Martin  MacInnis

Dr. Martin MacInnis, PhD

Pronouns: He/His

Positions

Associate Professor

Faculty of Kinesiology

Contact information

Location

Office: KNB2230

Please contact me by email.

Background

Educational Background

Doctor of Philosophy University of British Columbia, 2014

B.Sc. Biology, Cape Breton University, 2009

Biography

Dr. Martin MacInnis, PhD leads the molecular, environmental, and exercise physiology (MEEP) lab, a research group interested in how physiological systems respond to acute and chronic exercise stimuli to improve aerobic capacity and exercise tolerance and the factors that mediate these responses.

Integrative physiological adjustments support the dramatically increased and sustained metabolic rates of contracting skeletal muscles during exercise. Accordingly, the capacities of the cardiovascular, hematological, and skeletal muscle systems to deliver, carry, and utilize O2, respectively, are directly related to an individual’s ability to perform exercise. The general plasticity of these physiological systems is well documented, but the mechanisms underpinning this plasticity are insufficiently characterized.

Currently studying:

The molecular and physiological mechanisms that regulate skeletal muscle mitochondria density and red blood cell volume in humans;

The responsiveness of skeletal muscle mitochondria density and red blood cell volume to different exercise training stimuli;

The influence of hypoxia on acute and chronic responses to exercise; 

The influence of biological sex on acute and chronic responses to exercise;

The influence of carbohydrate availability on metabolic and neuromuscular responses to exercise;

The physiological variables that determine exercise capacity and neuromuscular fatigue; and

Applications of wearable technology in exercise physiology.

Research

Areas of Research

Exercise Physiology

Understanding how human physiological systems respond to individual exercise sessions and chronic training.

Exercise metabolism and sport nutrition

Understanding how skeletal muscle metabolism impacts, and is impacted by, exercise and the role of diet and sport supplements in exercise performance.

Molecular Exercise Physiology

Understanding how molecular events (e.g., gene expression, protein synthesis, post-translational modifications) respond to exercise and regulate adaptations to exercise training.

Muscle Physiology

Understanding key factors that contribute to neuromuscular fatigue and skeletal muscle oxidative capacity.

Wearable technology

Creating novel methods that leverage wearable technology to assess and inform exercise training.

Courses

Course number Course title Semester
KNES 615 SEC 01 S01 Seminar in App Exer Phys I 2020, 2021
KNES 617 SEC 01 S01 Seminar in App Exer Phys II 2021, 2022
KNES 715 SEC 01 S01 Seminar in App Exer Phys III 2020, 2021
KNES 773 Integrative Exercise Physiology 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
KNES 373 LEC 01 01 Exercise Physiology 2019, 2020, 2021
KNES 604 Directed Study Courses
KNES 504 Adaptations to training 2020
KNES 715 Seminar in App Exer Phys III 2020, 2021

Awards

  • The 2017 Journal of Physiology Early Investigator Runner-up Prize, The Journal of Physiology. 2018
  • American College of Sports Medicine Jack Wilmore Legacy Travel Award, American College of Sports Medicine. 2016
  • Mitacs Accelerate Postdoctoral Fellowship, Mitacs Canada. 2016
  • NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). 2016
  • UBC Faculty of Education Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, University of British Columbia. 2014

Publications