Email

martaf@bcm.edu

Positions

Associate Professor

Pediatrics-Nutrition
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX US

Associate Professor

Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States

Director

Mouse Metabolic Research Unit
Children's Nutrition Research Center
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States

Education

Postdoctoral Fellowship at Baylor College Of Medicine

01/1982 - Houston, TX United States

Pediatric Nutrition & GI

PhD from University of Cambridge

01/1980 - Cambridge, United Kingdom

BSc from University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology

01/1976 - Manchester, United Kingdom

Professional Interests

• Developmental Determinants of Skeletal Muscle Growth

Professional Statement

The major objective of our research is to identify the mechanisms that underlie the various effects of nutrient intake on the growth and function of skeletal muscle. In the perinatal period, skeletal muscle is the fastest growing protein pool in the body and, thus, is highly dependent on nutrient supply and the ability to use dietary nutrients efficiently. Thus, one of our research interests is to understand how nutrients regulate the primary anabolic processes responsible for muscle growth, i.e., protein synthesis and satellite cell replication during this period.

A second research interest is rooted in the observation that a brief period of growth retardation during a critical period of development results in a lifelong deficit in muscle mass and exercise capacity. We are conducting research to understand why this happens and to identify interventions that can reverse the muscle deficit and improve exercise performance.

We perform studies using the mouse and the newborn piglet as animal models, together with a wide array of techniques including in vivo tracer kinetics, in vivo metabolic measurements, an assortment of molecular biology techniques, microscopy, cell culture, and muscle physiology measurements to address these research questions.

Websites

Selected Publications

• Klurfeld DM, Gregory JF, Fiorotto ML "Should the AIN-93 Rodent Diet Formulas be Revised?." J Nutr. 2021 Mar 10 Pubmed PMID: 33693751
• Rudar M, Naberhuis JK, Suryawan A, Nguyen HV, Stoll B, Style CC, Verla MA, Olutoye OO, Burrin DG, Fiorotto ML, Davis TA. "Prematurity blunts the insulin- and amino acid-induced stimulation of translation initiation and protein synthesis in skeletal muscle of neonatal pigs.." Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2021 Mar 1;320(3):E551-E565. Pubmed PMID: 33427053
• Rudar M, Columbus DA, Steinhoff-Wagner J, Suryawan A, Nguyen HV, Fleischmann R, Davis TA, Fiorotto ML. "Leucine Supplementation Does Not Restore Diminished Skeletal Muscle Satellite Cell Abundance and Myonuclear Accretion When Protein Intake Is Limiting in Neonatal Pigs.." J Nutr. 2020 Jan 1;150(1):22-30. Pubmed PMID: 31518419
• Ferguson DP, Monroe TO, Heredia CP, Fleischmann R, Rodney GG, Taffet GE, Fiorotto ML. "Postnatal undernutrition alters adult female mouse cardiac structure and function leading to limited exercise capacity.." J Physiol. 2019 Apr;597(7):1855-1872. Pubmed PMID: 30730556

Languages

Italian, French, Swahili