“True enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body; the two are ever united.”

- Wilhelm von Humboldt, 18th century Prussian philosopher

I love this quote as it highlights the long-standing appreciation for the passion of our team at the UAB Center for Exercise Medicine (UCEM). We aim to use our minds to study and understand the mechanisms underlying the vast health benefits of physical exercise as well as identifying approaches that work for individual lifestyles to help people stay active and maximize the benefits of exercise.

I’m honored to serve as the second director of UCEM, following founding director Dr. Marcas Bamman – an internationally recognized expert in cellular and molecular adaptations to exercise. UCEM was founded in 2011 as a University-Wide Interdisciplinary Research Center, indicating the tremendous support of the UAB administration for our mission. Since that time, under Dr. Bamman’s leadership, UCEM has grown into a national and international leader in exercise research.

As we move into our second decade, I look forward to continuing to emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of our work and expanding upon rich research collaborations across the UAB campus and around the world. Indeed, exercise is among the medical treatments with most wide-ranging effects – with known benefits in numerous acute and chronic medical conditions. Thus, there seem to be limitless possibilities for the application of exercise to research in many other fields of medicine and health.

In addition to our research mission, the UCEM team is keenly focused on translating research knowledge into educational and outreach activities. In these activities, we aim to both train the next generation of scientists in exercise medicine and communicate our findings to the public in hopes of improving health and quality of life among members of our communities.

In closing, I want to thank you taking your time to visit the UCEM website, the online home for information and news about the center. Our team would welcome any feedback about the site and look forward to any inquiries and opportunities for collaboration. I’m blessed to work with a hard-working and energetic team who help fulfill the UCEM mission. For many (if not all!) of us, this work is more than a job as exercise is a passion that has helped shape our lives. We look forward to sharing this passion with you.

Sincerely,
Thomas W. Buford, PhD
UCEM Director