Marco Narici, PhD, Principal Research Associate

Institute for Kinesiology Research

Phone: +386 5 663 77 00

E-mail: marcovincenzo.narici@zrs-kp.si

Research Areas:

  • Skeletal muscle plasticity in ageing, inactivity and exercise
  • Neuromuscular junction and neuromuscular function in ageing and inactivity
  • The extracellular matrix and its role in force transduction, force generation and cell signalling.
  • Muscle and tendon morphological and mechanical adaptations to increased loading, unloading and ageing

Biography:

Marco Narici holds BSc from Physiology (1982) at the Bedford College, University of London, UK. His MSc is from human physiology (1984) at the King’s College, University of London, UK. Afterwards he finished another BSc programme from Biology (1991) at the University of Pavia, Italy and a PhD in the field of Physiology (1995) at the University of Pavia, Italy.

He is responsible for basic research on skeletal muscle plasticity in ageing and microgravity. Specifically, he investigates in vivo skeletal muscle anatomy, architecture and mechanics of muscle contractions.

His previous experience in researching skeletal muscle physiology is evident from his role in scientific organisations, committees and projects. Currently he is head of Biomedical department at the Institute of physiology at the University of Padua, Italy and a Principal Research Associate at The Institute for Kinesiology Research (IKARUS) ZRS.

He is a member of European Space Agency.

Marco Narici published 220 SCI manuscripts, 9 book chapters and has 11.767 citations with h-index of 56. 

He is Member of editorial board of: Scandinavian Journal of Sport Medicine, BMC Physiology (BioMed Central),  Muscles, Ligaments and Tendons Journal (MLTJ).

Research activity:

  • PI of BBSRC project ‘Structural and Functional changes in muscle-tendon in ageing: implications for locomotion’, (2002-2005);
  • Co-I in Medical Research Council Grant, (2005-2008);
  • Co-I in EU Framework 7 grant application ‘Understanding and Combating Age-related Muscle Weakness’, project MYOAGE, (2009-2013);
  • PI of BBSRC project ‘Structural and metabolic determinants of sarcopenia and efficacy of concentric vs. eccentric exercise training: a novel temporo-spatial approach”, (2013-2017);
  • PI of Italian Space Agency (ASI) project MARS-PRE, (2018);
  • PI of Italian Ministry of Education and Research -PRIN-Project NEUROMUSCULAR AGEING: MECHANISMS AND FUNCTIONAL IMPLICATIONS (NeuAge), (2018).

Pedagogical activity and scientific memberships

  • Research Fellow at the National Research Centre, Milan, Italy, (1983-1999);
  • Maître d’Enseignement et de Richerche, Centre Medical Universitaire, University of Geneva, Switzerland, (1994-1996);
  • Project manager of NASA experiment “The effects of Microgravity on Skeletal Muscle Contractile Properties”, Spacelab mission STS-78, (1993-1997);
  • Chairman European Space Agency (ESA) Skeletal Muscle Topical Team, (1998-2000);
  • Full Professor in Physiology of Ageing, Institute for Biophysical and Clinical Research into Human Movement, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, (1999);
  • Honorary Professor at the University of Udine, Department of Sciences and Biomedical Technologies, Udine, Italy, (2003);
  • Member of  ESA “Artificial Gravity Topical Team”, (2005);
  • Member of ESA Life Sciences Peer Review Board, (2007-2012);
  • Member of European Science Foundation microgravity review panel, (2008);
  • Member of EU Framework 7 Advisory Panels (LinkAge, WhyWeAge), (2010);
  • Visiting Professor in Space Physiology and Health at King’s College London (ongoing);
  • Director of the Institute for Biomedical Research into Human Movement and Health (IRM), Manchester Metropolitan University, UK (2011- 2012);
  • Appointed member of the BBSRC Pool of Experts (Panel A), (2011);
  • Professor and Head of Division of Clinical Physiology, School of Graduate Entry to Medicine and Health, University of Nottingham, UK, (2012-2017)
  • President of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS), (2013- 2015);
  • Professor of Physiology, appointed through the ‘Brain Gain Project’ of the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR), University of Padua, Italy, (2017 to present).