Collaborators
Jane Kent, PhD
Dr. Jane Kent is the Director of the Muscle Physiology Lab and the Kinesiology Department Chair at UMass Amherst. She received her B.A. and M.A. from California State University, Long Beach and her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. Dr. Kent specializes in skeletal muscle, fatigue, bioenergetics, aging, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
Dr. Kent’s primary interest is in the area of human skeletal muscle function and fatigue. In particular, her work examines the mechanisms of fatigue, and how these vary depending upon age, gender, chronic health status, and habitual physical activity level. A related interest is an examination of the influence that fatigue has on functional capacity. She takes a state-of-the-art, integrated approach to understanding human muscle function from the cell to the organism. The main problem she is working on now is how to minimize the loss of mobility and health that occur in old age. She recently received a two-year, $374,188 grant from the National Institute of Aging to study the effects of fat on muscle activity.
Stuart R. Chipkin, MD
Dr. Stuart R. Chipkin is a Research Professor and board-certified endocrinologist who has a long-standing strong interest in diabetes research. He received his medical degree from the State University of New York (SUNY) and trained in internal medicine and endocrinology in Worcester. He later joined the faculty of Boston University where he became associate chief of the section of endocrinology, nutrition and diabetes at Boston Medical Center.
He was recruited to be chief of endocrinology at Baystate Medical Center and began collaborating with researchers at the University of Massachusetts. He then joined the UMass faculty in 2004 where he has been studying ways to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke in people with pre-diabetes and diabetes. Dr. Chipkin performs the muscle biopsies for all studies hosted by the Muscle Biology Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Chipkin also maintains a clinical practice at Valley Medical Group in Amherst.
Joseph A. Gordon III, MS, CSCS
Joseph “Jay” Gordon is a Ph.D. student in the Muscle Physiology Lab at UMass Amherst. He received his B.S. in Sport & Exercise Science with minors in Fitness Training and Psychology as well as his M.S. in Exercise Physiology from the University of Central Florida. His current research is related to fat deposition within muscle and its effect on muscle function. Jay’s overall life goal is to maximize his knowledge of health, physiology, fitness, and nutrition in order to achieve optimal health, performance, and longevity in himself and others.
Nicholas Remillard
Nicholas “Nick” Remillard graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2019. Currently, Nick works as the Project Coordinator for the Muscle Physiology Laboratory. Nick intends to continue with his study of Kinesiology on the Graduate level.