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PORTLAND, Maine

Lara Carlson awarded grant to pilot immune and inflammatory responses

Lara Carlson, DPE., FACSM, CSCS, associate professor in the Westbrook College of Health Professions and the Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences, was recently awarded more than $16 thousand from AboGen Inc. to examine whether an intervention of resistance exercise will induce transient changes in the salivary levels of certain immunological variables.

The overall goal of this preliminary project is to determine whether resistance exercise can afford a similar anti-inflammatory effect to that which has been shown with endurance exercise. The preliminary study proposed will address whether resistance exercise in a controlled laboratory setting leads to the reduction of systemic inflammation by releasing anti-inflammatory cytokines which can be detected in the saliva.

The same technology was utilized in a research project on saliva blood cell isolation conducted by Carlson and Ed Bilsky, Ph.D., vice president for Research and Scholarship, and in another project by Carlson and 51С»Æ³µstudents in Iceland – both of which were also funded by AboGen. 

51С»Æ³µ the University of 51С»Æ³µ

The University of 51С»Æ³µ is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.