Steve S. Sayers, Ph.D.

Steve with his daughter Kaylee

After graduating from the University of Massachusetts, I was offered a nationally funded two-year National Institute on Disability Research and Rehabilitation (NIDRR) post-doctoral Fellowship at Boston University. This fellowship refined my research focus from skeltal muscle damage after exercise to the area of age-related changes in muscle and their effects on function and physical disability. Although the focus of my work shifted during my post-doctoral fellowship, my training at UMass allowed me to easily transition into this related field of research. Today, I am working in the Physical Therapy Department in the School of Health Professions at the University of Missouri-Columbia, a Carnegie I research institute with a strong research focus on aging. I am currently building my own research laboratory with a goal of examining the problems associated with aging, specifically how skeletal muscle impairments and functional limitations can be reduced to prevent late-life physical disability. Although a post-doctoral fellowship was an important step to expand my knowledge and refine my research focus, I could not imaging being where I am today without the educational and professional opportunities provided by Dr. Clarkson and her laboratory at the UMass. Dr. Clarkon's mentorship in the areas of teaching, research, grant writing, manuscript preparation, and professional presentations was invaluable to my professional development. I believe the exercise science program at UMass is unmatched in the field and will prepare any graduate student to excel in a teaching, research, or a health profession career.