Dr. Sceppas’ research agenda examines ways to promote healthy aging, including reaching out to populations of diverse ethnic backgrounds to translate her evidence base research into clinical care guidelines and public health policies. She has extensive experience in designing, implementing and evaluating randomized controlled clinical trials examining the effects of dietary and exercise interventions in diverse populations, including Latinos. These research studies have been completed successfully through funding obtained by the Brookdale Foundation, the International Life Sciences Institute, the National Institutes of Health (NIA and NIDDK), the National Space and Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) as well as corporations and foundations.

Her research findings have provided evidence-based information used by the Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine to revise the Dietary Recommended Intake for protein in older adults. Her pioneer work on resistance exercise in older adults with kidney disease and diabetes was translated into clinical practice by the American Diabetes Association and adopted as standard of care. In addition, her research findings contributed to the recommendations for physical activity in older adults by the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association.

Currently, Dr. Sceppa is a Project Leader (PI) in the NHLBI funded Center for Population Health and Health Disparities at Northeastern University.This is a participatory community-based multilevel intervention on heart health among Puerto Rican older adults living in Boston based on nutrition, physical activity/exercise, stress management and self-care. She is also Principal Investigator of Healthy Kids Healthy Futures, an intergenerational obesity prevention focused on early childhood. It promotes physical activity and healthy eating in families and day care staff of children 3-5 years of age.

In addition to these participatory community based interventions described above, Dr. Sceppa examines mechanisms associated with aging and health. With funding from the Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation she investigates the metabolic and transcriptional adaptations associated with high intensity resistance training in skeletal muscle of young and older healthy adults. This research is being conducted in the Human Performance and Exercise Science Laboratory she directs at Northeastern University. Additionally, she is one of the principal investigators in the Sarcopenia Consortium funded by the Foundation of the National Institutes of Health directed by Dr. Stephanie Anne Studesnki. Between 2009 and 2012, the consortium of investigators willing to collaborate to pool data on over 31,000 older adults representing multiple cohort studies and clinical trials in order to develop evidence-based criteria for the definition of clinically significant weakness and low muscle mass.

Dr. Sceppa’s research findings have been published and referenced widely and represent a collaborative effort of a team of investigators, students and fellows. Her research has contributed to advancing the field by providing evidence on the benefits of resistance exercise for multiple health outcomes and disease conditions associated with aging. More importantly, the knowledge acquired from her evidence based research has informed the development of “real world” community-based interventions and guidelines that bridge the gap between research and practice/policy. Bridging this gap is an important goal of her translational research agenda, which is grounded in interdisciplinary collaborations, community partnerships, and student mentoring.

Education/degrees:
M.D., Francisco Marroquin University, Guatemala City. Guatemala
Ph.D., Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts

Specialization: Aging and gerontology, physical activity and exercise, healthy eating and nutrition science 

Major Research Interests:  Healthy aging; Health promotion in the lifecycle; Nutrition and physical activity/exercise community-based interventions; Chronic disease prevention; Translational research 

Public Service:

Advisory Committee, FriendshipWorks, Boston, MA

Member, Network of Minority Research Investigators (NMRI), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

Faculty, W.B. Schwartz Research Training Program Division of Nephrology

Member, Institutional Review Board, Northeastern University

Advisory Committee, Community Health Education and Literacy Program (CHELP). Center for Community Health Education Research and Service (CCHERS)

Advisory Committee, ABCD Head Start Citywide Health Services, Boston, MA

Member, Brookdale Institute on Aging, The Brookdale Foundation Group, New York, NY

Member, Latin American Health Public Council, Boston Public Health Commission, MA

Member, Multicultural Coalition on Aging, Boston, MA
 

Courses:

• HSCI 1105: Introduction to Nutrition
• HLTH 1555: Freshman Honors Seminar in Healthy Aging
• PHTH 6228: Public Health Nutrition
• EXSC 6263: Research Design
   

Selected, Current Research Projects:

• Heart Health Initiative for Latinos – funded by the NIH

•  

  Healthy Kids, Healthy Futures – funded by Northeastern University and Boston Children’s Hospital

• Mechanisms of aging and Health: Effect of age and physical activity on skeletal muscle transcriptional adaptations induced by strength training – funded by the Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation

Key Experiential Learning Opportunities for Students (undergraduate and graduate):

• Service learning opportunities
• Directed studies
• Internships
• Research awards
• Thesis and dissertations

Main Collaborators/Affiliations (outside NEU):

• Tufts University, Boston, MA
• Center for Studies of Sensory Impairments, Aging, and Metabolism (CeSSIAM), Guatemala  City, Guatemala
• Klinik Herzberg in Herzberg Am Harz and the Georg-August-University in Göttingen, Germany

Peer-Reviewed Publications (*indicates student/fellow co-author):

Yarasheski KE, Castaneda-Sceppa C, He J, Kawakubo M, Bhasin S, Binder EF, Schroeder ET, Roubenoff R, Azen SP, Sattler FR. Whole body and muscle protein metabolism are not affected by acute deviations from habitual protein intake in older men: The HORMA Study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: in press.

Lincoln A, *Shepherd A, Johnson PL, Tucker KL, Castaneda-Sceppa C. Resistance training improves depression and health related quality of life among Hispanic older adults with type 2 diabetes.Journal of Gerontology: Psychosocial Sciences 2011: doi:10.1093/geronb/gbr034

Smith TJ, Schwarz JM, Montain SJ, Rood J, Pikosky MA, Castaneda-Sceppa C, Glickman EL, Young AJ.  High protein diet maintains glucose production during exercise-induced energy deficit: a controlled trial. Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism2011, 8:26.

*Van Rompay MI, Castaneda-Sceppa C, McKeown NM, Ordovas JM, Tucker KL. Prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors among older Puerto Rican adults living in Massachusetts. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health: 2010. doi:10.1007/s10903-011-9448-7 .

Sattler FR, Bhasin S, He J, Choud C-P, Castaneda-Sceppa C, Yarasheski KE, Binder EF, Schroeder TE, Kawakubod M, Zhang A, Roubenoff R, Azen SP. Testosterone threshold levels and lean tissue mass targets needed to enhance skeletal muscle strength and function: The HORMA Trial. Journal of Gerontology Medical Sciences 2010:doi:10.1093/gerona/ glq183.

*Brooks N, *Cadena SM, Cloutier G, Carambula S, Myburgh KH, Roubenoff R, Vannier E, Castaneda-Sceppa C. Effects of 28 days of bed rest and 14 days of active recovery on human skeletal muscle gene expression. Muscle and Nerve 2010;42: 927–935. doi: 10.1002/mus.21780.

Castaneda-Sceppa C, Castaneda F. Calcitriol mediates the activity of SGLT1 through an extranuclear initiated mechanism that involves intracellular signaling pathways.  Journal of Physiology and Biochemistry 2010. doi: 10.1007/s13105-010-0015-9.

Castaneda-Sceppa C, Price LL, *Noel SE, Bassett Midle J, Falcon LM, Tucker KL. Health status and physical function in aging Puerto Rican adults: The Boston Puerto Rican Health Study. Journal of Aging and Health 2010;22(5):653–672. doi: 10.1177/0898264310366738.

*Chen J, Godfrey S, Ng T, *Moorthi R, *Liangos O, Ruthazer R, Jaber B, Levey AS, Castaneda-Sceppa C. Effect of intra-dialytic, low-intensity strength training on functional capacity in adult hemodialysis patients: A randomized trial. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation 2010;25(6):1936-1943. doi:10.1093/ndt/gfp739.

Dawson-Hughes B, Castaneda-Sceppa C, Harris SS, Palermo NJ, Cloutier G, Ceglia L, Dallal GE.  Impact of supplementation with bicarbonate on lower-extremity muscle performance in older men and women. Osteoporosis International 2010;21(7):1171-1179. doi: 10.1007/s00198-009-1049-0.

Balakrishnan VS, Rao M, Menon V, *Gordon PL, Pilichowska M, Castaneda F, Castaneda-Sceppa C. Resistance Training Increases Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Biogenesis in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 2010; 5(6): 996-1002. doi: 10.2215/CJN.09141209.

*Layne JE, Arabelovic S, Wilson LB, Cloutier GJ, *Pindrus, MA, Mallio CJ, Roubenoff R, Castaneda-Sceppa C. Community-based strength training improves physical function in older women with osteoarthritis. Journal of Lifestyle Medicine 2009;3(6):466-473. doi:10.1177/15 59827 609342061.

Sattler FR, Castaneda-Sceppa C, Binder EF, Schroeder TE, Wang Y, Bhasin S, Kawakubo M, Stewart Y, Yarasheski KE, Ulloor J, Colletti P, Roubenoff R, Azen SP. Testosterone and growth hormone improve body composition and muscle performance in older men. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 2009;94(6):1991-2001. doi:10.1210/jc.2008-2338.

Castaneda-Sceppa C, Bermudez OI, Wanke C, Forrester JE. Predictors of insulin resistance among Hispanic adults infected with or at risk of infection with the human immune-deficiency virus and hepatitis C virus. Journal of Viral Hepatology 2008;15:878-887.doi:10.1111/j.1365-2893.2008.01021.x

*Layne JE, *Sampson SE, Mallio CJ, Hibberd PL, Griffith JL, Das SK, Flanagan, WJ, Castaneda-Sceppa C.  Successful dissemination of a community-based strength training program for older adults by peer and professional leaders.  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2008;56:2323-2329. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2008.02014.x.

*Chen JT, Lerner D, Ruthazer R, Castaneda-Sceppa C, Levey AS. Association of physical activity with mortality in chronic kidney disease. Journal of Nephrology2008;21:243-252.

*Brooks N, Cloutier GC, *Cadena SM, *Layne JE, Nelsen CA, Freed AM, Roubenoff R, Castaneda-Sceppa C. Resistance training and timed essential amino acids protect against the loss of muscle mass and strength during 28 days of bed rest and energy deficit. Journal of Applied Physiology 2008;105(1):241-248. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol. 01346.2007.

Castaneda-Sceppa C, Sarnak. MJ, Wang X, Greene T, Madero M, Kusek JW, Beck G, Collins AJ, Kopple JD, Levey A, Manon V. Role of the adipose tissue in determining muscle mass in patients with chronic kidney disease. Journal of Renal Nutrition 2007;17(5):314-322.

*Schroeder ET, Wang Y, Castaneda-Sceppa C, Cloutier G, *Vallejo AF, Kawakubo M, Jensky NE, Coomber S, Azen SP, Sattler FR.Reliability of maximal voluntary muscle strength and power testing in older men. Journal of Gerontology 2007;62(5):543-549.

*Brooks N, *Layne JE,*Gordon PL, Roubenoff R, Nelson ME, Castaneda-Sceppa C. Strength training improves muscle quality and insulin sensitivity in Hispanic older adults with type 2 diabetes. International Journal of Medical Sciences 2006;4(1):19-27.

*Gordon PL, Vannier E, Hamada K, Witsell A, *Layne JE, Hurley BF, Roubenoff R, Castaneda C. Effects of resistance training on cytokine gene expression in skeletal muscle of older adults with type 2 diabetes. International Journal of Immunopathology & Pharmacology 2006;19(4);487-497.

Castaneda F, *Layne JE, Castaneda C. Skeletal muscle sodium glucose co-transporters in older adults with type 2 diabetes undergoing resistance training. International Journal of Medical Sciences 2006;3(3):84-91.

Castaneda C, *Janssen I.  Ethnic comparisons of low skeletal muscle mass and obesity in diabetes. Ethnicity and Disease 2005;15(4):664-670.

Castaneda C, *Gordon PL, Parker R, Uhlin KL, Roubenoff R, Levey AS. Resistance Training to reduce the malnutrition-inflammation complex syndrome of chronic kidney disease. American Journal of Kidney Disease 2004; 43(4):607-616.

Castaneda C, *Layne J, Munoz-Orians L,*Gordon PL, *Walsmith J, Foldvari M, Roubenoff R, Tucker KL, Nelson M. A randomized control trial of progressive resistance exercise training in older adults with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 2002;25(12):2335-2341.

Castaneda C, *Gordon PL, Uhlin KL, Levey AS, Kehayias JJ, Dwyer JT, Roubenoff R, Fielding RA, Fiatarone Singh, MA. Resistance training to counteract the catabolism of a low protein diet in patients with chronic renal insufficiency. A randomized, controlled trail. Annals of Internal Medicine 2001;135 (11);965-976.

Castaneda C, Bermudez OI, Tucker KL. Protein nutritional status and function are associated with type 2 diabetes in Hispanic elders. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2000;72:89-95.

Tucker KL, Bermudez O, Castaneda, C. Type 2 diabetes is prevalent and poorly controlled among Caribbean origin Hispanic elders. American Journal of Public Health 2000;90:1288-1293.

Castaneda C, Charnley JM, Evans WJ, Crim MC.  Elderly women accommodate to a low protein diet with losses of body composition, muscle function, and immune response. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1995;62:30-39.

Castaneda C, Dolnikowski GG, Dallal GE, Evans WJ, Crim MC.  Protein turnover and energy metabolism of elderly women chronically fed a low protein diet. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1995;62:40-48.