Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene & Exercise Science
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As one of the oldest continuously functioning exercise physiology laboratories in the United States, the University of Minnesota's Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene & Exercise Science can lay claim to both a storied past and a continued commitment to research and mentorship. Ancel Keys, who was recruited from the historic Harvard Fatigue Laboratory, founded the original LPHES, located under the University's memorial Stadium Gate 27, in 1948. Keys' notable contributions in the LPHES include the well-known Minnesota Semi-Starvation Study during World War II, which resulted in a two-volume publication on the biology of human starvation. He also was one of the principal organizers and the director of the Seven Countries Collaborative Study, and was one of the first researchers to demonstrate the relationship of diet to blood cholesterol levels and coronary heart disease. At age 97, he still is actively analyzing and publishing data from his Seven Countries Study, and recently received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Minnesota.
In addition to Keys, many other prominent figures in the field
of exercise science and public health graced the halls of Stadium Gate 27,
including Henry Longstreet Taylor, Henry Blackburn, Ernst Simonson, Josef Brozek,
Austin Henschel, Olaf Micklesen, E. R. Buskirk, and Loring Rowell.
Each of these individuals has done much to advance our current knowledge in the
study of exercise physiology, nutrition, and epidemiology, as well as mentoring
countless others, who in turn have influenced the development of these fields.
Other investigations conducted in the LPHES have evaluated fitness determination
techniques, heat stress, the effects of vitamin supplementation on physical
performance, under-nutrition, the physiologic consequences of prolonged bed
rest, body composition determination techniques, the effect of diet on serum
cholesterol, standardization and coding of the electrocardiogram. It also was
one of the 20 clinical centers and the ECG center for the Multiple Risk Factor
Intervention Trial. Many of these studies were the first of their kind and have
served as the foundation for our current knowledge in these areas. ACSM Honor
and Citation Award winners from the LPHES are Drs. Taylor, Simonson, Buskirk,
Rowell, and, more recently (1995), Leon.
Today, the LPHES continues to follow the vision of its founders by consistently producing leading-edge research related to exercise and health, as well as preparing competent research professionals to guide the increasingly prominent field of exercise physiology into the future. A recent assessment of the research impact of 27 major exercise physiology programs in the United States rated the University of Minnesota exercise physiology program as No. 2 in the country.
More information about the Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene at the University of Minnesota can be found in:
Buskirk, E. R. From Harvard to Minnesota: Keys to Our History. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, 20: 1-26. 1992.
For more about the Minnesota Semi-Starvation Study see "They starved for science," Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 21, 2006 (site requires subscription)
