Tray Wright
Education
PhD - Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences; Texas A&M University
BS - Marine Biology; Texas A&M University at Galveston
Courses Taught
In Development
Research Interests
- Comparative Animal Metabolism and Performance (CAMP) Lab
Did you know that:
- a cow is more closely related to a whale than it is to a horse?
- some marine mammals can hold their breath for over 2 hours?
From a young age, I was fascinated with how marine mammals are adapted to life in water. I believe curiosity is the fundamental component of science, and I encourage students to use rigorous scientific approaches to explore questions about animals, their physiology, and how they adapt and acclimate to their environment. The biological sciences have become increasingly multidisciplinary; I support collaboration to share diverse expertise and answer scientific questions that reach beyond the capabilities of any one lab.
My research explores how animal metabolism and fitness are shaped by both environmental acclimation and evolutionary adaptation. I study both human and non-human animal models. My research is influenced by the Krogh principle which suggests that uniquely adapted animals provide models to study specific aspects of physiology. The study of animals adapted to extreme conditions can reveal fundamental biological rules that regulate muscle mass and metabolism, and inform translational research that impacts human health.
I study how respiration and metabolism are integrated across biological levels from the cell to the whole organism. Skeletal muscle is the largest and most metabolically active tissue in mammals, and is central in my research. Functional muscle is required to maintain health, and physical performance and has a dramatic influence on whole body metabolism. My research seeks to resolve our incomplete understanding of the mechanisms regulating muscle mass and functional capacity in animals.
Mitochondria are increasingly appreciated as important regulators of cellular function both by direct signaling and regulation of intracellular substrate availability. Glucose and fatty acids are important regulatory signaling molecules in oxidative muscle. I study how environmental conditions such as nutrient availability, oxygen availability, physical activity, and temperature shape the evolutionary adaptation and acclimation of animals. I integrate measures of respiratory capacity and functional physiology along with multiomics approaches to study animal physiology from the ecological to the molecular level.
Biography
As an undergraduate student I studied Marine Biology at Texas A&M University at Galveston. After graduation I worked at an aquarium for a year before returning to graduate school. I returned to Texas A&M University under the guidance of where I studied how air-breathing diving vertebrates (including marine mammals and birds) store and transport oxygen to meet their needs while diving. During my postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) under the guidance of , my research expanded to include human clinical research. Following my postdoctoral research, I worked as an assistant professor at Texas A&M University and at UTMB, and recently joined the Biological Sciences Department at µÛÍõ»áËù in 2024.
The primary focus of my research explores how animal metabolism and performance are shaped by ecological acclimation, evolutionary adaptation, and disease. These studies are integrated across biological scales from the cellular level to the whole organism. My comparative research examines how animals regulate metabolism (particularly in muscle) to maintain homeostasis and biological fitness. The health of both human and non-human animals is profoundly influenced by muscle loss due to aging, disease, or reduced muscle load (e.g. spaceflight, bedrest, sports injury, or reduced mobility). My human translational research explores how these conditions impact muscle physiology, metabolism, fatigue, health, and quality of life.
Publications
Representative Publications
Wright TJ, Sheffield-Moore M, Randolph KM, Danesi C, Pyles RB, Masel BE, Urban RJ. (2024) Growth Hormone Treatment for Neurologic Symptoms of Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19. CTS. doi:
Wright TJ, Elliott TR, Randolph KM, Pyles RB, Masel BE, Urban RJ, Sheffield-Moore M. (2024) Prevalence of Fatigue and Cognitive Impairment After Traumatic Brain Injury. PLOS ONE. doi:
Wright TJ, Pyles RB, Sheffield-Moore M, Deer RR, Randolph KM, McGovern KA, Danesi CP, Gilkison CR, Ward W, Vargas JA, Armstrong PA, Lindsay SE, Zaidan MF, Seashore J, Wexler TL, Masel BE, Urban RJ (2024) Low growth hormone secretion associated with post-acute sequelae SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) neurologic symptoms: a case-control pilot study. Mol. Cell. Endocrinol. doi:
Elliott TR, Hsiao YY, Randolph KM, Sheffield-Moore M, Pyles RB, Masel BE, Wexler T, Wright TJ (2023) Efficient Assessment of Brain Fog and Fatigue: Development of the Fatigue and Altered Cognition Scale (FACs). PLOS ONE. doi:
Wang Y, Neto OP, Weinrich MM, Castro R, Wright T, Kennedy DM (2022) The influence of distal and proximal muscle activation on neural crosstalk. PLoS ONE. 17(10): e0275997. doi:
Wright TJ, Sheffield-Moore M (2021) Skeletal muscle plasticity and thermogenesis: Insights from sea otters. Temperature. doi:
Wright TJ, Davis R, Pearson H, Murray M, and Sheffield-Moore M (2021) Skeletal muscle thermogenesis enables aquatic life in the smallest marine mammal. Science. 373(6551), 223-225. doi:
Wright TJ, Holser R, Huckstadt L, Danes, C, Williams T, Costa DP, Davis RW, and Sheffield-Moore M (2020) Changes in Northern Elephant Seal Skeletal Muscle Following Thirty Days of Fasting and Reduced Activity. Frontiers in Physiology 11,1295. doi:
Wright TJ and Urban R, Durham WE, Dillon L, Randolph K, Danesi C, Gilkison C, Karmonik C, Zgaljardic D, Masel B, Bishop J, Pyles R, Seidler R, Hierholzer AH, and Sheffield-Moore M (2020) Growth Hormone Alters Brain Morphometry, Connectivity and Behavior in Subjects with Fatigue after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. J. Neurotrauma. doi:
Wright TJ, Dillon EL, Durham WJ, Chamberlain A, Randolph KM, Danesi C, Horstman AM, Gilkinson CR, Wills M, Richardson G, Hatch SS, Jupiter RJ, McCammon S, Urban RJ, and Sheffield-Moore M (2018) A randomized trial of adjunct testosterone for cancer–related muscle loss in men and women. J. Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle 9(3): 482-496. doi:
Wright TJ and Davis RW (2015) Myoglobin extraction from mammalian muscle and oxygen affinity determination under physiological conditions. Protein Expr Purif 107, 50-55. doi:
Wright TJ and Davis RW (2015) Myoglobin oxygen affinity in aquatic and terrestrial birds and mammals. J Exp Biol 218(14):2180–2189. doi:
Wright TJ and Davis RW (2006) The effect of myoglobin concentration on aerobic dive limit in a Weddell seal. J Exp Biol 209(13):2576-85. doi: