Myology Master's Program

In this program, you will learn how muscle functions in health and disease, how it adapts to exercise and environmental conditions, and how these processes are measured in the laboratory. You will gain broad knowledge ranging from the physiology of skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscle, to the nervous system that governs muscle, to the genetic and epigenetic foundations of muscle development

The program takes a multidisciplinary approach to muscle health and performance. Physiology, neuroscience, kinesiology, biomechanics, molecular genetics, and epigenetics come together in the same curriculum, so you will be able to connect a gene switching on and off inside a muscle cell to an athlete's movement on the field.

You can shape the program around your own interests through elective courses. These include Laboratory Animal Science, Applied Biomechanics, Anatomical Adaptation to Sport and Muscle Injuries, Neuro-Rehabilitation, and Cardiovascular and Respiratory Physiology.

The program centers on the thesis project. You will have the opportunity to carry out in-depth, critical research on a topic of interest to you. Example research areas for thesis projects include:

• Age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia) and healthy aging
• Muscle adaptations to exercise and diet (e.g., caloric restriction)
• Gene expression and epigenetic regulation in muscle development and function
• Aging and disease mechanisms in cardiac muscle and vascular smooth muscle
• The relationship between gut microbiota and muscle and vascular health
• Molecular foundations of hereditary muscle diseases and genome-editing approaches
• Muscle injuries, rehabilitation, and recovery processes

The program draws on our laboratory's research expertise in epigenetics, microbiota, aging, and cardiovascular physiology. Students take part in an interdisciplinary research environment, using methods such as molecular biology, histology, animal models, and bioinformatics in their thesis work.

Core areas of study: skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscle physiology · nervous system physiology and neuromuscular transmission · kinesiology and exercise physiology · biomechanics of human movement · genetics and epigenetics in muscle science · scientific research and publication methods · seminar · thesis.

Why Myology?

Muscle is one of the largest tissues in the body and sits at the center of health:

• Aging: Age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia) is one of the leading causes of falls, dependency, and declining quality of life in older age.
• Metabolism: Skeletal muscle accounts for a large share of the body's glucose use. Understanding metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity runs through muscle.
• Heart and blood vessels: Cardiac muscle and the smooth muscle in vessel walls sit right at the center of cardiovascular disease.
• Genetic diseases: In conditions such as muscular dystrophies, genome-editing-based therapies are now a genuine area of research.
• Sport and performance: Adaptation to training, injuries, and recovery processes are all rooted in muscle biology.

Around the world, muscle and movement science programs mostly focus on either sport sciences or the clinical/engineering side. Our program unites molecular biology, physiology, and movement science under one roof.

What Will You Learn?

The cellular and molecular world of muscle: The structure of skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscle, and how it adapts to physiological and pathological conditions; the genes involved in muscle development and function, gene expression, signaling pathways, and epigenetic regulation.

Communication between nerve and muscle: The central and peripheral nervous system, the spinal cord, the cerebellum and cortical pathways, neuromuscular signal transmission, and pain physiology.

The science of movement: Kinesiology, the biomechanics of human movement, metabolic and endocrine responses to exercise, and how the cardiovascular and neuromuscular systems relate to exercise.

From disease to treatment: Muscle diseases caused by mutations, polymorphisms, and epigenetic changes, and new treatment approaches such as genome editing.

Laboratory experience: Every course covers the related laboratory techniques in detail. During the thesis process, students design, carry out, and present their own research.

Program Structure

Application and Contact

📌 Official program page: https://lee.yeditepe.edu.tr/en

✉️ For questions: bilge.tuna@yeditepe.edu.tr

Ready to explore the science of muscle together?