Russell T. Hepple, PhD
Professor of Physical Therapy and Muscle Biology
University of Florida Department of Physical Therapy
Box 100154, UFHSC
Gainesville, FL 32610-0154
Phone: (352) 294-8703
Fax: (352) 273-6109
Email: rthepple@phhp.ufl.edu
Dr. Hepple is a Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, hired under UF’s preeminence campaign. Dr. Hepple spent the first 11 years of his academic career at the University of Calgary developing an integrative physiology research program addressing the impact of aging on skeletal muscle before moving to McGill University in 2011 where he was the inaugural Director of the McGill Research Center for Physical Activity and Health (PATH). He was subsequently recruited to the University of Florida in 2017 to join the Department of Physical Therapy, with membership in the Myology Institute and Institute of Aging. Dr. Hepple leads a lab focused upon understanding the mechanisms of neuromuscular impairment in aging and age-related diseases such as chronic obstructive lung disease, and mechanisms of healthy aging in novel populations such as world-class masters track and field athletes. The lab employs a wide range of techniques, from cutting-edge mitochondrial function ex vivo in small muscle bundles to confocal microscopy for assessing the detailed structure of the muscle endplate, and complements these measures with current molecular biology techniques. Dr. Hepple includes the study of both clinical populations as well as rodent models in his work and held continuous funding from CIHR from 2000-2016. Dr. Hepple has served widely for both Canadian (CIHR) and US funding agency (NIH) grant review panels (MOV with CIHR; SMEP with NIH), Scientific Boards (CIHR Institute of Aging Board), working groups (NIH working group that developed the scientific rationale for the now NIH Common Fund program: Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity or MoTrPAc), and Stakeholder meetings (CIHR Institute for Musculoskeletal Health & Arthritis).