Tony Babb, Ph.D.

Tony Babb, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and a member of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. 

Dr. Babb holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He earned a master's degree in exercise physiology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Urbana, Illinois. He then obtained his doctoral degree in exercise physiology at Pennsylvania State University in University Park. He completed postdoctoral work in physiology at Pennsylvania State University and was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in thoracic diseases research at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota. 

Most of my career has been devoted to trying to find limitations to breathing that might affect people in health and in disease.

 

Dr. Babb joined the UT Southwestern Faculty in 1992. His research interests include exercise science, cardiopulmonology, and the effects of obesity on the respiratory system in children and adults. He is currently part of the University of Texas Southwestern- Stimulating Access to Research in Residency (UT-STARR) program. 

Dr. Babb served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Applied Physiology. He was also an Ad Hoc Reviewer Consultant for a report from the National Personal Protection Technology Laboratory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Dr. Babb is a recipient of the 2023 Citation Award from the American College of Sports Medicine. He studies pathology, obesity, and the breathing patterns of athletes, children, and older adults. 

Dr. Babb is the Principal Investigator on several current research endeavors. This includes the Lithera, Inc. grant, the Susan Lay Atwell Gift for Pulmonary Research, a grant from Dr. Pepper/Snapple, and a grant from the National Institute of Health.

Dr. Babb is active in several professional societies, including the American College of Sports Medicine, the Texas Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine, the American Physiological Society, the American Thoracic Society, and The Dyspnea Society. He was previously an American College of Sports Medicine Fellow and an American Thoracic Society Fellow.

Graduate School

Pennsylvania State Uni (the) (1986), Exercise Physiology

• Cardiopulmonary exercise testing
• Dyspnea on exertion in obesity
• Exercise physiology
• Pulmonary function in aging
• Pulmonary function in obesity
• Respiratory effects of obesity in children
• Respiratory mechanics at rest and during exercise
• Ventilatory limits to performance

Featured Publications

Sex differences in the ventilatory responses to exercise in mild-moderate obesity.

Bhammar DM, Balmain BN, Babb TG, Bernhardt V, Exp Physiol 2022 Jun

Alveolar dead space is augmented during exercise in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

Balmain BN, Tomlinson AR, MacNamara JP, Hynan LS, Levine BD, Sarma S, Babb TG, Chest 2022 Jun

Physiological dead space during exercise in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

Balmain BN, Tomlinson AR, MacNamara JP, Sarma S, Levine BD, Hynan LS, Babb TG, J Appl Physiol (1985) 2022 Mar 132 3 632-640

Obesity Blunts the Ventilatory Response to Exercise in Men and Women.

Balmain BN, Halverson QM, Tomlinson AR, Edwards T, Ganio MS, Babb TG, Ann Am Thorac Soc 2021 Jan

Short-term modulation of the ventilatory response to exercise is preserved in obstructive sleep apnea.

Bernhardt V, Mitchell GS, Lee WY, Babb TG Respir Physiol Neurobiol 2016 Nov 236 42-50

Exercise ventilatory limitation: the role of expiratory flow limitation.

Babb TG Exerc Sport Sci Rev 2013 Jan 41 1 11-8

Pitfalls in Expiratory Flow Limitation Assessment at Peak Exercise in Children: Role of Thoracic Gas Compression.

Strozza D, Wilhite DP, Babb TG, Bhammar DM, Med Sci Sports Exerc 2020 Nov 52 11 2310-2319

Effects of obesity on the oxygen cost of breathing in children.

Bhammar DM, Babb TG, Respir Physiol Neurobiol 2020 Nov 285 103591

ERS statement on respiratory muscle testing at rest and during exercise.

Laveneziana P, Albuquerque A, Aliverti A, Babb T, Barreiro E, Dres M, Dubé BP, Fauroux B, Gea J, Guenette JA, Hudson AL, Kabitz HJ, Laghi F, Langer D, Luo YM, Neder JA, O'Donnell D, Polkey MI, Rabinovich RA, Rossi A, Series F, Similowski T, Spengler CM, Vogiatzis I, Verges S, Eur. Respir. J. 2019 06 53 6

Weight loss reduces dyspnea on exertion and unpleasantness of dyspnea in obese men.

Bernhardt V, Bhammar DM, Marines-Price R, Babb TG Respir Physiol Neurobiol 2019 Mar 261 55-61

• Fellow, American Thoracic Society
  (2018)
• American Lung Association Career Investigator Award
  (1999)
• Effie and Wofford Cain Chair in Cardiopulmonary Research
  (1998)
• Fellow, American College of Sports Medicine
  (1992)

• American College of Sports Medicine (1980)
• American Physiological Society (1992)
• American Thoracic Society (1992)
• The Dyspnea Society (2018)