KIP Newsblog

Category: News

KIP Alumni Wins AJP 2023 Best Research Article Award

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KIP alum Joshua Gonzalez (PhD, Integrative Physiology), who graduated in the summer of 2021, earned the “American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology 2023 Best Research Article Award” for his article titled “Acute Effects of Electronic Cigarettes on Arterial Pressure and Peripheral Sympathetic Activity in Young Nonsmokers.”

Dr. Joshua E. Gonzalez
Dr. William Cooke

He wrote and published this article while still a PhD student at MTU along with his advisor and co-author Dr. William Cooke. 

The AJP-Heart and Circulatory 2023 Best Research Article Award is based on: 

  • The total number of citations the article has received since publication (11)
  • Total online article usage (4,100+)  
  • The Altmetric score of 17 (measure of social media/news media impact)

He will receive both an award and cash prize at the upcoming American Physiology Summit 2023  to be held April 20-23, 2023 in Long Beach, California.

American Journal of Physiology, Heart and Circulatory Physiology logo
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“Engineering the Future of Human Health”: KIP featured at MSU-MTU Symposium

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Dr. William Cooke (KIP), Dr. Carolyn Duncan (KIP), and Dr. Kevin Trewartha (CLS/KIP) were among 12 researchers from Michigan Tech who met with colleagues representing the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University on March 13, 2023. Hosted by MSU in Grand Rapids, Michigan, this was the inaugural event of the collaborative research symposium between the universities.

Dr. Duncan and Dr. Trewartha presented during the “Neurological Disease and Aging Research” session, while Dr. Cooke presented at the “Cardiovascular Research” session.

In the fall, Michigan Tech will host the second symposium with Dr. Cooke as a co-sponsor. “This is an important collaborative opportunity, and I look forward to being among those who will be organizing the next collaborative meeting on October 27th–beautiful time to be in the UP,” he remarked when asked about the future event.

The full story and complete list of MTU and MSU researchers who gave presentations can be found in Tech Today.

Dr. Carolyn Duncan presented on “Balance and Functional Mobility” at the MSU-MTU symposium.
Dr. Kevin Trewartha’s presentation was titled “Aging and Cognition: Implications for Motor Learning and Sensorimotor Motor Control in Older Populations.”
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KIP PhD Student Awarded Michigan Space Grant Consortium Fellowship

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Kyle Wehmanen, PhD Student

Kyle Wehmanen, a PhD student and graduate teaching assistant, has been awarded a $5,000 graduate fellowship by the Michigan Space Grant Consortium, which is sponsored by NASA, for its 2023-2024 cycle. His project is entitled “Human Powered Locomotion on Variable Terrain: Implications for how to Move on Mars.”

More details about the MSGC and the complete list of undergraduate, graduate, and faculty recipients can be found in the Tech Today announcement from the Graduate School.

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KIP Graduate Students Earn Top Honors at HRI Student Forum

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PhD student Greg Miodonski was awarded First Place for the poster session at the Health Research Institute’s (HRI) Student Forum on February 24th. Greg, a student in Dr. Qinghui Chen’s (KIP) lab, presented his research project entitled “Exercise Training Upregulates SK Channel Function in the Hypothalamic Paraventricular Nucleus (PVN) of Sprague Dawley Rats.”

Greg Miodonski with his advisor Dr. Qinghui Chen.
Greg presenting his poster to judges at the HRI Student Forum.

PhD candidate Sherry Chen earned Third Place for her research project’s poster presentation entitled “The Role of Peripheral Orexin Systems and Brain-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in Salt Sensitive Hypertension.” Sherry’s advisor is Dr. Zhiying (Jenny) Shan.

“As a graduate student, it is a valuable experience to present my work in the HRI student forum as it facilitates networking with faculty and students outside of my department. During my poster presentation, I had the chance to meet with three judges, including Dr. Caryn Heldt, who is also working on extracellular vesicles. Dr. Heldt asked me questions about the characterizations of nanoparticles in hypertension and showed interest in collaborating in the future. Although our research interests differ – my project focuses on the biological function of the vesicles while Dr. Heldt’s team analyzes their features – we can still explore potential areas of overlap and collaborate based on what we study in common, the vesicles. Thanks for this great opportunity provided by HRI as it provides a platform for networking, exchanging ideas, and potentially new opportunities for research. I am happy to present my work and share new data in HRI next year.” —Sherry Chen on presenting at the HRI Student Forum.

Sherry’s Abstract:

Introduction- It has been reported that small extracellular vesicles (sEVs ≤ 200 nm) are implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple diseases including hypertension. However, the role of brain-derived sEVs in the development of salt sensitive hypertension (SSHTN) remains unclear.

Hypothesis- We hypothesized that brain-derived sEVs from high salt diet-treated rats can induce inflammation and oxidative stress in the central nervous system (CNS). To test this hypothesis, brain-derived sEVs of Dahl salt-sensitive rats with high salt (HS) diet (Dahl-HS-sEV) were used to treat primary brain neuronal cultures and microinjected into brain lateral ventricles, respectively, proinflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and oxidative stress markers were measured through real-time PCR or fluorescent probes. sEVs isolated from Sprague Dawley (SD) rats with normal salt (NS) diet (SD-NS-sEV) were used as a control.

Results– Data showed that Dahl-HS-sEV increased mRNA levels of inflammatory cytokines including TNFα (2.3-fold) and IL1β (3.7-fold), and chemokines including CCL2 (2.4-fold), CCL5 (2.1-fold), and CCL12 (4.2-fold), with significant difference (P<0.05). In addition, Dahl-HS-sEV treatment increased mRNA levels of transcription regulator, NF-κB (1.4-fold), and neuronal activation marker, c-FOS (1.3-fold), as well as CYBA (1.7-fold), in primary neurons, compared to SD-NS-sEV-treated cells (P<0.05). Confocal images showed that Dahl-HS-sEV significantly increased mitochondrial ROS levels, with total fluorescence intensity increased 1.6-fold relative to SD-NS-sEV treatment (P<0.01). SD-NS rats receiving intracerebroventricular injection of Dahl-HS-sEV had increased (P<0.05) PVN mRNA levels of IL1β (4.3-fold), CCL5 (2.6-fold), IL-6 (3.4-fold) and NOS2 (5.2-fold), compared to rats receiving SD-NS-sEV (5.5 μg/rat, n=4), 6h after injection.

Conclusion- These results suggested that in SSHTN, brain-derived sEVs may induce central inflammation and oxidative stress, which in turn results in an elevation of arterial blood pressure.

For the complete list of winners and departments that were represented, please read the Tech Today story that was published on March 7, 2023.

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KIP December Health Brief: How to have a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season

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As students, staff, and faculty gather with friends and family to celebrate the holidays and take a much-deserved break, it is important to protect those individuals around us. Stay away from others if you are sick, wash your hands, stay physically active, get enough sleep, and enjoy healthy foods (along with some of those holiday indulgences!). 

The KIP December Health Brief provides a snapshot of COVID-19 trends, notion of the “tripledemic” this winter, health and well-being tips, vaccine and booster guidance, and resources.

The current COVID-19 community transmission level for Houghton County is low (note this does not include results from rapid at-home tests). This is good news as hospitalizations right now are also low. However, the combination of respiratory illnesses including COVID-19, flu, and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) are on the rise across the country which is leading to an increase in medical visits and hospitalizations. The threat of a possible “tripledemic” is a current concern of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Accordingly, it is important that we continue to do our part by following the recommended public health guidelines. If you are sick, get tested as soon as possible. Finding out what you have will provide you with the best options for treatment and will provide crucial information to those around you so they can protect themselves too. As you travel over the winter break be sure to check community transmission levels at your destination as well. 

Also, some helpful resources for information on where and when to get COVID-19 booster and flu shots are Vaccines.gov and this CDC website, which will calculate when an individual is due for a booster. The U.S. Federal Government is also offering free COVID-19 tests by mail, and most pharmacies can help you use your health insurance benefits to reduce the price of tests.

Our public health messaging would not be complete without including physical activity promotion as a key mitigation component. As an effort to help keep everyone active over the winter break, the UP and Moving team will be delivering live workouts on Thursdays at 9:30am (12/22, 1/5) and Saturdays at 10:00am ET (12/24, 1/7). All ages and abilities are welcome, no specialized equipment needed, and join us through Zoom or Facebook live. 

Here are some additional resources

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KIP Students Visit Local Schools to Promote Health Science and Public Health

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A team of Michigan Tech students visited local elementary, middle, and high school classrooms as part of state and national outreach efforts to increase awareness about health science and public health. Steven Elmer, Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology, organized the visits to coincide with the Michigan-Indiana Physiology Understanding Week and National Rural Health Day. Teams of undergraduate and graduate students engaged local students in hands-on activities focused on learning about how the human body works, healthy living behaviors, noninfectious and infectious diseases, and community health.

Kate Meister, a senior pre-health and human biology student, visited 4th grade students at Houghton Elementary School where she taught students about their own heartbeat. Students were led through an activity where they partnered up and crafted a do-it-yourself stethoscope from plastic funnels, balloons, and rubber tubing. The students were able to listen to their partner’s heartbeat through the stethoscope they created and learned more about the impact that exercise has on heart rate.

Kyle Wehmanen and Gwyn Hamlin, graduate students in kinesiology, used a slightly different approach involving the popular game Jenga to engage students at the local middle and high schools. That is, Wehmanen and Hamlin taught students about the importance of healthy living behaviors (physical activity, good nutrition, healthy body weight, not smoking) and impact of both noninfectious (heart disease, obesity, diabetes) and infectious (influenza, COVID-19) diseases on community health. By adding blocks that represented healthy living behaviors, the Jenga towers became stronger and were more resilient when blocks were removed that represented various diseases. Hamlin also talked about her journey from a Houghton High School student to Michigan Tech graduate student who will earn her degree in a few weeks to working in the Cardiac Rehabilitation unit at UP Health System Portage.

Felix Cottet-Puinel, a graduate student in kinesiology from Morzine, France, also assisted with the outreach activities and said that communicating health science and public health related concepts to different age ranges required creativity, presented some challenges, and was very rewarding. Several other students including Tyler Hampton, Isaac Wedig, and Noelle St. Pierre also participated in the outreach activities.

Together, the outreach team visited Houghton, Lake Linden, Dollar Bay, and Chassell schools and connected with over 225 students ranging from 4th to 12th grade. “These outreach events are critical to generating student interest in health science and public health focused careers as there is a major shortage of health professionals in rural areas like the Upper Peninsula”, explained Kelly Kamm, Portage Health Endowed Assistant Professor and Epidemiologist in the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology.

As society continues to build forward from the COVID-19 pandemic, health focused outreach with local schools is key to generating more interest in health, science, technology, engineering, and math (H-STEM). Looking ahead, Michigan Tech’s new H-STEM Engineering and Health Technologies Complex is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in early 2024. The new building will provide state-of-the-art teaching and research labs to advance learning, develop new technologies, and prepare a skilled workforce for tomorrow.

For more information about scheduling a health science and public health outreach visit to your classroom contact Tayler Haapapuro, Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology Academic Advisor and Outreach Coordinator via phone (906-487-3169) or email (tmhaapap@mtu.edu).

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H-STEM Construction Update: Topping Off Ceremony

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On November 22, 2022, Michigan Tech President Richard Koubek gave the signal for the last beam to be placed for the new H-STEM Engineering and Health Technologies Complex, which will be KIP’s new home.

Keeping with an age-old tradition in the United States, an American flag and a small evergreen were attached to the last beam, symbolizing good luck during construction and best wishes for the future building.

The H-STEM building will be the newest addition to Tech and will be a place for state-of-the-art teaching and research labs for health-related STEM studies. This building will provide a place for both students and faculty to collaborate and work towards creating innovations focused on improving human health and quality of life. 

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Free Falling: Dr. Carolyn Duncan to be featured on “Husky Bites”

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Dr. Carolyn Duncan
Assistant Professor, KIP
Sarah Aslani
PhD Student, CLS

On Monday, November 14th, at 6:00 pm KIP’s Dr. Carolyn Duncan will be the latest guest on Husky Bites, a free and interactive Zoom webinar hosted by Dean Janet Callahan of the College of Engineering. Also joining in will be Cognitive and Learning Sciences PhD student Sarah Aslani, who is a member of Dr. Duncan’s Balance and Functional Mobility Lab.

During the 30-minute webinar, they will explore balance and fall prevention and discuss Dr. Duncan’s ongoing research on both topics. “We need greater understanding of exactly what affects our ability to regain our balance when we lose it. Not all risk factors affect balance in the same way. There are many unanswered questions, and that’s where our research comes in,” she explains in an interview she did for the College of Engineering Blog that highlights its Husky Bites guests.

To read the complete interview with Dr. Duncan and Sarah, go to the COE Blog. To tune in for their Husky Bites event, registration is required but free. All of the details can be found on the Husky Bites website.

Students conducting research in Dr. Duncan’s Balance and Functional Mobility Lab
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KIP Students and Faculty Participate in UP Medical Conference

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Sherry Chen, PhD student, Poster Session Winner (tied 3rd place)
Isaac Lennox, MS student, Poster Session Winner (1st place)

Students and faculty from the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology and recently participated in the first annual Upper Peninsula Medial Conference, hosted by the Michigan Tech Health Research Institute, on August 26-28, 2022.

The focus of the conference was on rural health and health topics impacting rural communities (e.g., mental health, lifestyle medicine, diabetes, public health, orthopedics and sports medicine). Conference attendees included students, faculty, and clinicians from across the Upper Peninsula. The conference also provided continuing medical education credits for clinicians.

Graduate students Xingqian (Sherry) Chen, Isaac Lennox, Greg Miodonski, Isaac Wedig, and Kyle Wehmnanen presented their research and outreach-related projects. For the research category, Isaac Lennox and Sherry Chen earned awards for their poster presentations. For the physician’s choice category, Isaac Wedig and Kyle Wehmanen earned awards for their poster presentations. Isaac Lennox, Isaac Wedig, and Kyle Wehmanen, along with Dr. Elmer, delivered an interactive activity as part of the featured lecture on lifestyle medicine.

Isaac Wedig, PhD candidate, Physician’s Choice Winner (tied)
Greg Miodonski, MS student

Conference attendees also had the opportunity to tour the Exercise Physiology Laboratory and visit the Central Michigan University Physical Therapy Program – Satellite Campus. Dr. Chen and Dr. Elmer, served on the conference organizing committee. Dr. Elmer indicated that, based on feedback from attendees, the organizing committee is already discussing plans for improving the conference for next year.

Overall, the first annual Upper Peninsula Medial Conference was an excellent opportunity for students and faculty to showcase their work, learn more about rural health challenges, and network with clinicians. Thank you to the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology Faculty for supporting costs for our students to attend this conference.

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Upper Peninsula Medical Conference Featured in The Mining Journal

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The Upper Peninsula Medical Conference was mentioned in The Mining Journal. Hosted by the Health Research Institute, the conference will take place at Michigan Tech August 26-28.

KIP faculty have assisted with the planning of the inaugural conference, and the department’s students and faculty will be participating in its events. More details can be read about in a press release featured on The Mining Journal’s website.

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