To function daily, your body gleans energy from three food-derived macronutrients: carbohydrates, fats and proteins. How you divvy up those macronutrients in your diet is a matter of personal preference. But what if you could train your brain to prefer one macronutrient over the other? In a study appearing in Endocrinology, Ryan and her colleagues, including Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology Ph.D.

In debilitating neuromuscular disorders, like muscular dystrophies and cerebral palsy, the body’s muscles scar, turning fibrotic and stiff. “What’s not really understood is how the scar tissue ends up making such a stiff muscle,” said Assistant Professor Lucas Smith, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior. “For us, it might take intense exercise or resistance training to cause a bit of damage, which elicits a regenerative response. In dystrophic conditions, just typical muscle contractions can damage the muscle and that chronic injury leads to fibrosis.”

“It’s a great honor for many reasons, but for me in particular, it’s being able to do research under the name of Barbara Horwitz and John Horowitz,” said Usrey.