Dr. Kerry Ritchie
Assistant Professor

PICTURE NOT AVAILABLE

Office: ANNU
Ext: 52272
Lab: ANNU 376
Ext: 53906

Profile

I began my education at the University of Guelph as a biochemistry major, convinced I was going to become the next great forensic investigator or high school math and science teacher. However, both of these ideas changed after taking Fundamentals of Nutrition as an elective in my second year. From there I immediately switched my program of study to Nutrition, and became very interested in the ability of lifestyle factors to influence human health, in particular obesity. I had grown up in a family of healthy obese individuals and was very curious as to why some obese people remain metabolically healthy while many others develop obesity related metabolic syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes. This curiosity prompted me to complete a 4 th year research project in the lab of Dr David Dyck where I investigated potential mechanisms of insulin resistance in rodent skeletal muscle. I continued on to Graduate studies with Dr Dyck where I completed my PhD studying skeletal muscle fatty acid metabolism and the ability of high fat feeding and adipose derived factors (adiponectin) to influence insulin sensitivity.

Over the course of my graduate work, I was afforded the opportunity to teach multiple undergraduate courses and participate in curriculum planning and development of several new education initiatives. It was here that I determined my true passion was in fact for teaching. I have been heavily involved with teaching in the Kinesiology program at Guelph-Humber and the re-design and implementation of first year biology ‘Biological Concepts of Health’ at the University of Guelph.

Through all of these experiences I have come to a point where I am able to mesh my desire to teach with my research curiosity and continued interest in obesity and insulin resistance. My current position is teaching intensive, and my research interests pertain to both the scholarship of teaching and learning and the role of modifiable lifestyle factors in the development of obesity related diseases.

Education

BSc – University of Guelph
PhD – University of Guelph

Research

My research interests can be divided into 2 main areas:

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL).

My main research goal is to improve undergraduate student learning through the evaluation of novel teaching and assessment strategies and then implementing these findings into the classroom. In particular, I am interested in strategies that can increase learner-centeredness and promote student responsibility for their own education path. Research has shown that students learn best when they are active participants in their own education and their needs, abilities and interest are considered. However, providing meaningful opportunities for independent learning and relevant, individualized assignments can be a real challenge with large class sizes. I am currently evaluating the effectiveness of a peer-review tool to enhance independent learning and the success of creative community-based projects in large senior level courses.

Impact of modifiable lifestyle choices on human health.

In a broad sense, my health-related research interests focus on the ability of lifestyle modification, namely dietary manipulation and exercise interventions, to prevent and treat obesity and its related complications. Of special interest in a university setting – the emerging adult (18-25yrs) is an understudied cohort with respect to their views on their own health and well-being. The transition to university is a key stage in life that presents with unique challenges and opportunities for new lifestyle habits, which can have both positive and negative outcomes on health. My current work evaluates the emerging adult’s view on health with special consideration given to modifiable lifestyle factors (diet, exercise, sleep patterns etc) that can influence health.

Selected Publications

Mullen, KL, Tishinsky, JM, Robinson, LE, and Dyck, DJ. Skeletal muscle inflammation is not responsible for the rapid impairment in adiponectin response with high fat feeding in rats. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2010 Aug;299(2):R500-8.

Mullen KL, Pritchard J, Ritchie I, Snook LA, Chabowski A, Bonen A, Wright D, Dyck DJ. Adiponectin resistance precedes the accumulation of skeletal muscle lipids and insulin resistance in high-fat-fed rats. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2009 Feb;296(2):R243-51.

Mullen KL, Smith AC, Junkin KA and Dyck DJ. Globular adiponectin resistance develops independently of impaired insulin-stimulated glucose transport in soleus muscle from high-fat-fed rats. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Jul;293(1):E83-90.

Tishinsky, JM, Gulli, RA, Mullen, KL, Dyck, DJ, and Robinson, LE Fish oil prevents high saturated fat diet-induced impairments in adiponectin and insulin response in rodent skeletal muscle. Submitted to Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. June 2011.

Junkin KA, Dyck DJ, Mullen KL, Chabowski A, Thrush AB. Resistin acutely impairs insulin-stimulated glucose transport in rodent muscle in the presence, but not absence, of palmitate. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2009 Apr;296(4):R944-51.

Holloway GP, Benton CR, Mullen KL, Yoshida Y, Snook LA, Han XX, Glatz JF, Luiken JJ, Lally J, Dyck DJ, Bonen A. In obese rat muscle transport of palmitate is increased and is channeled to triacylglycerol storage despite an increase in mitochondrial palmitate oxidation. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2009 Apr;296(4):E738-47.

Pandke KE, Mullen KL, Snook LA, Bonen A, Dyck DJ. Decreasing intramuscular phosphagen content simultaneously increases plasma membrane FAT/CD36 and GLUT4 transporter abundance. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2008 Sep;295(3):R806-13.

Thrush AB, Heigenhauser GJ, Mullen KL, Wright DC, Dyck DJ. Palmitate acutely induces insulin resistance in isolated muscle from obese but not lean humans. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2008 Apr;294(4):R1205-12.

Smith AC, Mullen KL, Junkin KA, Nickerson J, Chabowski A, Bonen A, Dyck DJ. Metformin and exercise reduce muscle FAT/CD36 and lipid accumulation and blunt the progression of high-fat diet-induced hyperglycemia. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Jul;293(1):E172-81.

Teaching

KIN*3010 Guelph Humber – Exercise Physiology
KIN*3030 Guelph Humber – Nutrition, Exercise & Metabolism
KIN*3060 Guelph Humber – Human Development & Aging
NUTR*4090 University of Guelph – Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals