Sarah M Judge,

Sarah Judge is a research assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and an investigator in the UF Health Cancer Center and Myology Institute at the University of Florida. She co-directs the Pathophysiology course in the Doctor of Physical Therapy first-year curriculum. The primary objective of Dr. Judge’s NIH/NCI-funded research program is to better define mechanisms of cancer-induced skeletal muscle wasting, which is a defining feature of the wasting syndrome known as cachexia. Cachexia is a complex metabolic disorder that is believed to be driven by both central and peripheral impacts of systemic inflammation that occurs not only in the presence of cancer, but other diseases and disorders associated with systemic inflammation, including sepsis and chronic kidney disease. In patients with cancer, the loss of lean muscle mass associated with cachexia decreases patient quality of life, reduces tolerance to cancer treatments and is estimated to contribute to up to 30% of all cancer-related deaths. Despite this, there is no US FDA-approved pharmacological agent to treat cachexia, highlighting a critical gap in treatment. Through the use of tissue biopsies from cancer patients, pre-clinical models of cancer and cell culture model systems, Dr. Judge’s research uses a dynamic approach to investigate clinically relevant pathways and effector molecules as drivers of cancer-induced muscle loss. Dr. Judge earned a B.S. in Microbiology and Cell Science and PhD in Exercise Physiology, both from the University of Florida. She is currently Principal Investigator on an active R01 award from the NIH/National Cancer Institute looking at tissue-specific mechanisms of cachexia induced by pancreatic cancer, and also serves as co-PI on an NIH Small Business Grant investigating novel therapeutic targets to treat cachexia induced by multiple cancer types.

• Cancer Cachexia
• Fibrosis
• Inflammation
• Muscle atrophy
• Skeletal muscle wasting
• pre-clinical models