Richard (Rick) L. Lieber (born December 14, 1956) is an American scientist in the field of muscle physiology who is an internationally recognized expert in skeletal muscle structure and function. His research focuses on skeletal muscle properties in individuals with neurological disorders such as spinal cord injury or cerebral palsy to identify targets for therapeutic interventions.

Early life and education

Dr. Lieber was born in

Walnut Creek, California Walnut Creek is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, about east of the city of Oakland, California, Oakland. Walnut Creek has a total population of 70,127 per t ...

, the son of a big band musician and hospital administrator. He completed a B.S. in physiology in 1978 at

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

. In 1983, he earned his Ph.D. in biophysics from

, applied a theory of light diffraction to study mechanical properties of muscle cells and was one of the first to use the

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

8080 microprocessor to control a biological system in real-time. He received his M.B.A. in 2013 from

Rady School of Management The Rady School of Management is the Postgraduate education, graduate business school of the University of California, San Diego, a public university in San Diego, California, United States. The school was established as the University of Califor ...

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

Career

Lieber started his career as a

Biomedical Engineer Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

at the Veterans Administration Medical Center (1983) and then started in academia at UC San Diego (1985). Notably, he holds the position of Chief Scientific Officer at

Shirley Ryan AbilityLab The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, formerly the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), is a not-for-profit physical medicine and rehabilitation research hospital based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1954, the AbilityLab is designed for patient c ...

(formerly the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago), a nationally recognized translational rehabilitation research hospital.

Research

Lieber has published over 350 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals ranging from

basic science Basic research, also called pure research, fundamental research, basic science, or pure science, is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenomen ...

such as ''

The Journal of Cell Biology ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' to

clinical research Clinical research is a branch of medical research that involves people and aims to determine the effectiveness (efficacy) and safety of medications, devices, diagnostic products, and treatment regimens intended for improving human health. The ...

such as '' The Journal of Hand Surgery''. He is an established expert in using biological approaches to understand muscle contractures in neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy, stroke and spinal cord injury. Lieber's work includes the development of pharmacological and surgical interventions to improve muscle function in individuals with neurological conditions. He has made significant contributions to the field of muscle physiology in the area of

in vivo Studies that are ''in vivo'' (Latin for "within the living"; often not italicized in English) are those in which the effects of various biological entities are tested on whole, living organisms or cells, usually animals, including humans, an ...

muscle measurements, and he is highly referenced in scientific journals. His most often cited paper is "Functional and clinical significance of skeletal muscle architecture" in the peer-reviewed journal '' Muscle & Nerve'' with 1447 citations. His work has over 34,000 citations in the scientific community and his h-index is 91. In addition to his publications in

peer-reviewed journals An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the dissemination, scr ...

, he authored the textbook, "Skeletal Muscle Structure, Function, and Plasticity'',"'' which explores basic and applied physiological properties of skeletal muscle.

Distinctions

Lieber's career is marked by significant professional collaborations with international colleagues and organizations, including Jan Fridén, M.D., Ph.D. at

University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg () is a List of universities in Sweden, university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current List of universities in Sweden#Public universities, S ...

, Eva Pontén at the

Karolinska Institute The Karolinska Institute (KI; ; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden and one of the foremost medical research institutes globally ...

, and Allistair Rothwell at Christ Church, New Zealand. Lieber also serves as a member of the scientific advisory board of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

and has six patents on surgical techniques, methods to measure muscle fibers, and methods to administer stimulation to skeletal muscles

Awards and honors

Lieber has received a number of awards and honors throughout his career. These include: Elsass Foundation Research Prize, June 2023 Paul B. Magnuson Award, Rehabilitation Research and Development, Department of Veterans Affairs, March 2023 Goel Award for Translational Biomechanics, North American Congress on Biomechanics (NACOB), American Society for Biomechanics, August 2022, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Lifetime Achievement Award
American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine
2021 Fellow, Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS), November 2020 Fellow, American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), March 2019 Hay Award in Sport Biomechanics,

American Society of Biomechanics The American Society of Biomechanics (ASB) is a scholarly society that focuses on biomechanics across a variety of academic fields. It was founded in 1977 by a group of scientists and clinicians. The ASB holds an annual conference as an arena to d ...

, August 2017 Honorary Member,

American Physical Therapy Association The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) is an American individual membership professional organization representing more than 100,000 member physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and students of physical therapy. The nonpr ...

, February 2015 Founders Award,

American College of Sports Medicine The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a sports medicine and exercise science membership organization. Founded in 1954, ACSM holds conferences, publishes books and journals, and offers certif ...

(Southwest Chapter), October 2014. Gayle G. Arnold Award
American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine
October 2013 Kappa Delta Award,

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) is an orthopedic organization. Founded at Northwestern University in 1933, as of 2015 AAOS had grown to include about 39,000 members.AAOMembersPage accessed June 27, 2015 The group provides ed ...

, February 2013, Chicago, IL.https://www.aaos.org/globalassets/quality-and-practice-resources/research-resources/kappa-delta/kappa-delta-oref-winners-1950-2020.pdf Fellow, American Society for Biomechanics, July 2012 Outstanding Research Award
International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine (ISSLS)
Göteborg, Sweden. June 2011. Giovanni Borelli Award,

, August, 2007. The Göteborg University Medal, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, June 2007.

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

(Sweden), 2007 Nicolas Andry Award, American Bone and Joint Surgeons, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, May 2002 ''Fellow'',

, March, 1994. Kappa Delta Young Investigator Award,

, February 1994.

Publications

Selected publications # Lieber, R.L. and R.J. Baskin. (1983). Intersarcomere dynamics of single skeletal muscle fibers during fixed-end tetani. J. Gen. Physiol. 82:347-364. PMC2228698. # Lieber, R.L., R.J. Baskin and Y. Yeh. (1984). Sarcomere length determination using laser diffraction: effect of beam and fiber diameter. Biophys. J. 45:1007-1016. PMC1434983. # Lieber RL, Yeh Y, Baskin RJ. Sarcomere length determination using laser diffraction. Effect of beam and fiber diameter. Biophysical Journal. 1984;45:1007-16 # Lieber, R.L. and J.L. Boakes. (1988). Sarcomere length and joint kinematics during torque production in the frog hindlimb. Am. J. Physiol. 254:C759-C768. PMID3259840 # Lieber, R.L. and F.T. Blevins. (1989). Skeletal muscle architecture of the rabbit hindlimb: Functional implications of muscle design. J. Morphol. 199:93-101. PMID2921772 # Lieber, R.L., M.E. Leonard, C.G. Brown, and C.L. Trestik. (1991). Frog semitendinosis tendon load-strain and stress-strain properties during passive loading. Am. J. Physiol. 261:C86-C92. PMID1858862 # Lieber, R.L., Raab, R., Kashin, S. and V.R. Edgerton (1992). Sarcomere length changes during fish swimming. J. Exp. Biol. 169:251-254. PMID11536506 # Lieber RL, Baskin RJ, Yeh Y. (1984). Sarcomere length determination using laser diffraction: effect of beam and fiber diameter. Biophys. J. 45:1007-1016. PMC 434983 # Lieber, R.L. G.J. Loren and J. Fridén. (1994). In vivo measurement of human wrist extensor muscle sarcomere length changes. J. Neurophysiol. 71:874-881. PMID8201427 # Sam M, Shah S, Fridén J, Milner DJ, Capetanaki Y, Lieber RL. (2000). Desmin knockout muscles generate lower stress and are less vulnerable to injury compared to wildtype muscles. Am. J. Physiol. 279:C1116-1122. PMID 1003592. # Sam, M., S. Shah, J. Fridén, D.J. Milner, Y. Capetanaki and R.L. Lieber. (2000). Desmin knockout muscles generate lower stress and are less vulnerable to injury compared to wildtype muscles. Am. J. Physiol. 279:C1116-1122. PMID11003592 # Lieber, R.L. and J. Fridén. (2002). Spasticity causes a fundamental rearrangement of muscle-joint interaction. Muscle & Nerve 25:265-270. PMID11870696 # Lieber, R.L., J. Fridén, T. Hobbs, A.G. Rothwell. (2003). Analysis of posterior deltoid function one year after surgical restoration of elbow extension. J. Hand. Surg. (Am.) 28A:288-293. PMID 12671862. # Patel, T.J., R. Das, J. Fridén, G.J. Lutz and R.L. Lieber. (2004). Sarcomere strain and heterogeneity correlate with injury to frog skeletal muscle fiber bundles. J. Appl. Physiol. 97:1803-1813. PMID15208284 # Lieber, R.L., W. Murray, D.L. Clark, V.R. Hentz and J. Fridén. (2005). Biomechanical properties of the brachioradialis muscle: Implications for surgical tendon transfer. J. Hand Surg. (Am.) 30:273-282. PMID15781349. # Hentzen, E.R., M. Lahey, D. Peters, L. Mathew, I.A. Barash, J. Fridén and R.L. Lieber. (2006). Stress-dependent and -independent expression of the myogenic regulatory factors and the MARP genes after eccentric contractions in rats. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 570:157-167. PMC1464283 # Smith, L.R., K.S. Lee, S.R. Ward, H.G. Chambers, R.L. Lieber. (2011) Hamstring contractures in children with spastic cerebral palsy result from a stiffer ECM and increased in vivo sarcomere length. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 589:2625-2639. PMID 21486759. # Palmisano, M.G., S.N. Bremner, S. Huang, A.A. Domenighetti, T. Hornberger, S.B. Shah, M. Kellermeyer, A.F. Ryan, and R.L. Lieber. (2014). Skeletal muscle intermediate filaments act as a stress-transmitting and stress-transducing signaling network. J. Cell Sci.128:219-224. PMC4294770 # Young KW, Radic S, Myslivets E, Lieber RL. (2014). Resonant reflection spectroscopy of biomolecular arrays in muscle. Biophys. J. 107:2352-2360. PMID 25418304. # Young, K.W., S. Radic, E. Myslivets, and R.L. Lieber. (2014). Resonant reflection spectroscopy of biomolecular arrays in muscle. Biophys. J. 107:2352-2360. PMC4241457. # Palmisano, M.G., S.N. Bremner, A.A. Domenighetti, T. Hornberger, S.B. Shah, M. Kellermeyer, A.F. Ryan, and R.L. Lieber. (2014). Skeletal muscle intermediate filaments act as a stress-transmitting and stress-transducing signaling network. J. Cell Sci. 128:219-224. PMID 25413344. # Mathewson, M.A., S.R. Ward, H.G. Chambers and R.L. Lieber. (2014). High resolution muscle measurements provide insight into equinus contracture in patients with cerebral palsy. J. Orthop Res. 33:33-39. PMC2903973 # Young, K.W., B.P.P Kuo, S.M. O'Connor, S. Radic and R.L. Lieber. (2017). ''In vivo'' sarcomere length measurement in whole muscles during passive stretch and twitch contractions. Biophys. J. 112:805-812. PMID 28256239. # Domenighetti, A., M.A. Mathewson, R. Pichika, L. Zhao, H.G. Chambers and R.L. Lieber. (2018). Loss of myogenic potential and fusion capacity of satellite cells isolated from contractured muscle in children with cerebral palsy. Am. J. Physiol. 315:C247-C257. PMID 29694232.

References

External links

Full list of publications: MyNCBI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lieber, Richard L. 1956 births Living people American scientists People from Walnut Creek, California University of California, Davis alumni University of California, San Diego alumni