Exercise, Nutrition and the Older Woman

Dr. Maria A. Fiatarone Singh is a board-certified internist and geriatrician with particular interest in exercise, nutrition, and aging. She currently holds the John Sutton Chair of Exercise and Sport Science at the University of Sydney, Australia, Professorship in Medicine at the University of Sydney and an Associate Professorship, School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston. The primary focus of Professor Maria Fiatarone Singh's research and clinical career has been to integrate the disciplines of exercise physiology and nutrition into a better understanding of both the basic biology of aging and the clinical practice of geriatric medicine. Her current active research studies include a range of issues of central importance to health and functioning in the fit and frail elderly. These topics include nutritional determinants of functional and health status in frail elders; effects of strength, power, balance, and endurance training on functional independence in older adults; utility of strength training in congestive heart failure, including changes in muscle protein turnover; comparison of changes in function after strength or aerobic training; the role of cytokines in the adaptation of muscle in heart failure; effects of long-term exercise on mitochondrial volume and density in older women; ultrastructural damage and repair in muscle after strength training; treatment of psychological depression with various intensities of strengthening exercise; anabolic adaptation to strength training to counteract the negative effects of a low protein diet for chronic renal failure; behavioral interventions to modify food group choices in the grail elderly; effects of vitamin E supplementation on immune function and resistance to influenza in nursing home residents; effect of exercise on nutritional intake in the elderly; prevention of hip fractures in the nursing home with a combined intervention of staff education, strength and balance training, and hip protectors; longitudinal analyses of the rates of change of muscle mass and function in the initially healthy elderly; and a combination of nursing rehabilitation models and exercise programming to prevent functional decline in nursing home residents. In addition to the above specific studies of the basic mechanisms of frailty and functional decline, Professor Fiatarone Singh continues to develop and test models for the integration and implementation of exercise and nutrition in geriatric care settings, including nursing home, elderly housing, adult day care, home care, rehabilitation hospital, and outpatient clinics. This work is being done through research grant support as well as under the auspices of the Fit For Your Life Foundation, Ltd., a non-profit organization of which she is the founder and director. Dr. Singh is the recipient of the Edward Henderson Award in Geriatric Medicine, The American Geriatrics Society New Investigator's Award, The Brookdale Foundation Fellowship, The Pfizer Award for Research in Aging, the Herbert DeVries Award for Contributions to Aging among others, and serves on the boards of numerous gerontologic organizations. She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the Royal Australian College of Physicians.