Reference number : GC-2017-Q1-02816, amendment number : , agreement type : G, recipient legal name : Abdul Sater, Ali (York University)|Abdul Sater, Ali (Université York), recipient country : CA, recipient province : nan, recipient city : Ontario, recipient postal code : nan, program name english : Discovery Grants Program - Individual, program name french : Programme de subventions à la découverte - individuelles, program purpose english : Exercise has been known to have significant effects on several aspects of human physiology. Recently, several major news outlets like the New York Times have been reporting on the effects of exercise on improving brain function, reducing cancer risk, and altering immune function and how that impacts the susceptibility to flu infections. Indeed, studies have shown that various exercise activities can affect our ability to fight infections, particularly upper respiratory tract infections (URTI). This happens because moderate exercise can boost our immune system and thereby protects us from bacterial and viral infections, whereas prolonged and intensive exercise has the opposite effect. This, in turn, has important implications on the incidence of URTI and on the ability of athletes to train and compete at the highest levels. How and why exercise modulates the immune response remains unclear. This proposal aims at answering these two questions. Specifically, our research has three objectives: 1) understand the underlying mechanism through which various exercise activities change our immune response; 2) identify novel biomarkers of effective training, where we determine which physical activity patterns causes an enrichment in genes that are known to enhance immune function; 3) determine how exercise alters the metabolic status of immune cells. The current knowledge regarding the effects of exercise on the immune response and the subsequent effect on URTI susceptibility is largely descriptive and in many cases anecdotal. Our studies will lead to an important advancement in the field of exercise immunology, and can be used to suggest strategies for modifying training and recovery activities to not only reduce the incidence of training-related URTI, but also optimize immune function and improve the wellbeing of athletes and physically active individuals., program purpose french : Exercise has been known to have significant effects on several aspects of human physiology. Recently, several major news outlets like the New York Times have been reporting on the effects of exercise on improving brain function, reducing cancer risk, and altering immune function and how that impacts the susceptibility to flu infections. Indeed, studies have shown that various exercise activities can affect our ability to fight infections, particularly upper respiratory tract infections (URTI). This happens because moderate exercise can boost our immune system and thereby protects us from bacterial and viral infections, whereas prolonged and intensive exercise has the opposite effect. This, in turn, has important implications on the incidence of URTI and on the ability of athletes to train and compete at the highest levels. How and why exercise modulates the immune response remains unclear. This proposal aims at answering these two questions. Specifically, our research has three objectives: 1) understand the underlying mechanism through which various exercise activities change our immune response; 2) identify novel biomarkers of effective training, where we determine which physical activity patterns causes an enrichment in genes that are known to enhance immune function; 3) determine how exercise alters the metabolic status of immune cells. The current knowledge regarding the effects of exercise on the immune response and the subsequent effect on URTI susceptibility is largely descriptive and in many cases anecdotal. Our studies will lead to an important advancement in the field of exercise immunology, and can be used to suggest strategies for modifying training and recovery activities to not only reduce the incidence of training-related URTI, but also optimize immune function and improve the wellbeing of athletes and physically active individuals., agreement title english : The Effects of Exercise on the Molecular Mechanisms of Inflammation, agreement title french : The Effects of Exercise on the Molecular Mechanisms of Inflammation, agreement number : RGPIN, agreement value : 130000.0, agreement start date : 2017-05-10, agreement end date : nan, description english : nan, description french : nan, expected results english : nan, expected results french : nan, additional information english : Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year. (2017-2018 to 2022-2023), additional information french : Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier. (2017-2018 à 2022-2023), owner organization : nserc-crsng, owner organization title : Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada | Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada