Neuromusculoskeletal Research Lab Members
Our Team
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Brian Clark, PhD is a Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at 花季传媒 where he also serves as the Executive Director of the Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute (OMNI) and is the Harold E. Clybourne, DO Endowed Research Chair.
Brian was raised in Rutherfordton, NC where he graduated from R-S Central High School. He subsequently attended Western Carolina University and graduated with his bachelors degree in Biology. During high school and college he was a highly competitive cross-country and track athlete. His interests in biology and exercise led him to pursue a masters degree in exercise physiology at Syracuse University. Following the completion of his M.S. degree, he continued his graduate studies at Syracuse under the tutelage of Dr. Lori Ploutz-Snyder studying neuromuscular physiology. During his PhD training he also obtained a certificate of advanced study in gerontology. In 2006, he moved to Athens, Ohio to begin his independent research faculty position at 花季传媒.
Dr. Clark has held continuous funding since he was a graduate student, and over the past two decades he has secured and managed ~$30M as principal investigator or project director from federal agencies (namely NIH), private foundations, and industry. He has published more than 190 peer-reviewed articles and chapters (total citations >12,000) in high-impact clinical journals (e.g., JAMA Network Open (Impact Factor (IF): 5.1), Geroscience (IF: 6.5), J Gerontology Medical Science (IF: 5.8), Am J Clinical Nutrition (IF: 6.8), Current Opinions in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care (IF: 4.5)) and basic/applied physiology and neuroscience journals (e.g., Aging Research Reviews (IF: 11.8), Acta Physiologica (IF: 4.4), J of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle (IF: 12.5), J Applied Physiology (IF: 3.1), J Neurophysiology (IF: 2.9), Neurobiology of Aging (IF: 5.2)). He has also been invited to write numerous prestigious review articles and books chapters, such as a chapter for 'Sarcopenia' (Wiley-Blackwell), the first book published specifically on sarcopenia, a chapter for the 7th edition of Hazzard鈥檚 Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology (McGraw-Hill), which is largely considered the most complete, authoritative guide available on the diagnosis and treatment of disorders affecting the elderly, and a chapter for the book Regenerative Rehabilitation: From Basic Science to Clinic (American Physiologic Society and Springer-Nature).
According to Suzan et al., two of his articles are ranked in the top 100 articles in the field of sarcopenia (#33 and 53, respectively) (Suzan et al., Eur Ger Med, 12: 185-191, 2021). According to Ioannidis et al., based on career-long citation metrics he is ranked in the 98.8th percentile of scientists in his discipline, and was in the 99.5th percentile based on citation metrics from 2019 (Ioannidis et al, PLoS Biology, 2019). He has served on more than 60 federal grant review panels, and has served on numerous expert boards (e.g., Global Leadership Initiative in Sarcopenia (GLIS) Steering Committee), has delivered dozens of major national and international lectures and keynotes, and has received major national and international awards (e.g., 2010 New Investigator Award from the American College of Sports Medicine).
He has served as the Executive Director of the Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute (OMNI) at 花季传媒 since 2008. Shortly after taking the helm of OMNI he undertook a strategic visioning process that transformed the institute into what it is today: a cadre of collaborating scientists who have internationally renowned research programs exerting strong and sustained influence on the fields of i) aging systems, ii) injury, pain, and rehabilitation. Under Dr. Clark's leadership, OMNI exhibited exponential growth in its publication rate (>10-fold increase) and extramural grant funding (>50-fold increase). Today, OMNI is consistently one of the most productive research institutes at 花季传媒 (current funding is equivalent of ~ 11 NIH R01's), seven of its investigators have been ranked in the top 2 percent of their respective fields, and its scientists have published more than 1,700 articles. In the fall of 2022, the OHIO Board of Trustees approved the creation of two new centers, the Injury and Pain Research Center and the Center for Healthy Aging, both housed within OMNI.
In addition to his administrative/service roles, Brian has been actively engaged in entrepreneurial activities both as an individual scientist as well as a research administrator. The most notable of these achievements is the creation of a MedTech start-up (OsteoDx, Inc.) that is currently working to commercialize their Cortical Bone Mechanics Technology. He also serves as an educator as well as a mentor to, and an advocate for, the graduate students and post-doctoral trainees. To that end, he has held significant medical education roles and responsibilities where he received teaching awards and served as a Founding Member of the Translational Biomedical Sciences PhD program at 花季传媒 for a decade. In addition, he has trained over a dozen graduate students and postdoctoral candidates. Lastly, he works closely with numerous local aging-related community organizations.
He lives with his wife, Leatha, in the hills around Athens, OH. In his free time he enjoys hiking, power yoga, other forms exercise, gardening, and birding.
Tiffani Hart is a Research Coordinator with the Clinical & Translational Research Unit (CTRU) in the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. Tiffani received her BSH in Health Service Administration and Long-term Healthcare from 花季传媒. She has worked closely with the Clark Lab for nearly a decade and has extensive experience managing complex clinical studies and trials. Tiffani is a lifetime resident of Athens where she married her high school sweetheart and is raising her daughter. In her free time, she enjoys reading, spending time with friends and family and being outside.
Dr. Clark is a research assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and an associate member of the Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute (OMNI) at 花季传媒. She was raised in Kewanee, IL. She graduated from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana in the mid-80鈥檚 with her B.S. degree in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (College of Engineering). While at the U of I, she competed in cross-country and track and field.
Following her undergraduate training she worked for a decade as a research engineer in industry, government, and academia. She began her career working as a R&D computer engineer for Caterpillar Inc (Peoria, IL). where she worked on the SIMTEK computer modeling team. After several years in that position she moved to Madison, WI where she worked for four years as a research specialist and engineer in the USDA Forest Products Laboratory. At the Forest Products Lab she was involved with the University of Wisconsin鈥檚 Biopulping Consortium and managed the Paper Products Testing Laboratory. In the early 90鈥檚 she had the opportunity to apply her skills to biomedical research and transitioned into a research specialist position in the Department of Neurology at the University of Wisconsin Madison where she worked on computer modeling of oral neuromotor control in ALS patients. Throughout this time period, Leatha was also pursuing her M.S. degree part time in environmental engineering while concommittantly raising her young son, Neil. She began her graduate training at the University of Wisconsin Madison and then continued at SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry after she moved to Syracuse, NY in the mid-90鈥檚. She received her MS degree in environmental engineering in 1995.
Shortly after moving to Syracuse and receiving her MS degree, she worked for about a decade as a research engineer in the Musculoskeletal Research Laboratories directed by Kenneth Mann, PhD in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at SUNY Upstate Medical University. During this time, she was deeply involved with studies on the micro-mechanics of implant interfaces, and damage evolution of joint replacements and biomaterials. In the late 2000's, she began pursuing her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at SUNY Upstate Medical University, which was awarded in 2011. Since this time she has practiced clinically in the geriatric and pediatric rehabilitation spaces. She has also applied her clinical, scientific, and engineering skills to her more recent research endeavors, which now spans more than 25-years. Her current research interests relate to understanding the neuromuscular mechanisms of age-related weakness as well as the physiological determinants of the heterogeneity of response to exercise interventions in older adults.
Over the course of her career she has published more than 30 articles and chapters that have been cited nearly 1,000 times (H-index: 15). She has served as a co-investigator on 4 NIH R01鈥檚, 1 NIH R21, two NIH R44 grants, as well as numerous industry sponsored trials.
She lives with her husband, Brian, in the hills around Athens, OH. In her free time she enjoys all forms of physical activity and exercise, furthering her study of yogic philosophy, gardening, and spending time with her family.
Nick Basile is a first-year Ph.D. student in Translational Biomedical Sciences from Youngstown, Ohio. Valedictorian of his high school class, he subsequently earned a B.A. in Biochemistry at The Ohio State University, where he studied plant tRNA translational fidelity and received the Jim Hopper Undergraduate Research Award. He later conducted research in social and affective immunology, examining how acetaminophen influences neuroimmune and brain function. This work sparked a lasting interest in cross-system interactions, which now guides his research in the Clark Lab investigating how the nervous and muscular systems integrate during healthy aging. Nick has gained clinical experience through internships in pediatric and community health centers and conducted translational research at Bon Secours Mercy Health on ionizing radiation exposure in the emergency department, resulting in an abstract and presentation at the Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging at OSU. He also currently serves as a teaching assistant in forensic biology.
Greg Shaw is a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in Translational Biomedical Sciences. Originally from Lancaster, OH, Greg received his undergraduate degree (B.S.) from the Russ College of Engineering鈥檚 Department of Mechanical Engineering in 2023, and his Master鈥檚 degree (M.S.) from the Russ College of Engineering in 2025. He developed a keen interest in exercise as a high school student when he was able to personally transform his health by losing weight and dramatically improving his physical capacity and quality of life. His passion for exercise led him to work part time as a personal trainer and F45 Coach during his undergraduate studies. It also led him to his choice of expanding his formal training to biomedical engineering. His master鈥檚 thesis examined how neural mechanisms contribute to age-related handgrip weakness, a robust aging biomarker with poorly understood physiological underpinnings. He currently holds a research assistantship in the Clark Lab where he is leading a project that will serve as the foundation for his Ph.D. work.
Current and Former Trainees
Post-Doctoral Trainees
- Carlos Padilla, 2021-2023 (Asst Prof, U. Wisconsin Madison)
- Nathan Wages, 2017-2023 (Asst Prof, Rutgers U.)
- Niladri Mahato, 2016-2017 (Asst Prof, Marian University)
- Arimi Fitri, 2015-2016 (Associate Prof, Nat U of Malaysia)
- Shin Amano, 2013-2016 (Chief Scientist, Xenoma)
- Ken Oki, 2013-2016 (Res Assoc, Wayne State)
- Matt Conaway, 2011-2013 (Upgrade Medicaid)
Graduate Students (as Mentor or Co-Mentor)
- Greg Shaw (MS Student), 2023-present (Current Trainee)
- Brooke Vaughn (PhD Student), 2019-2024 (Assoc Clinical Professor, 花季传媒)
- Dallin Tavoian (PhD Student), 2017-2021 (Clinical Operations Manager, U Arizona)
- Cody Criss (DO/PhD Student), 2018-2023 (Radiology Resident, MUSC)
- Niladri Mahato (PhD Student), 2011-2016 (Asst Prof, Marian University)
- Ryan Kaya (MS Student), 2011-2013 (Res Assoc, Cleveland Clinic)
- Petra Williams (PhD Student), 2007-2013 (Assoc Prof, U Northern Arizona)
Selected Medical Students
- Simon Moskowitz, DO, Resident
- Kwasi Ampomah, DO, PM&R Physician
- David (DJ) Goss, DO, Orthopedic Surgeon
Undergraduate Thesis Students
- Robert Bender, 2008-2010, ER Physician
- Doug Dearth, 2007-2009, Anesthesiology Physician