David J. Coughlin

David J. Coughlin, PhD

  • Professor
Media Expertise:
  • Science & Environment
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Affiliated Programs

Education

  • PhD, Biology (1991)
    Boston University (MA)

About Me

Undergraduate research is an important modality in biology education. I enjoyed doing senior thesis work as an undergraduate at St. Louis University so many years ago. I continue to enjoy engaging students in the lab today.

Research Interests

I examine muscle function during locomotion and feeding. Employing fish as model species, my students and I use integrated research approaches, from whole animal performance to tissue function to gene expression. Currently, my lab is focused on how a small, coastal fish, the rainbow smelt, is able to swim and feed during the extreme cold of the North Atlantic winter.

Media Expertise

  • Fish biology, ecology and development
  • Vertebrate physiology, vision and locomotion

Publications

  • Coughlin, D. J., Dutterer, M. D., Lamonica, Z. D., Peyton, E. M., Kwon, E. S., & Hittle, K. A. (2025). Muscle and metabolic genes are differentially expressed during thermal acclimation by the brook trout myotome. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology, doi:10.1002/jez.2901.
  • Coughlin, D.J., K. Santarcangelo, E. B. Wilcock, D. Tum Suden, and D. J. Ellerby, D. J. 2023. Muscle power production during intermittent swimming in bluegill. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A, Ecological and Integrative Physiology.
  • Moran, C. J., D. J. Coughlin, K. E. Jebb, L. Travitz and S. P. Gerry. 2023. Impacts of thermal acclimatization on fish skeletal muscle. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A 280: 111409.
  • Olsen, L., M. Levy, J. K. Medley, H. Hassan, Alexander, R., Wilcock, E., … D. J. Coughlin and N. Rohner. 2023. Metabolic reprogramming underlies cavefish muscular endurance despite selective loss of muscle mass and contractility. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120, e2204427120.
  • Coughlin, D. J., K. A. Hittle, M. Kitchin, E. S. Kwon, E. McCann, A. Scheerer, and E. B. Wilcock. 2023. Thermal acclimation in brook trout myotomal muscle varies with fiber type and age. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A 276: 111354.
  • Gabler-Smith, M., F. Fish, D. Coughlin. 2022. Morphological and histochemical characterization of the pectoral fin muscle of batoids. J. Morphology 2022: e21548.
  • Coughlin, D.J., Chrostek, J.D. and Ellerby, D.J. 2022. Intermittent propulsion in largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, increases power production at low swimming speeds. Biol. Lett. 18: 20210658.
  • Fouladi, K. and D. J. Coughlin. 2021.  CFD Investigation of Trout-Like Configuration Holding Station near an Obstruction. Fluids 6: fluids6060204.

Professional Affiliations & Memberships

Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB), American Physiological Society (APS)

News

In the Media

Noteworthy

  • Biology Professor Receives Cynthia H. Sarnoski Faculty Fellowship to Continue Climate Change Research

    Biology Professor David Coughlin has been awarded the Cynthia H. Sarnoski Faculty Fellowship award to support his research focused on climate change and wild brook trout. This is the second time Coughlin has been the recipient of this award, which will run from July 2023 through June 2025.

    “The future of biological systems, upon which humans depend, is imperiled by climate change. My laboratory uses multiple experimental approaches to examine how changes in the environment affect the physiological performance of a given organism,” Coughlin explained.

    Coughlin works together with Widener students to examine the impact of rising temperatures due to climate change on muscle function in brook trout. Working in the lab, the team has found a strong physiological response to a warming environment in a controlled setting. In the past year, Coughlin has begun analyzing wild, native brook trout populations across the state of Pennsylvania. 

    “This study aims to bring data together from throughout the year to determine how wild trout are responding to changing environmental temperatures,” says Coughlin. “We hope to gain insights that will contribute to management of threatened brook trout populations.”

    The Sarnoski Fellowship supports science faculty through a generous gift made by Cynthia H. Sarnoski, who serves as vice chair of Widener’s Board of Trustees. Sarnoski graduated from Widener in 1974 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry. She is a retired senior vice president for Global Compliance and Quality Systems for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. 

    Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/biology-professor-receives-cynthia-h-sarnoski-faculty-fellowship-continue-climate-change-research

  • Biology Faculty and Student Featured as Authors on Published Paper

    A collaborative paper featuring Professor of Biology David Coughlin and student Emma Wilcock has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The paper features authors from across the globe, including Coughlin and Wilcock. 

    The paper, “Metabolic reprogramming underlies cavefish muscular endurance despite loss of muscle mass and contractility,” discusses research done to analyze the skeletal muscle physiology of the Mexican cavefish. 

    Share link: https://www.widener.edu/news/noteworthy/biology-faculty-and-student-featured-authors-published-paper