HL (Heather) Petrick

My research focuses on studying mitochondrial bioenergetics and muscle metabolism in response to nutrition, physical (in)activity, and aging. I use both in vivo and ex vivo techniques with a specific focus on human skeletal muscle.

My interest in muscle physiology and energy metabolism arose while I was a highly competitive athlete in my Bachelor’s degree (Biomedical Science, University of Guelph, Canada). What started off as simple curiosity quickly became the pursuit of a deeper understanding. I completed my Master’s degree (University of Guelph, Canada) studying exercise as a preventative approach for improving cardiometabolic health in humans. My Doctoral thesis (Nutritional approaches to modulate mitochondrial bioenergetics, cum laude) focused further on a mechanistic mitochondrial understanding combined with a translational perspective in humans, as a double degree between the University of Guelph (Canada) and Maastricht University (the Netherlands). During my post-doctoral work at Maastricht University, I studied muscle metabolism in response to dietary interventions in humans using in vivo tracer methodology. My current research combines these perspectives to study mitochondrial respiration and redox balance from a mechanistic perspective (ex vivo), apply this to functional muscle metabolic outcomes in vivo, and understand the implications to integrative whole-body physiology.