New NSERC and PURE Awards Support Student Research in Muscle Physiology

I am proud to announce that two exceptional undergraduate students have received prestigious research awards to pursue cutting-edge muscle physiology research projects, and with the gractious collaboration with Dr. Walter Herzog’s lab, will be working on those projects this summer.

NSERC Award: Sunnie Vuong

Sunnie Vuong has been awarded a prestigious NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award to investigate “Structural Characteristics of Two Muscles from Children with Cerebral Palsy.” This research builds upon the lab’s ongoing work understanding muscle contractile deficits in pediatric populations and represents a significant opportunity to advance our knowledge of muscle adaptation in neurological conditions.

PURE Award: Abdul-samad Ahmend

Abdul-samad Ahmend received a competitive PURE Award for his project examining “Structural properties and mitochondrial function of cardiac muscle in response to a high-fat and high-sucrose diet in female rats.” This research addresses critical questions about cardiac muscle adaptation to metabolic stress and dietary interventions.

Research Impact

These competitive awards provide substantial research support and highlight the lab’s commitment to training the next generation of muscle physiologists. Both projects address fundamental questions in muscle physiology while providing students with hands-on experience in advanced research methodologies.

The cerebral palsy research continues the lab’s important collaboration with Alberta Children’s Hospital, while the cardiac muscle study expands our understanding of metabolic influences on muscle function. These projects exemplify the Digital Athlete Lab’s mission to combine rigorous scientific investigation with meaningful student mentorship.

Previous NSERC recipients from the lab include: Arianna Hu (2024) and Birtej Mangat (2023), demonstrating our consistent track record in supporting high-quality undergraduate research.