My research program centers on understanding how animals are able to meet the physiological challenges imposed by their environments and by their natural and evolutionary histories. I use an integrative approach to understand why some animals, particularly pond turtles, are better able to tolerate dramatic changes in oxygen availability, temperature, and body fluid pH. My studies at the organismal level focus on acid-base regulation and carbohydrate metabolism, especially lactic acid, and those environmental and physiological factors that directly regulate these processes. My studies at the cellular level focus principally on the heart, which must and does continue to function under conditions (low oxygen and extremely low pH) that would otherwise be fatal to other vertebrates, including mammals. These include studies of cardiac pH regulation and the effects of pH on the cellular processes involved in excitation-contraction coupling, the sequence of events that starts with electrical depolarization of the cell and culminates in mechanical shortening. We aim to improve our understanding of how these processes evolved throughout evolution and to better characterize new or existing solutions to physiological problems that many kinds of organisms face. In addition, as global temperatures rise, it is imperative that we improve our understanding of the complex interaction between temperature and stresses like hypoxia and exercise in order to better predict how different organisms will cope with climate change. Our work may also lead to the identification of targets for therapeutic intervention to treat human diseases associated with in borne errors in metabolism and ischemia, a pathological condition that occurs most notably in heart and brain when blood flow (and, therefore, oxygen and glucose delivery) is restricted during myocardial infarction and stroke, respectively.
