S7E8: The Research Rat Race

Episode 8

Jul 2, 2022

Aw, rats! The Healwell Brain Trust welcomes Esther E. Dupont-Versteegden, Ph.D. to the podcast. Esther's presentation at IMTRC blew everyone away, and we are delighted to have her on the podcast to talk more about about her research into muscular atrophy, how researchers really spend their time, and what all this data means for massage therapists.

Image for The Research Rat Race

EPISODE 8

Aw, rats! The Healwell Brain Trust welcomes Esther E. Dupont-Versteegden, Ph.D. to the podcast. Esther's presentation at IMTRC blew everyone away, and we are delighted to have her on the podcast to talk more about about her research into muscular atrophy, how researchers really spend their time, and what all this data means for massage therapists.


Continue the conversation in the Healwell Community: community.healwell.org


Support us on Patreon for extra Super Secret Squirrel shenanigans! patreon.com/interdisciplinary


About Our Guest:

Dr. Dupont graduated from State University Limburg at Maastricht, the Netherlands, with a Bachelor in Science degree in Movement Sciences. In 1995 she received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Physiology from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas.

In 1999 she became Assistant Professor of Geriatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and in 2006 she accepted a position as Associate Professor in the College of Health Sciences Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Kentucky. In 2015 Dr. Dupont-Versteegden was promoted to full professor and in 2016 she accepted the position of Director of the Rehabilitation Sciences Doctoral Program.


Here are some links to research papers mentioned in the podcast. For a more extensive list, please email us at podcast@healwell.org:

Hettinger, Z.R., Hamagata, K., Confides, A.L., Lawrence, M.M., Miller, B.F., Butterfield, T.A., Dupont-Versteegden, E.E.

Age-related susceptibility to muscle damage following mechanotherapy in rats recovering from disuse atrophy. Journals Gerontology Series Biological Sciences, 76: 2132-2140, 2021 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glab186

Hettinger, Z.R., Wen, Y., Peck, B.D., Hamagata, K., Confides, A.L., Van Pelt, D.W., Lawrence, M.M., Harrison, D.A., Miller, B.F., Butterfield, T.A., Dupont-Versteegden, E.E.

Mechanotherapy promotes extracellular matrix remodeling in aged rat muscle recovering from disuse by reprogramming intercellular communication. FUNCTION, 2022, 3(3): zqac0152. PMCID: PMC9009398

https://academic.oup.com/function/advance-article/doi/10.1093/function/zqac015/6553824

Van Pelt, D.W., Lawrence, M.M., Miller, B.F., Butterfield, T.A. and Dupont-Versteegden, E.E.

Massage as a mechanotherapy for skeletal muscle. Exercise and Sports Sciences Reviews, 49: 107-114, 2021. doi: 10.1249/JES.0000000000000244.