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Associate Professor
Dr. Sheffield-Moore
received her Ph.D. degree in Human Bioenergetics from Ball State University
in 1997. She conducted a NIH Trauma and Burns Post-Doctoral Fellowship in
the Department of Surgery, Metabolism Unit at the University of Texas
Medical Branch where she performed human clinical research studying muscle
protein metabolism in trauma, burns and aging. Dr. Sheffield-Moore worked as
an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at UTMB for 5 years
researching muscle protein metabolism and aging and joined the Division of
Endocrinology in 2004. She is a member of UTMB’s Institutional Review Board
and teaches Endocrinology and Reproduction in the School of Medicine.
Dr. Sheffield-Moore’s primary area of research is focused on the sarcopenia
of aging in humans and to develop interventional therapies to counter
age-related and disease-induced muscle loss. The cause of age-related muscle
loss and strength in humans is multifactorial, likely as a result of altered
muscle protein metabolism and amino acid transport, physical inactivity,
andropause/menopause and/or inadequate nutrition. Dr. Sheffield-Moore’s
research employs various clinical techniques such as stable isotope
methodology, femoral arterio-venous catheterization, muscle biopsies,
microdialysis and blood flow to quantify skeletal muscle protein metabolism.
In addition she utilizes a novel technique called contrast enhanced
ultrasound to measure capillary tissue perfusion in humans, thus providing a
method to determine the regulatory role and vascular actions of hormones
such as insulin on protein metabolism
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