The Clinical Research Lab is located within the Center for Exercise Science. The Clinical Research Lab is comprised of 3 separate labs: 1) the Vascular Function Laboratory, 2) the Biochemistry Laboratory, and 3) the Bone Density/Body Composition Analysis Laboratory. Brief descriptions of the respective laboratories are presented below.

Vascular Function Laboratory:
The Vascular Function Laboratory contains modern ultrasonography, tonometry, and plethysmography equipment to study vascular function in healthy and clinical populations following exercise or drug interventions. The following pieces of equipment are used in our ongoing studies.

• ATL HDI 3000 high-resolution ultrasound machine equipped with 10.5 and 12.5 MHz linear array transducers. The ultrasound machine is used to perform brachial and femoral flow-mediated dilation (FMD) studies and carotid compliance measurements. Image analysis software (Image Pro, Data Translation, Inc.) is used for analysis of ultrasound images.
  
• Hokanson venous occlusion plethysmography with rapid inflators is used to assess resting and peak forearm and calf blood flow.
  
• SphygmoCor Applanation Tonometry System is used to assess aortic pressure wave characteristics and regional pulse wave velocities. These measures are used as indirect measures of arterial stiffness.
  
• ParvoMedics Metabolic Cart, Quinton EKG and Treadmill are used for graded exercise testing.
  

Biochemistry Laboratory:
The Biochemistry Laboratory contains equipment to perform biochemical assays involving human blood, urine, and muscle tissue samples. The lab is equipped with a high-speed refrigerated centrifuge, microcentrifuge, ultra freezer, vacuum centrifuge, and microplate reader. Current biochemical analyses include:

• Enzymatic immunoassays (EIA) for vaso-active substances, fluid volume hormones, catecholamines, and biochemical markers of bone metabolism,
  
• SDS-polyacrylamide gel electorphoresis for assessment of skeletal muscle MHC fiber isoforms,
  
• Bioassays for oxidative stress and antioxidant enzyme activity.

Bone Density/Body Composition Laboratory:
The Bone Density/Body Composition Analysis Laboratory contains the GE Prodigy, the newest advance in Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) for determination of bone mineral density and body composition analysis. The DEXA machine is used to study regional and whole-body skeletal adaptations, and body composition changes in healthy and clinical populations following exercise or drug interventions.