Richard Lovering

Associate Professor, Orthopaedics

University of Maryland - School of Medicine

Position in Extended Committee - Physical Therapist Representative

Rich worked as a physical therapist starting in 1886. He returned to school and received his PhD in 2003, which was aimed at elucidating the cellular and molecular changes that occur during eccentric injury to muscle. He performed his post-doctoral work in the Department of Physiology at the University of Maryland (UMB) School of Medicine where he examined the role of intermediate filaments in skeletal muscle. There are many parallels in muscle that is injured, aging, or dystrophic; thus these are foci of work in the Lovering Laboratory. The Lab still maintains a strong interest in measuring muscle function (in vivo contractility) and relating the outcomes to changes at the cell level and to changes seen using non-invasive MR imaging and spectroscopy. The most recent efforts have been focused on elucidating the role of nuclear mobility, position, and function in dystrophic and aging muscles, and relating these findings to overall muscle function.