Research Themes

The Human and Integrative Physiology and Clinical Pharmacology Laboratory has numerous ongoing research themes.

In general, Dr. Joyner and his research team focus on how various forms of physical stress and mental stress influence the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. These studies are supported by our grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense.

Highlights of some of our current research projects include:

  • Studies on factors that can influence oxygen binding to hemoglobin and how any changes in the oxygen hemoglobin dissociation curve influence responses to exercise, hypoxia and blood loss
  • How exercise influences the effects of bronchodilating drugs in patients with cystic fibrosis
  • How acute administration of estrogen influences endothelial function in middle-aged men
  • How brain oxygen levels influence the physiological response to exercise in muscles that are ischemic
  • How body position influences muscle oxygenation during cycling
  • The use of machine learning to help predict catastrophic blood loss in people who are undergoing both simulated and real experimental blood loss

Related published research

Dr. Joyner has published extensively in a range of research journals. Explore published research related to our current ongoing research projects on human physiology:

  • Aging alters the relative contributions of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system to blood pressure control in women. Hypertension. 2018 Nov;72(5):1236-1242.
  • Role of the carotid body chemoreceptors in glucose homeostasis and thermoregulation in humans. The Journal of Physiology. 2018 Aug;596(15):3079-3085.
  • Concepts about VO2max and trainability are context dependent. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews. 2018 Jul;46(3):138-143.
  • What's in a name: Are menopausal "hot flashes" a symptom of menopause or a manifestation of neurovascular dysregulation? Menopause. 2018 Jun;25(6):700-703.
  • Physiological redundancy and the integrative responses to exercise. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine. 2018 May 1;8(5).
  • Underperforming big ideas in biomedical research-reply. JAMA. 2017 Jan 17;317(3):322.
  • Regulation of increased blood flow (hyperemia) to muscles during exercise: a hierarchy of competing physiological needs. Physiological Reviews. 2015 Apr;95(2):549-601.
  • Neural control of the circulation: how sex and age differences interact in humans. Comprehensive Physiology. 2015 Jan;5(1):193-215.
  • Endurance exercise performance: the physiology of champions. The Journal of Physiology. 2008 Jan 1;586(1):35-44. Epub 2007 Sep 27.
  • Nitric oxide and neurally mediated regulation of skin blood flow during local heating. Journal of Applied Physiology (1985). 2001 Oct;91(4):1619-26.
  • Modeling: optimal marathon performance on the basis of physiological factors. Journal of Applied Physiology (1985). 1991 Feb;70(2):683-7.