Heather L. Vellers

Heather L. Vellers serves as an Assistant Professor of Exercise Physiology in the Department of Kinesiology & Sport Management at Texas Tech University and is a faculty member of the Center of Excellence in Obesity and Cardiometabolic Research (COCR), focusing on genomic mechanisms in metabolic health.

Her academic credentials include:

• B.S. in Exercise Science, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2010)
• M.S. in Clinical Exercise Physiology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2012)
• Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology, Texas A&M University (2016)
• Postdoctoral Research Fellow, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (2018)

Dr. Vellers investigates mitochondrial genetics and nuclear-mitochondrial genome crosstalk to elucidate their roles in endurance trainability, biological aging, and metabolic diseases like obesity. Her work bridges exercise science with genomic analysis to identify biomarkers for cardiometabolic disorders, emphasizing translational applications for disease prevention.

Her accolades feature prominently:

• 2021 Oklahoma Nathan Shock Center Pilot Award
• 2020 Apple Polishing Award and Phi Beta Kappa Honorary Faculty Membership (Texas Tech)
• 2019 San Antonio Nathan Shock Center New Investigator Award
• 2018 NIEHS Fellows Award for Research Excellence
• 2016 Texas A&M Doctoral Honor Graduate Award

Dr. Vellers actively contributes to COCR's interdisciplinary initiatives, seeking bioinformatics collaborations to develop algorithms modeling nuclear-mitochondrial genomic interactions. Her future work targets phenotype prediction through integrated genomic analytics, positioning her at the forefront of obesity and aging research.