Getting To Know… Kent Langston

From an early age, Kent Langston was interested in the human body.

"I had a couple of Christmases where all the gifts I got were textbooks on anatomy and physiology," said Langston, assistant professor of pathology at Yale School of Medicine.

And as an adolescent, he became intrigued by how the body can change - especially through the effects of exercise and nutrition.

"The more I learned about exercise biology in high school, the more I realized I wanted to make it an area of focus in the future," Langston said.

And so he did. As a scientist, Langston has brought together his love of the gym with his love of the lab. At Yale, he'll be building upon his research into the benefits of exercise for the immune system, especially during aging.

"One of the beautiful things about science is it allows you to be a nerd," he said. "I'm happy that I get to study stuff that fascinates me."

In the latest edition of Office Hours, a Q&A series that introduces new Yale faculty members to the broader community, Langston talks about the relationship between exercise and the immune system, what excites him about Yale, and why we need to ask better questions.

Why is exercise important for our bodies and immune systems, especially as we age?

Kent Langston: In the context of aging, people that exercise regularly are more resilient. They typically have higher muscle mass, their muscles have more "furnaces" called mitochondria [which generate energy], and they're more resistant to fatigue. This prevents the so-called physical cliff that happens during aging where, unfortunately, once you reach a certain age and you lose a certain amount of muscle mass or muscle quality, your quality of life, including physical independence, rapidly declines. By stimulating these tissues with exercise and making yourself more resilient, you can delay this physical cliff.

The same thing is true for your immune system. The immune systems of people that exercise regularly look more youthful. Those people, theoretically, are more protected from infections. They do have better vaccine responses than people their age who aren't as physically active. We think there's communication back and forth between the immune system and the skeletal muscle. The loss of muscle mass with aging might be an inflammatory condition, and the increase in muscle quality with exercise might also benefit the immune system.

What types of exercise can boost our immune system, and how often should we do it?

Langston: Our research has largely focused on aerobic exercise like running. Most people, if they exercise, tend to run or walk. For endurance exercises like that, the intensity matters a lot. The duration and how often also matters. So, exercising a few days per week for 30 minutes to an hour is better than exercising once or twice per week for three or four hours, which would be akin to running a marathon. We always say that people should exercise as frequently as they can and at a reasonable intensity. Don't worry about what time of day it is as long as you can be consistent.

What is your favorite form of exercise?

Langston: I try to do a mixture of different things. Resistance exercise, although we haven't studied it as much in our lab, is very important because it's necessary to preserve muscle mass and muscle strength. Both of them decline with aging. So, I do resistance exercise around three to four times per week. I also have a nice base of aerobic exercise. I like to run and ride a bike indoors or outdoors three or four times per week as well.

What drew you to Yale?

Langston: Yale is the perfect place for establishing my lab. It has an amazing immunobiology department. It's one of the best in the country, and I'm very excited to collaborate with faculty in it. Pathology, where I'm appointed, is a phenomenal department as well, especially with its very strong emphasis on translational science. Yale is also extremely collegial. Sometimes you can go into an environment where it's not so comfortable, and it's harder to establish yourself. I felt so immediately welcomed when I came to interview at Yale that it was kind of a no brainer.

What do you like to do outside of work?

Langston: I do exercise a lot. I also love going on walks with my fiancée, Katy, and we try to explore the area and go to coffee shops and bookstores. I really like Atticus Market here in New Haven.

I also like to read really old philosophy, which is maybe a weird hobby. People lose sight of the fact that science, and academia in general, is a question-based discipline. Nowadays, we're focused on the answers and the data, and we don't spend enough time trying to craft good questions. Philosophy can reframe your way of thinking and make sure you're thinking about what questions are important to answer.