemistry, and the Associate Director of the Cardiometabolic Center of Excellence, Wake Forest University School of Medicine. For more than 40 years, Dr. Neufer’s research career has integrated exercise physiology, molecular biology, metabolism, and mitochondrial bioenergetics. His lab is currently focused on deciphering the mechanisms controlling mitochondrial function under normal and metabolically compromised or stressed states, and determining how altered mitochondrial function in turn contributes to, or counterbalances against, the etiology and/or pathology of diseases related to metabolism.
Dr. Rasmussen’s research is in the area of muscle, metabolic and exercise physiology. Over the past 25 years, he has been the Director of the NIH-funded Skeletal Muscle Biology Lab, published more than 150 papers, and has trained several PhD students and postdoctoral fellows. Dr. Rasmussen recently moved to UT Health San Antonio as Professor & Chair of the Department of Cellular & Integrative Physiology where he is the Leader of the Molecular Phenotyping Resource Core for the San Antonio Pepper Center and Co-Leader of the San Antonio Nathan Shock Center GeroMetabolism Core. His research focuses on uncovering the basic mechanisms regulating muscle growth and loss in humans and animal models and unraveling the cellular mechanisms responsible for how exercise, physical inactivity and nutrients impact muscle protein and cellular metabolism across the lifespan. More recently the lab has expanded into multi-omic analyses of different tissues and the effects of disuse on mitochondrial dysfunction in skeletal muscle.
Dr. Leanne M. Redman is the Associate Executive Director of Scientific Education and Director of the NIH-funded Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. An internationally recognized physiologist, she leads the Reproductive Endocrinology & Women’s Health Laboratory, with research focused on energy balance, metabolic health, pregnancy, and obesity prevention. Dr. Redman has published over 250 scientific papers and led more than $50 million in NIH-funded clinical trials aimed at improving maternal and infant health. She has received several prestigious honors, including The Obesity Society’s TOPS Research Achievement Award and the 2025 E.V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition. A passionate advocate for early-career scientists, Dr. Redman was named National Postdoctoral Mentor of the Year in 2018. Her work integrates clinical research, digital health interventions, and translational science to improve health outcomes for women and families.
I am a full professor in the School of Nutritional Sciences and Wellness (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences) at the University of Arizona and hold joint appointments in Pediatrics (College of Medicine), Immunobiology (College of Medicine), the Arizona Cancer Center and the Bio5 Institute. I also hold the Gouri Bhattacharya Endowed Chair in Pediatric Cancer in the Steele Children’s Research Center at The University of Arizona. My research interests are concerned with the effects of exercise, stress and aging on the immune system, and how exercise can mitigate diseases such as cancer through its immune-modulating effects. Major focus areas include understanding (1) how exercise-induced adrenergic activation mobilizes immune cells that can be harvested for cancer therapy; (2) how exercise and other behavioral interventions can offset age-related decrements in the normal functioning of the immune system (immunosenescence), (3) the interplay between the immune and neuroendocrine system during high level human performance and extreme isolation (e.g. space travel), and (4) how persistent virus infections such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) can alter the phenotype and function of T-cells and NK-cells to protect the host from certain hematological malignancies.
Paul Titchenell is currently Executive Director - Head of Metabolic Physiology at Eli Lilly and Company. Dr. Titchenell is recognized for his work on insulin signaling, hepatic metabolism, and metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. He earned a Ph.D. in Physiology from Penn State University and completed postdoctoral training at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he later became a tenured Associate Professor and Director of the Rodent Metabolic Phenotyping Center. His research has focused on the underlying mechanisms of insulin resistance and metabolic regulation in liver, adipose tissue, and muscle. After more than a decade in academia, he recently transitioned to big pharma, where he is focused on translating scientific discoveries into new therapies for cardiometabolic disease.
Dr. Saul Villeda is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Endowed Chair in Biomedical Science at the University of California San Francisco and serves as Associate Director of the Bakar Aging Research Institute. He obtained his B.S. degree from the University of California Los Angeles, his PhD degree in Neuroscience from Stanford University, and started his independent career at the University of California San Francisco as a Sandler Fellow. Dr. Villeda has made the exciting discovery that the aging process in the brain can be reversed by altering levels of circulating factors in blood. Dr. Villeda’s research is best known for the use of innovative heterochronic parabiosis and blood plasma administration approaches to investigate the influence that exposure to young blood-derived or exercise-induced circulating factors has in promoting molecular and cellular changes underlying cognitive rejuvenation. His work has garnered accolades that include a National Institutes of Health Director’s Independence Award, the W.M. Keck Foundation Medical Research Award, the Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging, and the McKnight Innovator Award in Cognitive Aging.
My research interest is understanding the function and mechanism of circadian clocks at levels from genes to behavior. In response to daily environmental changes imposed by Earth’s rotation, almost all species, ranging from cyanobacteria to humans, have evolved physiological and behavioral rhythms, called circadian rhythms. The harmony between our intrinsic biological timing and the daily environmental oscillation is critical to physiological well-being; conversely, disrupted circadian rhythms have been shown to cause or increase the risk of various chronic diseases. My lab focus on delineating fundamental cellular mechanisms in circadian rhythms and also deciphering physiological and pathological roles of the clock. My long-term goal is to translate such fundamental mechanistic knowledge into new drug targets and therapeutic strategies for improved prevention and treatment of chronic diseases.