Awarded in 2024
Home Department: Epidemiology & Clinical Research
Faculty Advisors: Michael Snyder (Genetics), Jonathan Long (Pathology), and Francois Haddad (Medicine – Cardiovascular Medicine)

Research Title: Optimizing Training: Physiological and Molecular Adaptations to High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) vs. Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training (MICT)

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) are two popular forms of aerobic exercise. However, there is no consensus on which type is optimal for maximizing health benefits. Even less is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms. Aubrey will investigate clinical outcomes (VO2 max, body composition) and molecular changes (e.g. transcriptome, metabolome) that occur after 12 weeks of HIIT vs. MICT. The merging of clinical and multi-omic data will enable us to correlate phenotypic and molecular changes from HIIT vs. MICT, as well as explore molecular markers that are predictive of training response.