By Jackie Hart
Sabhya Rana, Ph.D., a postdoctoral associate in the department of physical therapy, is the latest investigator to be featured in MBI Rising Stars, a video series highlighting up-and-coming neuroscience researchers at the University of Florida.
Rana works in the lab of David Fuller, Ph.D., a professor of physical therapy and associate director of UF’s Breathing Research and Therapeutics Center (BREATHE Center), and her research aims to improve respiratory motor function in those with spinal cord injuries.
Rana’s research has shown that expression of certain receptors on respiratory motor neurons changes after spinal cord injury, and she is testing pharmaceutical compounds with hopes of activating these receptors to improve diaphragm contraction and breathing.
Rana earned two awards at the 2021 American Physiological Society annual meeting: the APS Respiration Section Research Recognition Award and the inaugural Physiological Reports Respiration Award. She also recently received a two-year grant from the Neilsen Foundation to support her studies.
