Dr. Traver Wright is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), where he conducts research on metabolism and skeletal muscle physiology in both human clinical and nonhuman comparative animal models. His research approach is influenced by the Krogh principle which suggests that uniquely adapted animals can serve as models to study specific aspects of physiology. Dr. Wright’s comparative research investigates integrative physiology and metabolism of animals across biological levels from the cell to the whole organism to understand animal physiology, ecology, and performance. This comparative research also informs human translational research on fatigue, metabolism, and muscle loss in patients suffering from reduced muscle load and inflammatory disease states including cancer, infection, and traumatic brain injury. The overarching goal of this research is to advance the understanding and treatment of patients with these conditions to enhance quality of life.
His work in the area of traumatic brain injury includes studying the impact of recombinant growth hormone replacement on multiple outcomes including the microbiome, fatigue, sleep disturbance, anxiety, resting energy expenditure, body composition, and perception of submaximal effort when performing exercise testing, as well as brain morphology and functional connectivity.
Research Areas
Post-traumatic Growth Hormone Deficiency, Brain Injury Associated Fatigue & Altered Cognition (BIAFAC), IGF-1 Assays in Screening for Growth Hormone Deficiency, Quality of Life in Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency with Recombinant Growth Hormone Treatment, Brain Fog, Cognition & the Microbiome.