Brian C. Clark, Ph.D., OMNI Director

Dr. Clark, associate professor of physiology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, and he also serves as director of OMNI. An expert in neuromuscular physiology, Dr. Clark received his doctorate from Syracuse University. His Neuromuscular Physiology Laboratory has been funded previously by NASA and is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations, the American College of Sports Medicine, and the Mal de Debarquement Syndrome Balance Disorder Foundation. He has expertise in transcranial magnetic stimulation, assessment of spinal reflexes, electromyography, and muscle functional magnetic resonance imaging. Dr. Clark recently received the 2010 New Investigator of the Year Award from the American College of Sports Medicine and has published more than 60 scholarly articles and book chapters in the last eight years.  The overarching aim of Dr. Clark’s research is to determine the neuromuscular mechanisms that mediate acute adjustments and chronic adaptations in response to changes in physical activity and under pathological conditions. The goal is to develop effective and implementable interventions that increase muscle function (e.g., muscle strength, motor control, fatigue-resistance) and physical performance in older adults or patients of any age who have orthopedic and neurologic disabilities for preventative and rehabilitation medicine. Research currently being conducted in Dr. Clark’s laboratory is aimed at examining therapeutic interventions to increase muscle strength and function, developing diagnostic tools for neurological disorders, and determining the neurophysiologic mechanisms of muscle weakness and the neurophysiologic effects of manual therapies.

Thad Wilson, Ph.D.

Dr. Wilson is an associate professor of physiology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. He received his doctorate from the University of Utah and completed post-doctoral training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. His Cutaneous Biology Laboratory focuses on the control and regulation of the sympathetic nervous system with application to cutaneous diseases. He has specific expertise in microneurography and microdialysis. His laboratory has previously been funded by the NIH and the American Heart Association and is currently funded by the National Rosacea Society and the American Osteopathic Association. He has published more than 50 scholarly articles.  Dr. Wilson’s research centers on the neurologic mechanisms of cutaneous (skin) disorders. Specifically, he is currently investigating the role of the sympathetic nervous system and sweat gland responses in patients with hyperhydrosis (excessive sweating) as well as rosacea. Additionally, Dr. Wilson maintains an outstanding research program in environmental physiology, which has direct relevance to worker health and safety. In this area, he is currently investigating the effects of heat stress (e.g., hyperthermia) on reduced work performance and how these interactive conditions can be optimized to improve workplace safety.

David W. Russ, P.T., Ph.D.

Dr. Russ is an assistant professor of physical therapy in the School of Rehabilitation and Communication Sciences. He received his doctorate from the University of Delaware and completed post-doctoral training at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He has expertise in skeletal muscle physiology—particularly as it relates to muscle metabolism and calcium handling—and his Laboratory for Integrative Muscle Biology uses a translational approach to studying muscle physiology that involves both human and animal studies. Specifically, Dr. Russ has expertise in electrical muscle stimulation and evoked-force production, magnetic resonance spectroscopy to study muscle metabolism, and sophisticated cell and molecular techniques to study muscle proteinprotein interactions. Prior to coming to Ohio University, Dr. Russ was a faculty member at the University of Maryland-Baltimore where his laboratory was funded by a Claude D. Pepper Center Pilot Grant from the NIH. Since arriving at Ohio University in 2008, he has served as co-investigator on NIH grants. He has published more than 35 scholarly articles.  Dr. Russ’s animal studies primarily investigate protein-protein interactions involved with the excitation-contraction coupling process (the series of events in skeletal muscles that convert an electrical signal into mechanical force generation). The goal of this work is to determine the mechanisms of impaired muscle quality associated with aging. His applied human research also investigates the mechanisms of impaired muscle function in older adults. For this, Dr. Russ obtains a skeletal muscle tissue sample via an outpatient biopsy procedure, which he then subjects to biochemical and protein analyses.  Additionally, Dr. Russ is working to develop innovative approaches to increase muscle mass using neuromuscular electrical stimulation.

Christopher France, Ph.D.

Dr. France is a professor of clinical psychology in Ohio University’s Department of Psychology. Dr. France received his doctorate from McGill University and has more than 20 years of experience in the assessment of individual differences in healthy participants’ response to laboratory pain stimuli and in acute, recurrent, and chronic pain conditions such as osteoarthritis, back pain, fibromyalgia, and headache. Over the past decade he has served as principal investigator on two R01 grants from the National Institutes of Health, as well as grants from the American Heart Association, and others totaling more than $3 million. He is serving as principal co-investigator or co-investigator on numerous other National Institutes of Health grants totaling another $3 million. He is the current editor-in-chief of Annals of Behavioral Medicine, and has received numerous honors and awards including the Ohio University Presidential Research Scholar Award (2001-2005) and a Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contributions to Psychophysiology (1998). He has published more than 125 scholarly articles.  Dr. France’s pain research is world renowned. His Psychophysiology and Chronic Pain Laboratory is currently investigating whether pain perception is a potential biomarker for hypertension. Additionally, Dr. France’s research focuses on pain-related fear, such as that associated with pain catastrophizing and kinesiophobia (the fear that physical activity will exacerbate pain or prompt reinjury). Specifically, his work investigates how pain-related fear relates to physical disability and the development and maintenance of chronic pain conditions. Lastly, Dr. France also conducts outstanding research in the area of blood donation. His ultimate aim is to eliminate discomfort when donating blood in order to sustain an adequate blood supply for individuals in need of blood products.

James S. Thomas, P.T., Ph.D.

Dr. Thomas is an associate professor of physical therapy in the School of Rehabilitation and Communication Sciences.  Dr. Thomas received his doctorate from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He spent more than 15 years practicing clinically as an orthopedic physical therapist and today is regarded as a world renowned expert in the area of low back pain and functional biomechanics. The NIH has provided R01funding for his Motor Control Laboratory since 2004. He has expertise in kinematic, kinetic, and electromyographic recordings of trunk movements and muscles in individuals with acute and chronic low back pain. He has served as a study section reviewer for such agencies as NIH, and has published more than 35 scholarly articles.  Dr. Thomas studies the pathology of low back pain, the role of psychological factors in predicting the recurrence of low back pain, and the development of effective therapeutic interventions on ameliorating low back pain. He recently completed a large, five-year study investigating changes in movement patterns of patients suffering recurrent low back pain, which was specifically focused on trying to understand which patients develop habitual ‘maladaptive’ movement patterns that can increase the chances of reinjury in the long term. 

Dr. Anne Loucks

Dr. Loucks is a professor of physiology in the Department of Biological Sciences. She received her doctorate from the University of California at Santa Barbara and completed post-doctoral training at the University of California at San Diego. Her Endocrinology & Bone Biology Laboratory focuses on the refining nutritional guidelines to better protect the reproductive and skeletal health of female athletes, military personnel and other women who strive to improve their performance in physically demanding activities. This research is motivated by the high prevalence of menstrual disorders and stress fractures in such women. She has specific expertise in sex hormone analyses and the assessment of bone morphology and strength. Her laboratory has previously been funded by the NIH and is currently funded by the Department of Defense. She has published more than 60 scholarly articles.  Dr. Loucks’ research centers on conducting randomized, prospective, controlled experiments investigating the physiological mechanisms mediating the influences of diet and exercise on the endocrine regulation of fuel metabolism, reproductive function and bone turnover in men and women. Limitations of existing technologies for assessing skeletal health have led to her current effort to further develop a new non-invasive, radiation-free technology for directly measuring bone strength in humans in vivo. Bone strength, which depends on bone protein as well as bone mineral, is the quantity that actually determines fracture risk. If successfully developed, this Mechanical Response Tissue Analysis may have a wide range of applications in clinical medicine as well as academic research, including better diagnosis of bone disease and abnormal adolescent skeletal development, and more frequent monitoring of fracture healing as well as skeletal responses to exercise and immobilization, nutrition, and pharmacological therapy.

OMNI Research Assistants & Fellows

Richard Hoffman, M.S.

Mr. Hoffman is an OMNI Research Assistant. He has a master’s degree in Exercise Physiology and is an ACSM Health Fitness Specialist, and has technical expertise in electromyography, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and study coordination.
 

Kumika Toma, Ph.D.

Dr. Toma is post-doctoral research fellow. Her doctoral degree is in Muscle Biology, and she has technical expertise in histochemistry, biochemistry, muscle and skin biopsies, exercise testing, and study coordination.

Andrew Leporte, B.S. 

Mr. Leporte is an OMNI Research Assistant. He received his B.S. degree in Biology from Clemson University.

Sarah Mann, M.S.  

Ms. Mann is an OMNI Research Assistant, working primarily in Dr. Wilson's laboratory. She received her B.S. degree in History from Salisbury State and her M.S.E.S from Ohio University.

Andrew Jurovcik, B.S.

Mr. Jurovcik is an OMNI Research Assistant, working primarily in Dr. Wilson's laboratory. He received his B.S. degree in Biology from Ohio University.

Affiliate Faculty

Audrone Biknevicius, Ph.D.

Dr. Biknevicius is an Associate Professor of Anatomy in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. Her research is on the form-function paradigm through the use of morphometrics and biomechanics with a particular emphasis on comparative biomechanics.

Gary Chleboun, P.T., Ph.D.

Dr. Chleboun is a Professor in the School of Rehabilitation and Communication Sciences where he directs the Muscle Mechanics Laboratory and serves as Director of the School. His research is on the relationship between muscle architecture and muscle function.  He is a member of the OMNI Executive Committee.
 

Leslie Consitt, Ph.D.

Dr. Consitt is an OMNI Junior Scholar and an Assistant Professor of Physiology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences.  Her research interests involve studying the metabolic properties of skeletal muscle in conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and aging. She is particularly interested in elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms contributing to skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity and lipid metabolism and the impact that exercise and diet modification may have on these mechanisms.

John Cotton, Ph.D.

Dr. Cotton is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. His research uses finite element modeling to study the mechanical integrity of bone.
 

David Eland, D.O., FAAO

Dr. Eland is a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine. His research is on the efficacy and mechanisms of osteopathic manipulation.
 

Jen-Tzer Gau, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Gau is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geriatric Medicine. His research involves clinical study of physical health and muscle function in older adults.
 

Frederick (Fritz) Hagerman, Ph.D.  

Dr. Hagerman is an Emeritus Professor of Physiology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences.  His research is on the effects of aerobic and anaerobic exercise on respiratory, cardiovascular, and metabolic functions of human subjects ranging from sedentary individuals to Olympic athletes.

Robert Hikida, Ph.D.

Dr. Hikida is an Emeritus Professor of Histology and Cell Biology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. His research is on the plasticity of skeletal muscle with particular interest in nucleocytoplasmic interactions in skeletal muscles and mechanisms of exercise- or activity-induced muscle damage and repair.
 

John Howell, Ph.D.

Dr. Howell is an Associate Professor of Physiology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. His current research is on palpatory diagnosis of abnormal tissue textures and understanding the biology of manual therapies.
 

Richard Klabunde, Ph.D.

Dr. Klabunde is an Associate Professor of Physiology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. His research is on cardiac and skeletal muscle microcirculation and oxygenation.
 

Andrew Krause, ATC, Ph.D.

Dr. Krause is an Assistant Professor in the School of Applied Health Sciences and Wellness. His research is on neuromuscular adaptations to tissue injury.
 

Michael Kushnick, Ph.D.

Dr. Kushnick is an Associate Professor in the School of Applied Health Sciences and Wellness where he directs the Exercise Biochemistry Laboratory. His research is on the influence of exercise and diet on human performance and risk factor modification.

Daewoo Lee, Ph.D.

The overall goal of my research is to understand molecular and cellular bases of neuronal communication in the central nervous system. In particular, we are interested in elucidating genes and signaling cascades that regulate neural circuits, mediating higher brain functions and coordinated behaviors.  Dr. Lee also studies neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease.  

Stephen Patterson, Ph.D.

Dr. Patterson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology where he directs the Psychohematology and Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine Research Laboratory. His research is on the effect of physical and psychological stress on cardiovascular function, coagulation, and hemoconcentration.

Robert Staron, Ph.D.

Dr. Staron is an Associate Professor of Anatomy in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. His research is on the plasticity of skeletal muscle with particular interest in myosin and muscle fiber types.
 

Julie Suhr, Ph.D.

Dr. Suhr is a Professor in the Department of Psychology where she directs the Clinical Neuropsychology Research Laboratory. Her research is on the effect of psychological (non-neurological) variables on neuropsychological performance in various psychological, neurological, and medical disorders.
 

Kristen Metzler-Wilson, P.T., Ph.D.  - OMNI Visiting Scientist

Dr. Metzler-Wilson is an Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy in the Department of Physical Therapy at Lebanon Valley College.  Her research is in peripheral neuropharmacology with a focus on calcium signaling and application to pain and autonomic end organs.

Stevan Walkowski, D.O.

Dr. Walkowski is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine, Section of Osteopathic Manipulative

Medicine. His research is on the efficacy and mechanisms of acupuncture and osteopathic manipulation. He is a member of the OMNI Executive Committee.

Robert L. Williams, Ph.D.

Dr. Williams is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. His research is on kinematics, dynamics,

controls, biomechanics, robotics, and haptics. In particular, he is interested in virtual reality simulation for medical training applications. He is a member of the OMNI Executive Committee.

Sybert Scholar Orthopedic Research Fellows

Paul Eichenseer, B.S.
Paul is a Sybert Scholar Orthopaedic Medicine Research Fellow.  He is a medical student conducting research on spino-pelvic biomechanics using finite element analysis with particular interest in sacroiliac joint mechanics.

David (DJ) Goss, B.S.

DJ is a Sybert Scholar Orthopaedic Medicine Research Fellow.  He is a medical student conducting research on the neuromuscular physiologic properties of patients with low back pain.