Centre for Physical Activity Research develops targeted exercise training regimes for specific disease groups by applying an unconventional strategy that we label: “from bedside to bench and back”. We will focus on chronic diseases with common treatment challenges, including type 2-diabetes, chronic obstructive lung disease and cancer.
Testing of training regimes
Training regimes that demonstrate promising results in a laboratory setting will be further tested and developed in large patient groups in a model municipality before the optimal training mode is translated into relevant national health institutions. The organizational structure of the center will facilitate change of practice in a relatively short term.
Laboratory research
Muscle biopsies are obtained before and after training, and muscle stem cells are isolated from the biopsies from exceptionally well-phenotyped individuals, allowing us to create a biobank of human primary muscle cell cultures. The biobank will serve as a useful tool and a basis to unravel the mechanisms by which exercise influences muscle function, muscle-organ cross talk and disease outcome. The outcome from the molecular studies will be translated back to the patients and inspire the development of optimal exercise training modalities.