UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #422 | Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement

Submission information

Submission Number: 422

Submission ID: 8381

Submission UUID: fea5390f-35a2-420b-8fc3-8547edc8207c

Submission URI: /urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal

Submission Update: /urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal?token=gZmqABjnEksUXJ-PhW2sId05z-WrKwGI1k45xLeqUPs

Created: Fri, 08/11/2023 - 03:14 PM

Completed: Fri, 08/11/2023 - 03:14 PM

Changed: Mon, 10/09/2023 - 03:04 PM

Remote IP address: 128.186.45.10

Submitted by: Anonymous

Language: English

Is draft: No

Webform: UROP Project Proposal Portal

Submitted to: UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal

Research Mentor Information

Primary Research Mentor Name Mostafa Ali

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Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated) mmali@fsu.edu

Position Title Post Doc

FSU College (if applicable) Health and Human Sciences

FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation Nutrition and Integrative Physiology

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Additional Research Mentor(s)

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Overall Project Details

Title of the Project Physical Exercise and Fat Metabolism

Project Keywords Exercise, Metabolism, Adipose Tissue, Insulin Resistance

Are you currently looking for research assistants? No

Number of Research Assistants Needed 2

Relevant Research Assistant Major(s) - Exercise Physiology
- Biology
- Biochemistry

Project Location: On FSU Main Campus

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Please select the choice that most accurately describes your expectations for the research assistant(s): In-person

Approximately how many hours a week would the research assistant(s) need to work? 6 hours

Roughly what time frame do you expect research assistant(s) to work? Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)

Overall Research Project Description Diabetes and the associated health complications including death from heart diseases are prevalent in women over 50 years of age. Diabetes risk can be reduced through increased physical activity. Although, health benefits of endurance exercise are well recognized, the therapeutic potential of resistance training to remedy the risks of metabolic disorders is poorly understood. Our goal is to compare the effects of 12 weeks of resistance training to endurance training with respect to whole-body and regional lipolytic activity as an indicator of metabolic flexibility in response to changes in energy demand and prevailing conditions in obese prediabetic postmenopausal women. Our working hypothesis is that both 12 weeks of resistance training and 12 weeks of endurance training will increase lipolytic flexibility. To test this hypothesis, we specially will 1) determine the extent to which 12 weeks of resistance training, as compared to calorie-matched endurance training, improves lipolytic flexibility in response to an acute treadmill walking session. 2) determine the extent to which 12 weeks of resistance training, as compared to calorie-matched endurance training, alters the adrenergic regulation of lipolysis in subcutaneous adipose tissue. 3) determine the extent to which 12 weeks of resistance training, as compared to calorie-matched endurance training, improves whole-body as well as regional lipolytic flexibility in response to insulin. Our research participants will be randomized into endurance versus resistance training groups each of which will be further randomized into acute treadmill walking versus insulin infusion groups. To this end we will utilize various research tools to collect the relevant data as follows; 1) Indirect calorimetry to measure whole-body metabolism and substrate utilization. 2) Microdialysis techniques to measure regional lipolytic activity via assessing glycerol concentrations in adipose and muscle dialysates. 3) Glycerol/palmitate stable isotope infusions to assess whole-body lipid turnover via assessing levels of stable isotope tracers in blood and breath samples. Furthermore, we will assess some secondary outcome measures including, but limited to, aerobic capacity, body strength, and body composition.

Research Tasks Students are expected to take part in all aspects of our human research experiments starting from comprehending the significance of the ongoing study and data collection and entry through data analysis and interpretation. Students will be asked to review relevant literature, complete safety training and certification, attend and present in journal club discussions, help with clinical testing procedures including preparation of laboratory materials, blood collection, microdialysis, fat biopsies, and assessments of whole-body energy expenditure and aerobic fitness. In addition, students will be trained on wet laboratory techniques including fluorometric assays and immuno-purification methods for cell sorting. Furthermore, students will have the opportunity to learn and practice statistical data analysis and reporting.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: - Communication Skills, required
- Microsoft Excel, required
- Time Management, required
- Commitment, required
- Consistency, required

Mentoring Philosophy I have always found the key element for success is the mentor’s ability to spark students’ curiosity to learn and connect with sources of information and knowledge that help them explore new ideas. Indeed, students should be at the center of the learning experience. The strategies, methods, and approaches to achieve that might -and should- change and evolve, but the focus should always be on the students. In addition, accommodation for college students and their schedules provides better access to learning opportunities and creates effective mentor-mentee communication. To this end, I always seek to improve my mentoring style based on self-evaluation, student evaluation, and peer evaluation.

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UROP Program Elements

Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication Yes

UROP Performance Evaluation Yes

Materials Grant Yes

UROP Poster Presentation Yes

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Year 2023

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