A LASTING IMPACT

When Seth Holwerda (’10 MS, Exercise Physiology) was looking for a graduate program, he knew he wanted to learn from the best—so he chose UTA in order to study under David Keller, associate dean and chair of the Department of Kinesiology. He was particularly interested in Dr. Keller’s work on neural cardiovascular control and blood pressure regulation.

“The underlying physiology I learned at UTA is critical for ongoing research,” he says. “If I could go back, I would not have gone to study anywhere else. It was the best decision to study with Dr. Keller.”

Dr. Holwerda went on to earn his PhD from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and today, he is director of the Kansas Neural Cardiovascular Control Laboratory and an assistant professor in the Kansas University Medical Center Department of Anesthesiology. He continues to study the baroreflex—a body mechanism that helps maintain blood pressure at near constant levels—something he began while working with Keller.

“I have a strong interest in the nerves that control blood pressure and how they facilitate getting blood to where it needs to go in the body,” says Holwerda, who is currently exploring blood pressure regulation in obesity, as well as separately in those with chronic pain.

“When I’m creating a research protocol, I go back to my days at UTA and use the principles behind the techniques that I learned with Dr. David Keller,” Holwerda says. “I still apply those today.”

1986-90

The Texas American College of Sports Medicine lecture series established.

Undergraduate Research Day established.