Geriatrics

Connie Watkins Bales, PhD

Professor in Medicine
Senior Fellow in the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development
Campus mail 2508 Busse Bldg, Durham, NC 27710
Phone (919) 660-7519
Email address bales001@mc.duke.edu

Research in our laboratory focuses on the role of nutrition (particularly vitamins and minerals) in the prevention and management of chronic diseases in older adults. Previous studies have concerned trace elements and cardiovascular disease, calcium and osteoporosis, and renal synthesis of vitamin D as it relates to bone health. Some of our newest work emphasizes the role of micronutrients as antioxidants and their interaction with the aging process. We are also working on various aspects of energy balance in older adults, ranging from failure to thrive in stroke patients with dysphagia to exercise and nutrition effects in overweight subjects who begin physical training. Thus we have a number of clinical and epidemiological projects on-going, many of which include a strong emphasis on nutrition assessment techniques in middle-aged and elderly subjects.

Education and Training

  • Ph.D., University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1981

Grants

Publications

Collins, Katherine A., Leanna M. Ross, Lucy W. Piner, Liezl B. Fos, Cris A. Slentz, Lori A. Bateman, Leslie H. Willis, et al. “Amount and intensity effects of exercise training alone versus a combined diet and exercise lifestyle intervention on health-related quality of life in the STRRIDE-PD randomized trial.” Bmj Open Diabetes Res Care 10, no. 1 (January 2022). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjdrc-2021-002584.

PMID
35086944
Full Text

Browne, Julia, Miriam C. Morey, Jean C. Beckham, Hayden B. Bosworth, Kathryn N. Porter Starr, Connie W. Bales, Jessica McDermott, Richard Sloane, Jeffrey J. Gregg, and Katherine S. Hall. “Diet quality and exercise in older veterans with PTSD: a pilot study.” Transl Behav Med 11, no. 12 (December 14, 2021): 2116–22. https://doi.org/10.1093/tbm/ibab116.

PMID
34487181
Full Text

Hutchins-Wiese, Heather L., Connie W. Bales, and Kathryn N. Porter Starr. “Mediterranean diet scoring systems: understanding the evolution and applications for Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean countries.” Br J Nutr, July 22, 2021, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114521002476.

PMID
34289917
Full Text

Miller, Marshall G., Kathryn N. Porter Starr, Jamie Rincker, Melissa C. Orenduff, Shelley R. McDonald, Carl F. Pieper, Angela R. Fruik, Kenneth W. Lyles, and Connie W. Bales. “Rationale and Design for a Higher (Dairy) Protein Weight Loss Intervention That Promotes Muscle Quality and Bone Health in Older Adults with Obesity: A Randomized, Controlled Pilot Study.” J Nutr Gerontol Geriatr 40, no. 2–3 (April 2021): 150–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/21551197.2021.1896615.

PMID
33719918
Full Text

Ford, Katherine L., Michael B. Sawyer, Claire F. Trottier, Sunita Ghosh, Nicolaas E. P. Deutz, Mario Siervo, Kathryn N. Porter Starr, Connie W. Bales, Ilana Roitman Disi, and Carla M. Prado. “Protein Recommendation to Increase Muscle (PRIMe): Study protocol for a randomized controlled pilot trial investigating the feasibility of a high protein diet to halt loss of muscle mass in patients with colorectal cancer.” Clin Nutr Espen 41 (February 2021): 175–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2020.11.016.

PMID
33487262
Full Text

Ross, Leanna M., Cris A. Slentz, Alyssa M. Zidek, Kim M. Huffman, Irina Shalaurova, James D. Otvos, Margery A. Connelly, et al. “Effects of Amount, Intensity, and Mode of Exercise Training on Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes Risk in the STRRIDE Randomized Trials.” Front Physiol 12 (2021): 626142. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.626142.

PMID
33613319
Full Text

Ross, Leanna M., Cris A. Slentz, Irina Shalaurova, Margery A. Connelly, James D. Otvos, Connie W. Bales, Joseph A. Houmard, and William E. Kraus. “Abstract P177: Effects of Gender, Race, and Glucose Tolerance on Lipoprotein Insulin Resistance Index Responses to Exercise Training.” In Circulation, Vol. 141. Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health), 2020. https://doi.org/10.1161/circ.141.suppl_1.p177.

Full Text

Porter Starr, Kathryn N., Margery A. Connelly, Melissa C. Orenduff, Shelley R. McDonald, Richard Sloane, Kim M. Huffman, William E. Kraus, and Connie W. Bales. “Impact on cardiometabolic risk of a weight loss intervention with higher protein from lean red meat: Combined results of 2 randomized controlled trials in obese middle-aged and older adults.” J Clin Lipidol 13, no. 6 (November 2019): 920–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacl.2019.09.012.

PMID
31771921
Full Text

Porter Starr, Kathryn N., Melissa Orenduff, Shelley R. McDonald, Hillary Mulder, Richard Sloane, Carl F. Pieper, and Connie W. Bales. “Influence of Weight Reduction and Enhanced Protein Intake on Biomarkers of Inflammation in Older Adults with Obesity.” J Nutr Gerontol Geriatr 38, no. 1 (January 2019): 33–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/21551197.2018.1564200.

PMID
30810500
Full Text

Porter Starr, Kathryn N., Shelley R. McDonald, Aubrey Jarman, Melissa Orenduff, Richard Sloane, Carl F. Pieper, and Connie W. Bales. “Markers of Renal Function in Older Adults Completing a Higher Protein Obesity Intervention and One Year Later: Findings from the MEASUR-UP Trial.” J Nutr Gerontol Geriatr 37, no. 2 (April 2018): 117–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/21551197.2018.1478696.

PMID
29924703
Full Text

Pages