William Gittings PhD

Assistant Professor, Kinesiology

William Gittings

Office:  WC 270  

Extension: x 3266

wgittings@brocku.ca  

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As a  health biosciences  researcher ,   I am  broadly  interested in developing  our  understanding  of  the mechanisms that control  musculoskeletal  form and function .   By  conducting  basic physiological  experiments  in preclinical  models , my research program   seeks  to  understand  the etiology of musculoskeletal disorders in order to  inform and  advance   the development of  targeted lifestyle interventions, including diet and physical activity .    

My p revious  research  has investigated  the  mechanisms that augment force production in skeletal muscle (i.e. potentiation),  seeking to  improv e  our understanding of how contractile performance inte racts  with neural activation strategies and energetics in working muscles.     

Recently,  my interests have broadened to include the  study  of   ‘ functional ’  foods , investigating the mechanisms by which nutrients  help to  support our musculoskeletal health and protect against  the  tissue dysregulation  that  develops with  factors such as  aging , injury,  and inflammation.  

Research Interests

  • Skeletal muscle contractile function and energetics  
  • Functional foods and musculoskeletal tissue homeostasis   
  • Lifestyle interventions to optimize musculoskeletal  health  

Professional affiliations and accreditation/certification

  • Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology  
  • Registered Kinesiologist (active), College of Kinesiologists of Ontario  
  • Member, Ontario Kinesiology Association  
  • Member, Diet Working Group, for the Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Osteoporosis in Canada  

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Publications

  • Michael D. McAlpine,  William Gittings , Adam J. MacNeil, Wendy E. Ward (2019). Red Rooibos Tea Stimulates Osteoblast Mineralization in a Dose-Dependent Manner.  Beverages , 5(4), 69.  
  • Stephen Morris,  William Gitting s, Rene Vandenboom (2018). Epinephrine augments posttetanic potentiation in mouse skeletal muscle with and without myosin phosphorylation.  Physiological Reports ; 6(9): e13690;  doi:10.14814/phy2.13690.  
  • William Gittings , Jordan A. Bunda, Rene Vandenboom (2018). Myosin phosphorylation potentiates steady state work output without altering contractile economy of mouse fast skeletal muscle.  J Exp Biol : jeb-167742.  
  • Riley Cleverdon, Yasmeen Elhalaby, Michael D. McAlpine,  William Gittings , Wendy E. Ward (2018). Total polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity of tea bags:  Comparison of black, green, red rooibos, chamomile, and peppermint over different steep times.  Beverages J.  4(1), 15; doi:10.3390/beverages4010015.  
  • Jordan A. Bunda,  William Gittings , Rene Vandenboom (2018). Myosin phosphorylation improves contractile economy of mouse fast skeletal muscle during staircase potentiation.  J Exp Biol:  jeb-167718.  
  • William Gittings , Jordan A. Bunda, Rene Vandenboom (2017). Shortening speed dependent force potentiation is attenuated but not eliminated in skeletal muscles without myosin phosphorylation.  J Muscle Res Cell Motil.  38:157.   
  • Kirsten N Bott,  William Gittings , Val Andrew Fajardo, Bradley Baranowski, Rene Vandenboom, Paul J LeBlanc, Wendy E Ward, Sandra J Peters (2017). Musculoskeletal structure and function in response to the combined effect of an obesogenic diet and age in male C57BL/6J mice.  Mol Nutr Food Res.,  61(10), 1700137.  
  • John Mikhaeil, Sandra Sacco, Caitlin Saint,  William Gittings , Jordan Bunda, Cameron Giles, Val Andrew Fajardo, Rene Vandenboom, Wendy E. Ward, and Paul J. Leblanc (2017). Influence of longitudinal radiation exposure from microcomputed tomography scanning on skeletal muscle function and metabolic activity in female CD‐1 mice.  Phys Rep,  5(13), e13338.  
  • Josh Bowslaugh,  William Gittings , Rene Vandenboom (2016). Myosin light chain phosphorylation is required for peak power output of mouse fast skeletal muscle in vitro.  Pflügers Archiv, 468 (11-12).  
  • William Gittings , Jordan A. Bunda, James T. Stull, Rene Vandenboom (2016). Interaction of posttetanic potentiation and the catchlike property in mouse skeletal muscle.  Muscle & Nerve . 54: 308-316.  
  • William Gittings , Harish Aggarwal, James T. Stull, Rene Vandenboom (2015). The force dependence of isometric and concentric potentiation in mouse muscle with and without skeletal myosin light chain kinase.  Can J Physiol & Pharmacol , 93(1): 23-32.  

Teaching

  • Introduction to Human Nutrition  
  • Nutrition for Physical Activity  
  • Muscle Physiology and Exercise Metabolism  
  • Training Principles