James McKendry, PhD profile page

Dr. James McKendry completed his undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees in sport and exercise sciences at the University of Birmingham, UK, under the supervision of Drs. Leigh Breen and Carolyn Greig. Dr. McKendry then moved on to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship under the guidance of Prof. Stuart Phillips (a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Skeletal Muscle Health in Aging), where he spent five wonderful years at McMaster University. Dr. McKendry joined The University of British Columbia (UBC) as an assistant professor in nutrition and healthy aging in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems in July 2024. He is now leading his own research group, “The Muscle Aging (In)activity, and Nutrition Laboratory (The MAIN Lab),” which uses innovative methods (e.g., stable isotope tracers, skeletal muscle biopsies and multi-omics) to explore the adaptive response of human skeletal muscle to nutrition, exercise, aging and disease. McKendry has a particular interest in a unique population that epitomizes healthy aging – master athletes – and his research will seek to uncover mechanisms involved in regulating skeletal muscle mass and implement novel nutrition strategies to modify outcomes for skeletal muscle, extending the health span.