Facilities

The Exercise Science Research Center operates as a research facility and is an academic component of the Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation. The ESRC serves as the responsible multidisciplinary unit for the initiation and coordination of research, outreach education and service programs. This lab is one of the most comprehensive research facilities in the area.

The ESRC provides about 6,000 square feet of research space that allows for high-level, health-related, clinically relevant research.

Resources in the ESRC include but are not limited to:

  • Venous blood collection supplies including needles, catheters, tubes, etc.
  • Biodex (isokinetic dynamometer; Balance System)
  • Qualysis Motion Capture System
  • Force Platforms (Kistler and Bertec)
  • Wireless electromyography (Delsys and NoraxonPowerLab)
  • Velotron and Lode electronically braked ergometers
  • CoreTemp monitoring system
  • Non-invasive cardiac output measures (CO2-rebreathing) integrated with the metabolic cart
  • Doppler ultrasound imaging with vascular probes
  • 12-lead ECG (Quinton Q-Stress®) integrated with computer for electronic recording
  • Equipment to measure blood volume (co-oximetry analyzer for carbon monoxide measures, glass tube setup and carbon monoxide)
  • Equipment to measure hemodynamic variables including hydration status (hematocrit and hemoglobin for plasma volume changes, osmometer, electrolyte analyzer, lactate and glucose analyzer, refractometer, HbA1c etc.)
  • Non-invasive blood pressure (Tango from SunTech Medical) and heart rate (Polar, Inc.) monitoring
  • End-tidal CO2 monitoring system
  • Refrigerators and freezers (minus 20° C and minus 80° C) to store samples (with back-up generators)
  • Platform and medical scales for mass measurements
  • Infusion pumps and supplies to perform mechanistic microdialysis studies
  • Skin blood flow measurement system (Moor Instruments)
  • Control of local skin temperature (Perimed)
  • Capacitance hygrometry sweat rate systems (Vaisala)
  • Whole-body heating/cooling systems for passive heat stress (tube-lined suits from Meg-Eng, Ottawa, Canada)
  • Metabolic cart (ParvoMedics) capable of measuring oxygen uptake via open circuit spirometry and ventilation
  • Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometer (DEXA) machine
  • Within the laboratory there is an environmental chamber (~270 sq. ft.) which is capable of controlling temperature (4° C to 44° C) and humidity (30% to 75%). The chamber is designed such that the cardiovascular and thermoregulatory equipment necessary for data collection can be moved and utilized in this space.

All signals are collected via an 16-channel data recording and analysis system (PowerLab and Chart) connected to a high-speed computer. To prevent the loss of data during a temporary power disruption, data collection computers are on a battery-backup system. Data collection computers have removable storage capabilities (CD-RW and external hard drive) for data backup.

As part of the ESRC we have a recently renovated wet lab (~1,000 sq. ft.) with the following resources and equipment:

  • Nikon TiS Inverted Microscope System with X-Cite 120 LED Fluorescent System; LWD objectives of 4, 10, 40X; 100X oil immersion objective; fluorescent light cubes corresponding to DAPI, FITC, TRITC and Texas Red equivalent channels, NIS-Elements Basic Research Acquisition and analysis package
  • ABI Step One RealTime PCR Thermocycler
  • LiCor CDigit Western Blot Scanner
  • 3x Apparatuses for electrophoresis of agarose gels
  • 4x Life Technologies Bolt Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis apparatuses
  • 4x Power supplies for electrophoresis (BioRad)
  • VWR microcentrifuge
  • Minus 80°C and minus 20° C freezers
  • 4º C refrigerators
  • Harvard Apparatus Force Transducer
  • Schuler Tissue Bath System
  • Symphony pH meters
  • 3x hot plates/stirrers
  • Beckman Coulter XL-22R centrifuge
  • Incubators and water baths
  • Tissue Tek homogenizers
  • Applied Biosystems PCR thermocycler
  • Techne Genius PCR thermocycler
  • Qubit flurometer
  • 2x circulating water baths
  • BioTek microplate reader with Take3 microvolume microplate for nucleic acid quantification
  • DEXA machine with small animal software
  • 2x Full set of manual and automatic micropipettes
  • nutating mixer, digital dry baths
  • Napco autoclave
  • FL800X microplate fluorescence reader
  • Olympus CKX41 inverted microscope with digital color camera tied to Nikon BR software
  • Purelab ultra water purification unit
  • Explosion proof refrigerator/freezer
  • High speed centrifuge
  • 2x analytical balance (Mettler Toledo, 0.1mg)
  • 2x 5’ Chemical fume hood
  • 2x water bath, 3x hot plates
  • Grass S88 Stimulator
  • Columbus Instruments 8 wheel home cage mouse running system with computer driven interface (maintained in CLAF A36).
  • Research Animal Treadmill (maintained in CLAF A36)
  • ThermoFisher 1300 Series A2 BSC Class II Biosafety Cabinet for Cell Culture
  • ThermoFisher MaxQ 4450 Benchtop Orbital Shaker/Incubator
  • ThermoFisher Forma Series II Water Jacketed CO2 Incubator with IR Sensor
  • ThermoFisher Isotemp Dual Chamber Water Bath
  • Sorvall ST8 Centrifuge
  • Aurora Scientific InVivoMuscle Test System
  • Oxygraph mitochondrial respiration system
  • BioTek Synergy HTX multimode plate reader
  • Li-COR Odyssey Fc Blot imager
  • PCR and real-time PCR machines
  • IonOptix Cell Stimulater

In addition to these resources, primary investigators (PIs) have access to the University's core facilities which include an animal facility.