Skip to main content

Drummond Lab

Molecular Biology of Rehabilitation
Eccles Institute of Human Genetics; Room 3480

The research projects within Dr. Drummond’s laboratory hold to two general research themes:

  1. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of muscle growth and metabolic function in healthy and mobility impaired older adults.
  2. Novel exercise and nutritional strategies to improve muscle, metabolic and physical function deficits in older adults recovery during rehabilitation.

Many older adults over the age of 65 will be hospitalized for an acute medical illness, injury, or operative procedure. Unfortunately, a large percentage of these older adults will experience functional and metabolic decline during their hospital stay from being physically inactive. Following discharge, the functional deficits will often persist and in many instances never return to pre-hospital levels.

Therefore, the goal of Dr. Drummond’s current project is to determine how physical inactivity (i.e. acute hospitalization) in older adults reduces the muscle anabolic effect of nutrients and lead to muscle, metabolic and functional decline. A secondary goal is to determine if physical rehabilitation can reverse the consequences of short-term physical inactivity.

Dr. Drummond and students in his lab utilizes a host of standard and novel molecular biology techniques to further enhance the understanding of the mechanisms involved before and after various interventions. Laboratory analyses are routinely paralleled with measurements of mobility, muscle and whole body function capitalizing on the resources of the skeletal muscle exercise research facility (SMERF) and the expertise of the SMERF investigators. We also utilize generous services from the University of Utah Health's Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences to assist with our inpatient and outpatient experiments and analysis.

Recent peer-reviewed publications

  • Drummond M.J., A. Addison, L. Brunker, P.N. Hopkins, D.A. McClain, P.C. LaStayo, R.L. Marcus. Down-regulation of E3 ubiquitin ligases and mitophagy-related genes in skeletal muscle of physically inactive, frail older women: A cross-sectional comparison. Journal of Gerontology Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, [In Press], 2014
  • Addison, O., M.J. Drummond, P.C. LaStayo, L.E. Dibble, A.R. Wende, D.A. McClain, R.L. Marcus. Intramuscular Fat and Inflammation differ in older adults: The impact of frailty and inactivity, The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, [In Press], 2014.
  • Drummond, M.J., K.L. Timmerman, M.M. Markofski, D.K. Walker, J.M. Dickinson, M. Jamaluddin, A.R. Brasier, B.B. Rasmussen, E. Volpi. Short-term bed rest increases TLR4 and IL-6 expression in skeletal muscle of older adults. American Journal of Physiology, Regulatory, Integrative, and Comparative Physiology, 305: R216-23, 2013
  • Drummond, M.J., R.L. Marcus, PC, LaStayo. Targeting anabolic impairment in response to resistance exercise in older adults with mobility impairments: Potential mechanisms and rehabilitation approaches, Journal of Aging Research. 2012: 486930, 2012
  • Drummond, M.J., J.M. Dickinson, C.S. Fry, D.K. Walker, D.M. Gundermann, P.T. Reidy, K.L. Timmerman, M.M. Markofski, D. Paddon-Jones, B.B. Rasmussen, and E. Volpi. Bed rest impairs skeletal muscle mTORC1 signaling, amino acid transporter expression and protein synthesis in response to essential amino acid in older adults. American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology, 302:E1113-E1122, 2012

Contact Us

Paul LaStayo

Email: paul.lastayo@hsc.utah.edu