Marina Mourtzakis

Marina Mourtzakis is a Professor and Associate Dean, Research at the University of Waterloo's Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences. Her research focuses on skeletal muscle health, nutrition, and body composition in health and disease, particularly in cancer patients. She leads the Integrative Metabolism and Body Composition (IMBC) Lab, exploring mechanisms of muscle wasting and developing rehabilitative strategies through imaging (e.g., ultrasound, CT) and metabolic studies. Mourtzakis holds a PhD from the University of Guelph and undergraduate degrees from McMaster University.

Her work bridges clinical and translational research, addressing muscle atrophy in critically ill patients and cancer survivors. Key tools include CT-based body composition analysis and ultrasound protocols for bedside applications. She teaches courses such as KIN 204 (Movement Assessment) and KIN 607 (Integrative Energy Metabolism). Her interdisciplinary approach integrates nutrition, exercise physiology, and molecular biology to improve patient outcomes.

Research interests center on the interplay between nutrition, exercise, and muscle metabolism, with a focus on cancer-related muscle loss and its impact on survival and physical function. Her studies also examine glucose metabolism in prostate cancer and the role of obesity in disease progression.

Mourtzakis supervises graduate students in these areas and collaborates on projects spanning clinical nutrition, imaging innovation, and muscle physiology. Her lab develops practical methods for assessing muscle quality and identifying mechanisms for targeted interventions.