Sergi Garcia Retortillo

Sergi Garcia-Retortillo, PhD., is Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science at Wake Forest University, where he teaches Human Physiology Lab (HES 350L) and Assessment Techniques in Health and Exercise Science (HES 354). Dr. Garcia-Retortillo received his BS from University of Barcelona (Spain) in Exercise Science; BS from University Ramon Llull (Spain) in Physical Therapy; MSc Physical Activity and Health; and PhD from University of Barcelona in Exercise Science.

In addition, he serves as Visiting Researcher at the Keck Laboratory for Network Physiology (Department of Physics, Boston University, MA). His research focuses on the field of Network Physiology, which aims to understand the basic laws of interactions and principles of coordination and integration among diverse physiological systems during exercise. He is developing novel fitness assessment systems using network-based measures. The most relevant network-based markers of his research agenda are: (i) cardio-muscular coordination; (ii) inter-muscular coordination; and (iii) cardio-respiratory coordination.

Teaching

• HES 150: Intro to Health & Exercise Science
• HES 350 Lab: Human Physiology Lab
• HES 353: Physiology of Exercise

Publications

• Garcia-Retortillo, S., Romero-Gonzalez, C., & Ivanov, P.C. (2022). Functional networks of inter-muscular muscle fiber coordination. Communications Biology (accepted).
• Stamatis, A., Garcia-Retortillo, S.*, Morgan, G., Sanchez-Moreno, A. (2022). Cortico-ocular Interaction Networks in eSports: A Brief Research Report in NBA2K. Frontiers in Network Physiology, 3:1151832. *Co-first author.
• Garcia-Retortillo, S. & Ivanov, P.C. (2022). Inter-muscular networks of synchronous muscle fiber activation. Frontiers in Network Physiology, 2: 1059793.
• Papadakis, Z., Etchebaster, M, and Garcia-Retortillo, S. (2022). Cardiorespiratory Coordination in Collegiate Rowing: A Network Approach to Cardiorespiratory Exercise Testing. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20: 13250.
• Balagué, N., Hristovski, R., Garcia-Retortillo, S., Almarcha, M.C., & Ivanov, P.Ch. (2022). Network Physiology of Exercise: Beyond molecular and omics perspectives in Exercise Physiology. Sports Medicine-Open, 8: 119.
• Rizzo, R., Garcia-Retortillo, S., & Ivanov, P. C. (2022). Dynamic networks of physiologic interactions of brain waves and rhythms in muscle activity. Human Movement Sciences, 84: 102971.
• Papadakis, Z., Garcia-Retortillo, S., Koutakis, P. (2022).  Effects of acute partial sleep deprivation and high-intensity interval exercise on postprandial network interactions. Frontiers in Network Physiology, 2: 869787.
• Garcia-Retortillo, S., Rizzo, R., & Ivanov, P.C. (2021). Spectral dynamics of muscle fiber activation in response to exercise and acute fatigue. IEEE EMBS International Conference of Biomedical and Health Informatics (BHI), 1-4. doi: 10.1109/BHI50953.2021.9508556.
• Oviedo, G., Garcia-Retortillo, S*., Carbó-Carreté, M., Guerra-Balic, M., Balagué, N., Javierre, C. & Guardia, J. (2021). Cardiorespiratory coordination during exercise in Down Syndrome. Frontiers in Physiology, 12:704062. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2021.704062 *Corresponding author and co-first author.
• Balagué, N., Hristovski., R, Almarcha, M., Garcia-Retortillo, S., & Ivanov, P.C. (2020). Network Physiology of Exercise: Vision and Perspectives. Frontiers in Physiology. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2020.611550
• Garcia-Retortillo, S., Rizzo, R., Wang, J., Sitges, C., & Ivanov, P.C. (2020). Universal spectral profile and dynamic evolution of muscle activation: a hallmark of muscle type and physiological state. Journal of Applied Physiology, 129(1). doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00385.2020
• Zebrowska, M., Garcia-Retortillo, S., Sikorski, K., Balagué, N., Hristovski, R., Javierre, C., & Petelzik, M. (2020). Decreased coupling among respiratory variables with effort accumulation. Europhysics Letters., 132:28001. doi: 10.1209/0295-5075/132/28001
• Prats-Puig, A., Garcia-Retortillo, S., Puig-Parnau, M., Vasileva, F., Font-Lladó, R., Xargay-Torrent, S., Carreras-Badosa G., Mas-Parés, B., Bassols, J., & López-Bermejo, A. (2020). DNA methylation reorganization of skeletal muscle-specific genes in response to gestations obesity. Frontiers in Physiology, 11:938. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2020.00938. *Co-first author
• Garcia-Retortillo, S., Gacto, M., O’Leary, T., Noon, M., Hristovski, R., Balagué., N., & Morris, M. Cardiorespiratory coordination reveals training-specific physiological adaptations. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 119, 1701-1709. doi: 10.1007/s00421-019-04160-3
• Garcia-Retortillo, S., Javierre, C., Hristovski, R., Ventura, J.L., & Balagué, N. A novel approach for cardiorespiratory testing evaluation. Physiological Measurement. doi: 10.1088/1361-6579/ab2ca0.
• Esquius, L., Garcia-Retortillo*, S., Balagué, N., Hristovski, R., & Javierre, C. Physiological- and performance-related effects of acute olive oil supplementation on moderate exercise intensity. Journal of International Society of Sports Nutrition, 16. Doi: 10.1186/s12970-019-0279-6  (cardiorespiratoy coordination) *Corresponding author and co-first author.
• Garcia-Retortillo, S., Javierre, C., Hristovski, R., Ventura, J.L., & Balagué, N. Cardiorespiratory coordination in repeated maximal exercise (2017). Frontiers in Physiology-Exercise Physiology, 8. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2017.00387
• Slapšinskaitė, A., Garcia-Retortillo*, S., Razon, R., Balagué, N., Hristovski, R., & Tenenbaum, G (2016). Cycling outdoors improves the adherence to dissociative focus and endurance. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 27, 78-84. *Corresponding author
• Garcia, S., Slapsinskaite, A., Vázquez, P., Balagué, N., Hristovski, R., Razon, S., & Tenenbaum, G. (2015). Thoughts emerge from task, personal, and enviromental constraints during exercise. Short paper – European Congress of Complex Systems.
• Balagué, N., Hristovski, R., García, S., Aguirre, C., Razon, S., & Tenenbaum, G. (2015). Dynamics of perceived exertion in constant power cycling: time and workload-dependent thresholds. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 86, 371-378. doi:10.1080/02701367.2015.1078870
• García, S., Razon, R., Hristovski, R., Balagué, N., & Tenenbaum, G. (2015). Task-related thought contents dynamics during incremental exercise in trained runners. The Sport Psychologist. 29, 302–309. doi:10.1123/tsp.2014-0094
• Balagué, N., Hristovski, R., Aragonés, D., García, S., Razon, S., & Tenenbaum, G. (2014). Intentional thought dynamics during exercise until volitional exhaustion. The Journal of Sport Sciences, 33, 48-57 doi: 10.1080/02640414.2014.92183
• Balagué, N., Aragonés, D., Hristovski, R., García, S., & Tenenbaum, G. (2014). Attention focus emerges spontaneously during progressive and maximal exercise. Revista de Psicología del Deporte, 1, 57-63

Books

• Balagué, N., Hristovski., R, Garcia-Retortillo, S., & Ivanov, P.C. (2022-expected). From Exercise Physiology to Network Physiology of Exercise. In R. Ferraz, D. Almeida & H.P. Neiva (Eds.), Exercise Physiology (1^st ed.) (Accepted).
• Balagué, N., Hristovski, R., & Garcia-Retortillo, S. (2019). Perceived exertion – Dynamic psychobiological model of exercise-induced fatigue. In G. Tenenbaum & R.C. Eklund (Eds.), Handbook of Sport Psychology (4^th ed.). New York, NY: Wiley.