Director: Joshua Keller, Ph.D.

The Integrative Laboratory of Exercise and Applied Physiology (iLEAP), directed by Dr. Joshua Keller, is a research facility focused on exercise physiology, nutrition and health. iLEAP's research investigates how exercise, nutrition and other lifestyle factors influence human health, with a particular emphasis on resistance training and peripheral vascular function.

iLeap researchers are interested in the development and testing of various exercise prescriptions on the basis of their ability to prevent/delay the onset of age-related diseases including Alzheimer’s Disease. Several areas of interest for exercise interventions to target include the skeletal muscle and peripheral vasculature. Researchers have demonstrated that the maintenance and promotion of skeletal muscle mass, as opposed to reduction of fat mass, is likely a leading strategy to mitigate age- and disease-related peripheral vascular dysfunction as well as the associated cognitive decline. To conduct these studies, they use many non-invasive approaches including ultrasound, NIRS, venous occlusion plethysmography, and SphygmoCor.