The mission of our NIH funded laboratory (The Translational PharmacoNutrition and Pharmacology Laboratory (TPN Lab) is to discover and develop the use of new therapeutic agents to treat acute and chronic illness. This research spans the entire range of translational pharmacology (from basic mechanistic pathway determination in cellular/animal systems to large multi-center randomized controlled clinical trials).
Currently, we have a major research focus on the use of specific nutrients and amino acids (glutamine and other sports and performance-enhancing nutrients) as pharmacologic agents in the therapy of critical illness, organ injury, and peri-operative/surgical stress. Other areas of interest for our research group include development of coordinated peri-operative interventions (exercise, nutrition, etc.) to improve surgical outcomes.
A student in our fast paced and diverse lab group would be encouraged to target either work