Sarah Lessard, Ph.D.
- Associate Professor, Department of Human Foods, Nutrition, and Exercise, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Focus area(s): Exercise in the prevention and treatment of chronic disease
Education
Ph.D., Medical Sciences and Exercise Physiology, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University, Melbourne, Australia
M.Sc., Human Biology and Nutritional Science, University of Guelph, Canada
B.Sc., Biomedical Science and Biochemistry, University of Guelph, Canada
Experience
Associate Professor, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
Associate Professor, Department of Human Foods, Nutrition, and Exercise, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Harvard Medical School, Assistant Professor of Medicine
Joslin Diabetes Center, Beth Israel Lahey Health, Boston
Identifying mechanisms to optimize the therapeutic benefits of exercise
Why do some people gain fewer health benefits from exercise than others?
Increased aerobic exercise capacity is one of the key health benefits of aerobic training. Some individuals, however, are “exercise resistant” and fail to improve fitness and other key health markers with training. People with metabolic diseases such as Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes have blunted improvements in aerobic capacity with training. The identification of high and low responders to exercise training can be a valuable tool in determining which mechanisms are most important in mediating the health benefits of exercise — information that is critical to identifying therapies to improve the health benefits of exercise.
MacDonald TL, Pattamaprapanont P, Pathak P, Fernandez N, Freitas EC, Hafida S, Mitri J, Britton SL, Koch LG, Lessard SJ. Hyperglycaemia is associated with impaired muscle signalling and aerobic adaptation to exercise. Nat Metab. 2020 Sep;2(9):902-917. doi: 10.1038/s42255-020-0240-7. Epub 2020 Jul 20. PMID: 32694831; PMCID: PMC8278496.
Lessard SJ, MacDonald TL, Pathak P, Han MS, Coffey VG, Edge J, Rivas DA, Hirshman MF, Davis RJ, Goodyear LJ. JNK regulates muscle remodeling via myostatin/SMAD inhibition. Nat Commun. 2018 Aug 2;9(1):3030. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-05439-3. PMID: 30072727; PMCID: PMC6072737.