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College of Health Sciences and Professions
Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
Faculty
Tim Etheridge

Tim Etheridge

Professor, Physical Therapy
Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute
Physical Therapy

Education

  • Ph.D.: ‘Acute regulation of skeletal muscle protein metabolism by nutrients, exercise and hypoxia.’ Brighton University, UK. 2010
  • BSc. (Hons): Sport and Exercise Sciences. Brighton University, UK. 2004

Research Interests

  • Drug repurposing strategies for maximizing muscle health in aging and disease
  • Predicting individual responsiveness to specific training modes, for tailored exercise training strategies and optimized adaptation
  • Using C. elegans to screen compounds for healthspan / lifespan extension and underpinning mechanisms
  • Establising the mechanisms of, and countermeasures against spaceflight-induced health decline

Courses Taught

  • Foundations of Human Physiology
  • Human Exercise Physiology
  • Physiological Determinants of Exercise Performance
  • Integrated Physiology and the Adaptation to Muscle (In)Activity
  • Physical Activity in the Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Disease

Biography

Dr. Tim Etheridge’s research investigates mechanisms driving skeletal muscle (mal)adaptation. His lab studies muscle molecular and metabolic changes in human intervention trials, supported by fundamental research in microscopic worms (C. elegans). This translational approach aims to expedite effective exercise/drug/nutritional interventions that maximize muscle performance in healthy people and muscle wasting conditions including aging, muscular dystrophy, mitochondrial disease and spaceflight.
Notable contributions include:

  • Establishing the effectiveness of mitochondria-targeting drug interventions on muscle health during aging and disease.
  • Describing mechanisms regulating human muscle growth and wasting, including the efficacy of exercise and nutritional interventions.
  • Performing multiple spaceflight missions examining drug/genetic therapies to improve health in spaceflown worms.
  • Creating novel hardware capabilities for performing biological experimentation on satellites and in deep space.

Dr. Etheridge has taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses, He currently teaches the ‘Clinical Medicine’ course.

Selected Publications

Deane CS, Willis CRG, Gallagher IJ, Brook MS, Gharahdaghi N, Wylie LJ, Wilkinson DJ, Smith K, Atherton PJ, Etheridge T. Nicotinic acid improves mitochondrial function and associated transcriptional pathways in older inactive males. Transl Exer Biomed, 1: 277-294, 2025.

Slade L, Etheridge T, Szewczyk NJ. Consolidating multiple evolutionary theories of ageing suggests a need for new approaches to study genetic contributions to ageing decline. Ageing Res Rev, doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2024.102456, 2024.

Slade L, Bollen SE, Bass JJ, Phillips BE, Smith K, Wilkinson DJ, Atherton PJ, Etheridge T. Bisphosphonates attenuate age-related muscle decline in Caenorhabditis elegans. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle, 14(6):2613-22, 2023.

Vintilla AR, Slade L, Cooke M, Willis CRG, Torregrossa R, Rahman M, Anupom T, Vanapalli SA, Gaffney CJ, Gharahdaghi N, Szabo C, Szewczyk NJ, Whiteman M, Etheridge T. Mitochondrial sulfide promotes lifespan and healthspan through distinct mechanisms in developing versus adult treated Caenorhabditis elegans. PNAS, 120 (32): e2216141120, 2023.

Deane CS, Phillips BE, Willis CRG, Wilkinson DJ, Smith K, Higashitani N, Szewczyk NJ, Atherton PJ, Higashitani A, Etheridge T. Proteomic features of skeletal muscle adaptation to resistance exercise training as a function of age. Geroscience, 45(3): 1271-87, 2022.

Willis CRG, Deane CS, Ames RM, Bass JJ, Wilkinson DJ, Smith K, Phillips BE, Szewczyk NJ, Atherton PJ, Etheridge T. Transcriptomic adaptation during skeletal muscle habituation to eccentric or concentric exercise training. Sci Rep, 23930, 2021.

Selected Grant Funding

  • UK Space Agency: Fluorescent Deep Space Petri-Pod flight readiness program (Principal Investigator).
  • UK Space Agency: Advancing the Fluorescent Deep Space Petri-Pod through multi-lateral partnerships (Principal Investigator).
  • Ministry of Defense, UK: Genetic predictors of high responders to physical activity (Principal Investigator).
  • Department of Defense, Army Research Office: Defining the role of mitochondrial hydrogen sulfide in healthspan extension in C. elegans (Principal Investigator).
  • United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation: Can novel mitochondria-targeted hydrogen sulfide delivery molecules restore cellular bioenergetics in primary mitochondrial disease? (Co-Investigator).
  • Dunhill Medical Trust, UK: Can NAD+ rejuvenate mitochondrial function in older humans? (Principal Investigator).
  • UK Space Agency: Deep Space Petri-Pod for miniaturized fluorescent imaging on space life science missions (Principal Investigator).
  • UK Space Agency: International C. elegans Experiment 2 (Co-Investigator).
  • European Space Agency, International Life Sciences Research Announcement: Establishing the causes of, and countermeasures against spaceflight-induced health decline (Principal Investigator).
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, UK: Establishing the causes of, and countermeasures against spaceflight-induced health decline (Co-Investigator).
  • Japan Society for the Promotion of Science: Quantitative proteomic approaches to understand responses to altered cell adhesion in C. elegans and humans (Principal Investigator).