Exercise Physiology

Noll Laboratory, originally called the “Human Performance Laboratory”, is a research facility in the Department of Kinesiology that is dedicated to studying physiology, especially as it relates to health and disease. A primary mission of the Noll Lab is to investigate specific physiological mechanisms underlying the positive health effects of physical activity and the adverse health effects of physical inactivity, with the ultimate goal of improving human health across the lifespan.

Current research projects focus on thermoregulation, cardiovascular and muscle function, energy balance and reproductive function, exercise-mediated cardioprotection, and orthostatic tolerance. Both human subjects and small animal models are used to study physiology from the molecular level to the intact organism. At present, there is an emphasis on control of regional blood flow and cardiac function during physical stresses including exercise, gravity, heat/cold and how these responses are altered by aging.

Graduate students from the Kinesiology Program and the Inter-College Graduate Program in Physiology, and select students from other college departments and majors conduct their thesis and dissertation experiments in Noll Lab. Research topics include the underlying physiological mechanisms of injury and effectiveness of therapeutic interventions, and the role of the endocrine system in muscle tissue repair and remodeling. Graduate students become involved with research projects that are designed to yield information for publication in the scientific literature and for presentation at professional meetings. Collaborative arrangements are frequently made with faculty from other areas of the University such as the Hershey Medical Center and the Geisinger Medical Center as well as foreign laboratories.

Facilities

The current laboratory is housed in its own dedicated building with over 30,000 square feet of research space containing a vast array of specialized instrumentation, equipment and chambers for the measurement of physiological processes under various environmental conditions.

Noll Lab features animal care and research areas, including a two-compartment hypo-hyberbaric chamber, three environmental chambers providing precise control of temperature, humidity and air movement, as well as treadmills, ergometers, 24 hr human indirect calorimeter and an underwater weighing tank. Noll Lab also contains a physical examination area, two general testing areas, a biochemistry laboratory, areas for special projects, and mechanical and electrical shops for instrument fabrication, maintenance and repair. The Elmore Clinical Research Wing of Noll Laboratory houses the University Park component of the Penn State General Clinical Research Center (GCRC). The GCRC provides University-wide support for human clinical research.

Faculty

To learn more about individual faculty and their research, please click on the links below.

Faculty who mentor students in this area