Appalachian lab at research campus to study performance and health

Appalachian State University opened up its lab facilities last week at the N.C. Research Campus" becoming the latest state university to join the campus.

Appalachian's facility will conduct research on human nutrition and performance.

The Kannapolis research campus brings together universities from across the state to collaborate on human health and nutrition research. 

ASU professor David Nieman will run the ASU Human Performance lab in Kannapolis with the help of professor Andrew Shanely. Nieman runs a similar laboratory on ASU's main campus in Boone.

""We're expanding on what Nieman has built in Boone" and the research campus affords us access to an incredible brain trust to do so" Shanely said.

As in Boone, the researchers will emphasize human performance and human health, especially in regards to intense physical exertion.

To do their research, Nieman and Shanely will utilize two floors of lab space. Once completed, the bottom floor will hold 10 treadmills and 10 stationary bikes, along with stations to monitor the subjects using them. The top floor will house the facility's biotechnology lab.

Researchers will monitor the way the bodies of cyclists and runners respond to the stress of exercise.

They will take blood, urine and saliva samples and process the results in the biotech lab.

The university's facility will occupy about 5,000 square feet of space within a building that also houses N.C. State University's Plants for Human Health Institute.

The ASU researchers hope their facility will be fully functional within a few weeks, but now they are focusing on making a smooth transition to the new facility.

Much of the researchers' funding comes from private companies, which want the researchers to test their products and research new technologies.

My hope is that we'll be able to really find out about new agents that help limit some of the adverse effects that intense exercise often cause" Nieman said.

He said he especially wants to address inflammation caused by intense exercise as well as the suppression of the immune system that often occurs after exercising.

Nieman said he believes that expanding to the research campus will mean even more progress on the subject.

We're so excited to be a part of this. This is an incredible opportunity" said Shanely, We are excited to look at how these compounds improve human health.""



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