Laboratory Director

Dr. Michael Harris-Love is a Principal Investigator with the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System GRECC, and he serves as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center (CU AMC). He has over 20 years of experience in the areas of geriatrics, rheumatology, and exercise science, which include previous clinical appointments at the Mayo Clinic and the NIH Clinical Center.  Dr. Harris-Love was previously elected as the Vice-Chair of the Degenerative Disease Special Interest Group of the American Physical Therapy Association and he has served at the national-level for the American College of Rheumatology and NIH.  His research expertise in muscle performance is reflected in his previous role as an investigator for protocols at NIAMS, NINDS, NIEHS, and George Washington University over the past decade. Dr. Harris-Love currently serves as the Director of the Muscle Morphology, Mechanics, and Performance Laboratory, and he is also the Director of the Physical Therapy Program at CU AMC ...  (more info)

Research Assistant

Ms. Katie Boncella is a Research Assistant in the Muscle Morphology, Mechanics and Performance Laboratory at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.  She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Health and Exercise Science from Colorado State University, and a Masters degree in Sport and Exercise Science with a concentration in Biomechanics from the University of Northern Colorado.  She is currently pursuing a PhD degree in Bioengineering from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Ms. Boncella has previous research experience as a Research Assistant for the Soft Tissue Mechanics Lab at Colorado State University and the Biomechanics Lab at the University of Northern Colorado.

Research Assistant - PIKE-PREP Fellow

Ms. Daniela Gonzalez-Rivera is a Research Assistant in the Muscle Morphology, Mechanics, and Performance Laboratory at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She received her Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Science degree in Biology with a minor in Psychology at the University of Colorado, Denver in 2022. She is currently a part of the PIKE-PREP research program at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in preparation to pursue a DPT/PhD. Daniela has previous research experience as a Research Assistant through the MARC-U-Star undergraduate research program at the University of Colorado, Denver in the Department of Medical Oncology. Her previous research was focused on immunotherapies for highly metastatic melanoma skin cancer.

Post-Doctoral Fellow

Dr. Jared Gollie is a VA Career Development Awardee and Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Muscle Morphology, Mechanics and Performance Laboratory within the DC VAMC Clinical Research Center. His VA/OAA appointment is sponsored by the Polytrauma/TBI Research Rehabilitation Fellowship Program within the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Service at the DC VAMC.  Dr. Gollie received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Rehabilitation Science from George Mason University (GMU) in Fairfax, VA in 2017.  He has also previously studied Exercise Science, earning his Bachelor of Science degree from Wesley College in Dover, DE and his Master’s degree from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania.  Dr. Gollie has previous academic experience as a Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Rehabilitation Science at GMU, and he is currently an Adjunct Instructor in the Department of Physical Therapy and Health Care Sciences at George Washington University. Dr. Gollie will be working with Dr. Harris-Love to examine the morphological and mechanical adaptations of the muscle/tendon complex following accentuated-eccentric exercise in Veterans with chronic conditions.

Post-Doctoral Fellow

Dr. Stephan Bodkin is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Muscle Morphology, Mechanics and Performance Laboratory within the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. Bodkin received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Sports Medicine from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA in 2020.  His previous training was in Athletic Training, earning his Bachelor of Science degree from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA and his Masters degree from the University of Virginia.  Dr. Bodkin has prior research experience as a Clinical Research Coordinator within the Sports Medicine Division of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Virginia Health System. He also has teaching experience in the areas of biomechanics, motor control, and anatomy. Dr. Bodkin will be working with Dr. Harris-Love to advance clinical imaging methods to examine the determinants of muscle dysfunction in older adults and aid sarcopenia case finding in clinical and community-based settings.

Clinical Investigator

Dr. Andrew C. Smith is a rehabilitation scientist whose primary interest is improving the assessment and clinical management of individuals with spinal cord injury.  He is an Assistant Professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. Smith’s secondary interest is in the quantification and characterization of skeletal muscle in health and disease states. Current research activities include: using medical imaging to investigate the extent of spinal cord injury and its impact on motor and sensory function, using magnetic resonance imaging to improve the mechanistic understanding of responsiveness to spinal cord stimulation, and convolutional neural networks to automate segmentation processes of neuromusculoskeletal imaging. Dr. Smith is an elected officer of the Spinal Cord Injury Special Interest Group of the American Physical Therapy Association. He earned his Doctor of Physical Therapy degree (DPT) from the University of Washington, and completed his PhD in Neuroscience at Northwestern University. Dr. Smith is collaborating with 3MAP Lab and CU Department of Endocrinology on the project, "Machine learning to quantify muscle changes, lean body mass, and function in obese adults.”

Clinical Investigator

Dr. Ryan J. Marker is an Assistant Professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. He completed both his Doctor of Physical Therapy degree (2011) and PhD in  Rehabilitation Science (2015) at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. During this time, he utilized electromyography, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and other methods to investigate the neurophysiologic mechanisms of stress-induced muscle activity and neck pain, as well as develop and validate novel signal processing and data analysis methods. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center working with the BfitBwell Cancer Exercise Program, establishing a standardized assessment and research database, and performing a prospective study of exercise in pancreatic cancer survivors undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy preparing for surgery. After being a core faculty member in the Physical Therapy Program at Ithaca College in NY for two years, he returned to the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center. His primary interests now lie in developing and implementing effective and accessible fitness programs for patients with chronic medical conditions. He continues to work with the BfitBwell Cancer Exercise Program and is developing and managing programs for individuals with chronic kidney disease and other complex conditions at the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center.

Research Assistant - DPT Program

Mr. Connor Lewis is a Research Assistant in the Muscle Morphology, Mechanics and Performance Laboratory at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.  He earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science with a Minor in Psychology from the State University of New York College (SUNY) at Cortland.  He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Mr. Lewis has previous experience as an Exercise Physiology Lab Teaching Assistant and as a  Research Assistant in the movement sciences at SUNY Cortland .