Heesch, Matthew

• Ph.D., Exercise Science, University of Nebraska at Omaha 

• M.S., Exercise Science, University of Nebraska at Omaha 

• B.A., Exercise Science & Biology, Augustana University

The long-term goal of my laboratory is to better understand the body's response to exercise stimuli and how exercise may be utilized not only as a means of improving athletic performance, but also as a treatment for a number of chronic pathologies. Throughout my career I have focused on becoming skilled in a wide range of molecular biology techniques necessary to understand mechanisms of skeletal muscle adaptation and regulation of circulating and salivary biomarkers such as miRNA. Currently, I am investigating the potential use of select miRNA as biomarkers that could be added to the Athlete Biological Passport as a tool for identifying autologous blood transfusion as a means of blood doping. Autologous blood transfusion is currently hard to detect because it involves re-transfusion of a person's own frozen red blood cells back into their body, meaning all surface antigens match on the cells match the recipient. miRNA concentrations may be impacted by this process, however, and as such hold promise in doping control.