Danielle E. Levitt, Ph.D., CSCS,*D

Personal Information

Danielle Levitt, PhD, joined the Department of Kinesiology & Sport Management in 2022. She earned her BA in Psychology from The University of Texas at Dallas, MS in Kinesiology from the University of North Texas, and PhD in Biology (concentration in Exercise Physiology) at the University of North Texas in Denton, TX. She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship with appointments in the Department of Physiology and the Comprehensive Alcohol-HIV/AIDS Research Center at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans. 

Dr. Levitt directs the Metabolic Health & Muscle Physiology (MMP) Laboratory. Her long-term research goal is to understand the mechanisms by which lifestyle factors (alcohol and substance use, physical activity and inactivity) and aging contribute to metabolic dysfunction and to identify therapeutic strategies to improve metabolic outcomes. Approximately one-third of US adults report alcohol misuse, and the number of older adults who use alcohol has nearly double in the last 20 years. Alcohol misuse and age increase risk for adverse health outcomes including metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and myopathy/sarcopenia. Skeletal muscle is a primary insulin-responsive glucose utilization site and a major regulator of whole-body metabolism; thus, decreased muscle mass and function have strong potential to contribute to alcohol-mediated and age-related metabolic pathophysiology. Therefore, the MMP lab uses cellular and molecular techniques alongside clinical studies to achieve several inter-related aims: 1) dissect mechanisms underlying skeletal muscle structural and bioenergetic dysfunction; 2) understand factors influencing inter-organ crosstalk and resulting impacts on metabolic health; and 3) evaluate lifestyle interventions to improve metabolic health, particularly among aging individuals and those with alcohol misuse. 

Dr. Levitt is grateful for her current and past funding from the National Institute on Aging (NIH/NIA) and National Strength and Conditioning Association Foundation (NSCAF), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIH/NIAAA), the American College of Sports Medicine-Texas Chapter (TACSM), and through internal funding from Texas Tech University.

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Research Interests

• Improving metabolic health in aging adults
• Alterations in bioenergetic function in cells, and impact on whole-organ function
• Relationships between impaired mitochondrial and glycolytic function and risk for dysglycemia
• Inter-organ crosstalk: Impacts of alcohol and exercise

Future Research Collaboration Interests

• Molecular changes in skeletal muscle and other metabolically active tissues in response to disease states, nutrition, supplements, exercise, and substance use
• Assessment of bioenergetic function in cells and tissues
• Lifestyle interventions in clinical populations, such as people with alcohol use disorder, metabolic syndrome, or diabetes

Awards & Honors

• National Hispanic Science Network (NHSN) Early Career Leadership Committee (ECLC) Chair, Basic Sciences (2021-2023); Annual Meeting Planning Committee member (2020-present)
• American Physiological Society (APS) Endocrinology & Metabolism Section Councillor (2023-2026), Physiology Educators Committee member (2021-2022)
• Research Society on Alcohol (RSA) Junior Investigator Award, 2019 - 2022