Michael Harris-Love, PhD

Dr. Harris-Love’s general research interest is muscle plasticity in response to training, normal aging, and chronic disease. He is currently a Principal Investigator at the DC VAMC leading studies that involve eccentric training interventions for Veterans with arthritis, and the development of screening methods for age-related changes in skeletal muscle. Prior to his affiliation with RHBS and the DC VAMC, he was an Associate Investigator for clinical trials involving rheumatic and neurological conditions at NIAMS, NINDS, NIEHS, and the University of Pittsburgh.

Notable previous work includes publication of a sonographic method to estimate lean body mass and muscle quality for the screening and staging of sarcopenia. In addition, he was a collaborator with the Rituximab in Myositis Study Group, an investigative team responsible for conducting an international clinical trial involving 29 study sites. He has also worked with investigators at NIEHS to characterize patterns of muscle weakness in myositis, and he is a co-creator of the Adult Myopathy Assessment Tool (AMAT) which is currently a featured outcome measure in multiple intramural NINDS clinical trials.

Dr. Harris-Love is the Director of the Muscle Morphology, Mechanics, and Performance Laboratory (3MAP Lab) within the DC VAMC Clinical Research Center (CRC), and the Associate Director of the CRC Human Performance Research Unit. His professional service work includes Study Section membership for the VA Office of Research (RR&D) and the National Institute on Aging Special Emphasis Panels. His co-leadership of the DC VAMC Polytrauma/TBI Research Rehabilitation Fellowship and Exercise Science Internship programs actively provides research training and mentorship to students committed to applying the principles of rehabilitation science to the care of Veterans in the DC Metro area.

Research

Research Interests

• Objective Strength and Fatigue Assessment

• Sarcopenia

• Performance-Based Test Development

• Eccentric Training

• Sonographic Imaging of Muscle Morphology

• Rehabilitation

Publications

Ismail, C., Zabal, J., Hernandez, H.J., Woletz, P., Manning, H., Teixeira, C., DiPietro, L., Blackman, M.R., & Harris-Love, M.O. (2015). Diagnostic ultrasound estimates of muscle mass and muscle quality discriminate between women with and without sarcopenia. Frontiers in Physiology – Striated Muscle Physiology, 6, 302. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2015.00302

Hernandez, H.J., McIntosh, V., Leland, A., & Harris-Love, M.O. (2015). Progressive resistance exercise with eccentric loading for the management of knee osteoarthritis. Frontiers in Medicine – Geriatric Medicine, 2, 45. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2015.00045

Harris-Love, M.O., Joe, G., Davenport, T., Koziol, D., Abbett Rose, K., Shrader, J.A., Vasconcelos, O.M., McElroy, B., & Dalakas, M. (2014). Reliability of the Adult Myopathy Assessment Tool in adults with myositis. Arthritis Care & Research. https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.22473

Davenport, T., Benson, K., Baker, S., Gracey, C., Racocevic, G., McElroy, B., Dalakas, M., Shrader, S., Harris-Love, M.O. (2014). Lower extremity peak force and gait kinematics in individuals with inclusion body myositis. Arthritis Care & Research. https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.22468

Harris-Love, M.O., Fernández-Rhodes, L.E., Joe, G., Shrader, J.A., Freeman, B.K., Auh, S., Kokkinis, A.D., La Pean, A., Chen, C., Lehky, T.J., Levy, E.W., Davenport, T., Di Prospero, N.A., & Fischbeck, K.H. (2014). Assessing function and endurance in adults with spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy: validity of the Adult Myopathy Assessment Tool. Rehabilitation Research and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/873872

Harris-Love, M.O., Monfaredi, R., Ismail, C., Blackman, M.R., & Cleary, K. (2014). Quantitative ultrasound: measurement considerations for the assessment of muscular dystrophy and sarcopenia. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 6, 172. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2014.00172

Degrees

• Post-Doctoral Fellowship (K30), Clinical Research, Georgetown University/Children’s National Hospita
• Doctor of Health Science, Health Sciences, University of Indianapolis
• Masters of Physical Therapy, Physical Therapy, Mayo School of Health Science
• Bachelor of Science, Exercise Science, Northern Arizona University