Kim Huey, professor of health sciences and 2017 Troyer Research Fellow in the Drake University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, was recently named a fellow of the American Physiological Society (APS).

APS is a global multidisciplinary community of nearly 10,000 scientists and educators solving the major issues affecting life and health. Members are advancing treatment and cures for a wide variety of conditions from heart disease and cancer, to addiction and obesity.

The rank of fellow in the American Physiological Society is an elite member status meant to honor prominent leaders who have demonstrated excellence in science, have made significant contributions to physiological sciences and related professions, and have served the Society. Huey has been a student or professional member of the APS for more than 20 years.

At Drake, Huey teaches a number of physiology courses to pharmacy and health sciences students while maintaining an active research program that investigates muscle function on both the basic science and applied levels.

In a recent research project, Huey led a team of undergraduate students, one of which received an American Physiological Society Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship, investigating the effects of statin treatment on muscle function and cardiorespiratory endurance in response to treadmill training in mice with high cholesterol.  These experiments have important implications in the design of exercise training programs for individuals undergoing statin treatment.

Starting this fall, Huey and two undergraduate students who received research fellowships from the Iowa Space Grant Consortium will study if Vitamin D supplementation improves the muscular and cardiorespiratory adaptations to endurance training or combined endurance and strength training in mice.