RSD faculty awarded a ​second 4-year NIH grant

NIH Intermittent Hypoxia Grant Contributors
Regulation of Intermittent Hypoxia Induced Respiratory Motor Plasticity Contributors

Dr. Gordon Mitchell and his team were recently awarded a four-year, $2.4 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute concerning the fundamental mechanisms of respiratory motor plasticity elicited by repetitive exposure to low oxygen. The grant is titled: Regulation of Intermittent Hypoxia Induced Respiratory Motor Plasticity. One major emphasis of this basic-science grant is to investigate age and sex differences in the response to intermittent low oxygen. Although this grant reflects basic science research, it is part of a continuum of research intended to accelerate advances in translational (clinical) outcomes. Basic research in this general area of research has already inspired several clinical trials to improve breathing ability (UF), as well as arm and leg function (Shirley Ryan Ability Laboratory, Chicago; Harvard University, Boston) after spinal cord injury, or with neurodegenerative diseases including ALS and MS.