Craig Steinback, PhD

Email

steinbac@ualberta.ca

Phone

(780) 492-5553

Address

1-059A Li Ka Shing Centre For Research

8602 112 St NW

Edmonton AB

T6G 2E1

Degrees
PhD (Kinesiology), The University of Western Ontario, 2010 Thesis: Autonomic regulation during chemoreflex stress 
MSc (Kinesiology), The University of Western Ontario, 2003 Thesis: Orthostasis and carotid artery dynamics
BSc (Honours Kinesiology), The University of Western Ontario, 2003

Background

Following my MSc, investigating artery mechanics, I conducted a 3 year research assistantship (University of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine) studying respiratory control. This directly led to the questions forming the basis of my PhD thesis; how breathing and the control of breathing influences blood pressure regulation. I returned to Alberta in 2010 as an AIHS/NSERC Post-doctoral Fellow studying the mechanisms of blood pressure control and blood vessel function in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) (University of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine). I accepted a position as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the U of A in 2013. 

I am broadly interested in how the body responds and adapts to environments, activities and conditions that are associated with reduced oxygen availability. More specifically, I study how the sympathetic nervous system is activated during exposure to low oxygen, and how it acts to control blood flow to critical organs and tissues.

Neural and Cardiovascular Responses to Hypoxia
An acute or chronic reduction in oxygen is a significant physiological stress. A major focus of my research is based on how the body responds during and following reductions in oxygen. During periods of hypoxia both corrective (increased ventilation) and compensatory (blood flow redistribution) mechanisms are activated. The effectiveness of these responses is an important determinant of whether an individual suffers acute or chronic illness.

There is important feedback and cross-talk maintaining balance between corrective and compensatory mechanisms. Ongoing studies in my lab are investigating how ventilation, or the lack thereof, influences sympathetic nervous system regulation during periods of hypoxia. 

Blood Pressure Control in Clinical Populations
The organ which detects changes in oxygen in the blood (the carotid body) has been implicated in the development of high blood pressure in a number of clinical populations. The carotid body can become hyperactive in the absence of changes in O2, leading to sympathetic activation and hypertension. Collaborative studies are currently exploring this mechanism in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Preeclampsia (a hypertensive pregnancy disorder).

Regulatory Mechanisms
The translation of a stress (e.g. low oxygen) into an appropriate response (e.g. blood flow redistribution) is regulated through a number of steps within a reflex. A portion of my research is devoted to understanding the fundamental ways this communication takes place. My lab specializes in direct recordings of sympathetic nervous system activity (microneurography), as well as multiple techniques for assessing vascular function (e.g. ultrasonography). My lab also uses custom analysis approaches to identify how sympathetic neurons are activated and or recruited, and to identify how a given amount of sympathetic activity affects vascular outcomes (neurovascular transduction) under various conditions.

My research is currently funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), The Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), and The Women and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI).

I currently supervise 1 MSc student studying the influence of breathing and drive to breathe on sympathetic nervous system activity and co-supervise 1 PhD student studying sympathetic nervous system adaptation during pregnancy. I am currently welcoming applications for graduate supervision. I also take on undergraduate practicum students and summer research students. 

KIN 311 - Assessment of Fitness and Health

For more information on my research program, visit my professor video on YouTube.