Exercise, the Gut Microbiome, and Blood Pressure
By
Marc Cook discusses new research on how physical movement works through the gastrointestinal system to improve cardiovascular health.
February 18, 2025
From The Staff Biology Medicine Genetics Immunology Physiology
Marc D. Cook, an associate professor of kinesiology at North Carolina A&T State University and Associate Director for Research for the Center of Integrative Health Disparities & Equity Research (CIHDER), researches the interaction of exercise, innate and adaptive immunity, the gut microbiome, and vascular health and function, specifically in African Americans. He has focused on molecular mechanisms of racially different endothelial cell responses to laminar shear stress (as a simulation for exercise) in cell culture. In this recorded talk, he discusses his current interdisciplinary translational research (in vitro using endothelial cell culture and in vivo using exercise interventions) to investigate novel biomarkers of racial health disparities concerning the interaction between exercise, the gut microbiome, hypertension, and diabetes. He currently has two clinical trials to measure the effect of exercise on the gut microbiome and gut short-chain fatty acid availability in African American adults with hypertension.
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