Leonardo F Ferreira

Leo Ferreira’s clinical experience with patients suffering from muscle weakness and fatigue triggered his interest in integrative and exercise physiology, striated muscle biology and biophysics, and cardiomyopathy. He joined the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery after spending 13 years at the University of Florida where he was Professor and Vice-Chair of Applied Physiology & Kinesiology and Director of the Center of Exercise Science. He underwent research training in clinical exercise testing and interpretation and rehabilitation at the University of California, Los Angeles (Harbor-UCLA) Rehabilitation Clinical Trials Center with Richard Casaburi, MD, PhD; Brian Whipp, PhD and Karlman Wasserman, MD; integrative physiology and exercise science at Kansas State University with David Poole, DSc, PhD and Timothy Musch, PhD; and striated muscle biology and biophysics at the Center for Muscle Biology at the University of Kentucky Medical School with Michael B. Reid, PhD and Kenneth S. Campbell, PhD. Leo Ferreira’s research experience spans from experiments in individual cells to non-invasive studies in humans. He has been funded by NIH and the American Heart Association throughout his career.

At Duke University School of Medicine, Leo Ferreira directs the Basic and Clinical Muscle Biology and Rehabilitation research group. The scientific mission of the laboratory is to resolve mechanisms and advance therapies To resolve mechanisms and advance therapies against striated muscle abnormalities in disease and aging. The academic goal of the laboratory is to prepare future generations of scientists, clinicians, and physiologists by providing the best possible opportunities and unwavering support for trainees and junior faculty to develop their careers and achieve their goals.

Leo Ferreira’s research group uses an integrative approach with state-of-the art techniques to study cardiac and skeletal muscle contraction and relaxation (e.g., intact preps in situ and ex vivo, single myocytes and multicellular preparations, echocardiography, limb and respiratory muscle strength and power in humans) and examine metabolic and molecular events in whole-tissue, individual myocytes, and cultured cells. Research studies involve pharmacologic and genetic approaches in rodents, nutritional interventions in humans and rodents, and experiments using muscle biopsies from patients. The group collaborates with biophysicists, biochemists, clinical geneticists, cardiologists, orthopaedic and cardiothoracic surgeons, and physical therapists.