Oct 30, 2024

Physiology Conference to feature celebration marking 50 years of Noll Lab research

Penn State and the American Physiological Society will celebrate a half century of research at the groundbreaking Noll Laboratory, welcoming attendees of the Integrative Physiology of Exercise (IPE) conference with commemorative “Noll@50” events centered around the landmark facility.

The 2024 IPE conference will be held November 20–22 in State College and open with the placing of a historical marker at Noll Lab, which was established in 1973 as the Human Performance Laboratory, the nation’s first free-standing, independent research institute dedicated to the study of human performance, exercise, and environmental physiology.

For more than half a century, researchers in Noll have conducted controlled studies of the physiological responses to exercise and stressors including heat, cold, altitude, energy deficits, and simulated spaceflight. An impressive series of research innovations and landmark discoveries have been made at Noll, including:

• development of precision instrumentation and methods for measuring body composition (fat, skeletal muscle, and bone)
• early studies that provided important insights into the effects of altitude on aerobic work capacity and running performance, of obesity on exercise and heat tolerance, of exercise in children, and of exercise training on cardiovascular disease risk factors
• studies of women’s health, including insights into how energy restriction and sports-related stress impacts menstrual function and bone health, how the menstrual cycle affects thermoregulation and blood pressure, how the menopause transition affects cardiac and vascular health, and how dietary interventions impact vascular function and bone health in postmenopausal women
• studies of aging and muscle wasting conditions, including how resistance exercise impacts limb muscle size and strength in the elderly
• studies of human tolerance limits, including safety thresholds (heat and humidity) for older women and men during heat waves, syncopal thresholds during gravitational stress, and work performance limits in simulated occupational tasks with thermal protective clothing

“Noll Lab was the nation’s first freestanding facility devoted to the multidisciplinary study of limits to physical activity and environmental extremes,” said Jim Pawelczyk, associate professor of physiology and kinesiology, who will be speaking at the ceremony. “Applying methods of physiologic inquiry ranging from molecular to systemic levels, Noll researchers seek to optimize human health and well-being in an ever-changing world.”

More than 250 attendees from Penn State, across the country, and abroad will gather for the conference, which will offer a poster session featuring an estimated 100 students and trainees and presentations from up to 20 NIH study section members. The conference will center much of its programming around the themes of an aging population and a warming climate while providing a forum for the research community to discuss recent developments in the field.

“This conference is timely, as it is a unique opportunity to discuss emerging results from the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium,” said Professor of Kinesiology, Physiology, and Medicine David Proctor, the co-lead organizer for the Noll@50 commemoration events. “The data from the first six years are just now being published. As a scientific community, we will have the opportunity to reflect on what we have learned from this trans-agency NIH investment and to identify the research goals as we look to the future.”

“I look forward to dynamic, cutting-edge research presentations and the opportunity to host and interact with other physiologists interested in exercise from throughout the US and abroad. Combining the Integrative Physiology of Exercise conference with the 50th anniversary of Noll Lab provides a rare opportunity for the field to look back and look forward.”

The commemoration and conference are being jointly supported by several cooperating Penn State units including the College of Health and Human Development, the Department of Kinesiology, the Clinical and Translational Science Institute, the Center for Healthy Aging, and the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. In addition to Proctor, Professor of Kinesiology Lacy Alexander is co-chair of the conference. Those interested in attending the Noll Lab 50th Anniversary Celebration may learn more and RSVP here.