UTA student recognized for research on high-fat diets

(Press-News.org) University of Texas at Arlington senior Ken Perry has always been interested in how the heart works. This curiosity led the Arlington High School graduate to start working in the lab of UTA kinesiology Professor R. Matthew Brothers during his second year of college. Now, two years later, Perry is the recipient of two research awards from the American Physiological Society (APS) for his research on a connection between high-fat meals and cardiovascular health.

“I always wanted to learn about heart and blood flow, so when friend of mine interested in research encouraged me to apply for the SURPINT program two years ago, I did,” said Perry, referencing UTA’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program in Integrative Physiology program. Through the program, students spend 10 weeks working alongside established faculty mentors, gaining first-hand experience working in a laboratory.

Perry chose to work with Dr. Brothers, a renowned investigator with many federally funded research projects studying cardiovascular disease.

“I loved the vascular research using sonography, and Dr. Brothers encouraged me to apply for the UROP program, where I could get paid to work in his lab,” said Perry. UROP is the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, where students earn a stipend working in a lab conducting supervised research.

While in Brothers’ lab, Perry started analyzing data collected from previous research studies. He noticed a correlation between the consumption of high-fat meals and changes in brain blood flow.

“Acutely, those high-fat meals were shown to increase stiffness, called pulsatility, which worsens the body’s ability to accommodate high-pressure flow. Over the long term, those stiffer arteries permit higher flow from physical exertion or stress to reach capillaries, inducing damage to brain blood vessels,” said Perry.

“The increased friction of blood flow on the capillaries is like rubbing something on thin skin. Over time, the skin will degrade, and you have an open wound,” he continued. “It’s similar in the brain—the more you expose the capillaries to high-pressure flow, the higher the risk the capillaries in the brain will become damaged.”

With encouragement from Dr. Brothers and colleagues in his lab, Perry submitted his research to APS, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing the understanding of life and health, and he won two awards: the Barbara A. Horwitz and John M. Horowitz Undergraduate Research Award and the Barbara A. Horwitz and John M. Horowitz Outstanding Undergraduate Research Abstract Award.

“The first award was given to about 100 people, but the second was more of a competition meant to honor the top 10 undergraduates at the entire APS meeting, which had over 20,000 people,” said Perry. “It is really a huge honor for me.”

“It’s always a pleasure to work with the next generation of research scientists, and Ken has proven to be an outstanding researcher who has helped make real contributions in our research on cardiovascular health,” said Brothers, who is also associate chair of the Department of Kinesiology at UTA. “He has played a key role in our team these past few years, helping us collect and analyze data on the how blood flow changes and changes in blood vessel health affect the heart and brain, especially in at-risk populations.”

After Perry graduates from UTA in May 2025, he plans to take a year off before applying to graduate school for 2026. During that gap year, he will go to Baltimore to study heart stents as part of a National Institutes of Health Undergraduate Scholarship Program.

“I love how innovative and encouraging UTA is,” said Perry, who also hopes to eventually attend medical school. He plans to apply for UTA’s Health Professions Advisory Committee, a program that helps undergraduate students prepare their applications and hone their interview skills when applying to graduate school in the health professions, like medical and dental schools. “I’m really grateful to Dr. Brothers for all his mentorship. I’ve really loved being able to take advantage of all the opportunities here.”

About The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)

Located in the heart of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, The University of Texas at Arlington is a comprehensive teaching, research, and public service institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through scholarship and creative work. With an enrollment of approximately 41,000 students, UT Arlington is the second-largest institution in the UT System. UTA’s combination of outstanding academics and innovative research contributes to its designation as a Carnegie R-1 “Very High Research Activity” institution, a significant milestone of excellence. The University is designated as a Hispanic Serving-Institution and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education and has earned the Seal of Excelencia for its commitment to accelerating Latino student success. The University ranks in the top five nationally for veterans and their families (Military Times, 2024), is No. 4 in Texas for advancing social mobility (U.S. News & World Report, 2025), and is No. 6 in the United States for its undergraduate ethnic diversity (U.S. News & World Report, 2025). UT Arlington’s approximately 270,000 alumni occupy leadership positions at many of the 21 Fortune 500 companies headquartered in North Texas and contribute to the University’s $28.8 billion annual economic impact on Texas.

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