Lisa S. Krivickas Muscle Cell Physiology Laboratory

Spaulding’s Krivickas Muscle Cell Physiology laboratory is conducting several research projects in which the contractile properties of single muscle fibers are studied to determine the effects of disease processes and treatments on the ability of muscle cells to generate force, velocity, and power.  Current projects examine lower extremity muscle power and function in the elderly, the effect of a rowing exercise program on muscle in paraplegic subjects, and the relationship between the protein titin and elastic characteristics of single muscle fibers in the elderly.

Dr. Jeffrey Widrick is the Director of the Krivickas Muscle Cell Laboratory at Spaulding. The long-term goal of the laboratory is to develop novel or more effective ways of preventing, treating, and rehabilitating musculoskeletal injuries, diseases, and disorders. The laboratory takes a functional approach to these problems. Dr. Widrick and his staff use a variety of techniques to investigate mechanisms of muscle contraction, ranging from studies performed on the intact organism, to isolated tissues, to individual muscle cells or fibers. This functional approach is often coupled with methods for identifying contractile proteins allowing assessment of protein-function relationships. Recent studies have investigated muscle cell impairments with aging, treatments for Duchenne and myotonic muscular dystrophies, and mechanisms underlying contraction-induced muscle injury and weakness.

Research interests: exercise and muscle physiology, cellular mechanisms of muscle contraction, mechanisms of muscle dysfunction including fatigue and damage, contractile protein biochemistry, maintenance of muscle function in the elderly, treatments for muscular dystrophies and other neuromuscular diseases, muscle recovery from prolonged physical inactivity (e.g. bed rest), rehabilitation from spinal cord injury.