Associate Professor, Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology

Focus: Nutrient and metabolic determinants of skeletal muscle regeneration and atrophy.

Dr. Thalacker-Mercer’s research – including a recent R01 award – is focused on understanding of the biologic mechanisms that will enable the optimization of therapies to improve skeletal muscle rehabilitation following injury, disease, and aging.

Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care

Focus: Disability prevention and maintenance of independence among older adults.

Dr. Buford’s research focuses on maintaining independence among older adults, primarily focused on physical function with a growing interest in cognitive function. His research portfolio includes studies using both animal and human research models with a primary emphasis being on identifying methods to optimize the utility of physical exercise in older adults with various co-morbid conditions.

Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy

Focus: Exercise, physical activity and environmental factors to improve health and function in people with disabilities. 

Dr. Rimmer’s research interests examine the use of biobehavioral and environmental strategies to promote physical activity and healthful weight management in adults with a wide variety of physical disabilities.

Associate Professor, Department of Pediatric Neurology

Focus: Identifying novel epigenetic (non-coding RNAs, RNA-splicing factors, and DNA-methylation) and genetic (SNPs) contributors to various skeletal muscular dystrophies – most notably Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

In particular, Dr. Alexander makes use of a novel zebrafish model to screen drug compound libraries to identify novel drug therapeutics.

Associate Professor, Department of Neurology

Focus: Physical and cognitive rehabilitation in epilepsy.

Dr. Allendorfer’s research focuses on improving the quality of life of individuals with seizures and other neurological disorders and to utilize non-invasive imaging methods to better understand how disease-modifying factors, including physical exercise, exert their positive effects. Her recent R01 was awarded by NCMRR to evaluate exercise effects in persons with epilepsy.

Professor, Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cellular Pathology

Focus: Rigorous assessment of mitochondrial structure/function in a variety of tissues, including skeletal muscle and heart.

Dr. Ballinger has broad experience in the fields of cardiovascular and mitochondrial biology, especially regarding the influence of mitochondrial genetics, damage and dysfunction as it relates to disease development and susceptibility. He also has extensive experience in the fields of environmental cardiology with emphasis on mitochondrial genetics, function and damage.

Associate Professor, Department of Medicine/Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care Medicine

Focus: Exercise rehabilitation in severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); pathophysiology of acute exacerbations.

Dr. Bhatt is studying a novel, home-based intervention combining neuromuscular electrical stimulation and exercise to reduce COPD progression and improve mobility function. He also studies COPD phenotyping and risk stratification.

Professor & Director of Research
Director, National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center
UAB Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Associate Professor, Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology

Focus: Biologic factors influencing onset of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Dr. Cowell’s laboratory is using a variety of biologic techniques to evaluate the roles of PGC-1α and chromatin modifications in normal and pathological brain development. These studies are aimed at elucidating how perturbations in gene expression during development contribute to the progression of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Professor, Department of Medicine/Cardiovascular Disease

Focus: Understanding the biochemical and molecular mechanisms that regulate left ventricular (LV) remodeling in various forms of heart failure.

Dr. Dell'Italia's research focuses on the mechanisms of remodeling in heart failure defined by three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging, changes in cardiomyocyte morphology and extracellular matrix, and the regulatory role of the cardiac renin-angiotensin system.

Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine

Focus: Neural mechanisms underlying visceral sensation and function.

Dr. DeBerry's research uses an integrative, multi-pronged approach to understanding the mechanisms contributing to changes in the sensory nervous system that lead to, or help maintain, increased, or decreased sensation. Her primary interest is visceral sensory neurobiology.

Professor, Department of Medicine, Pulmonary, Allergy, & Critical Care Medicine

Focus: Clinical trials and outcomes in COPD

Dr. Dransfield's primary research interests are Clinical Trials, Epidemiology and outcomes of COPD. He is Principal Investigator for multiple clinical trials at the UAB Lung Health Center including the NIH sponsored COPD Clinical Research Network studies and COPDGene as well as multiple phase II-IV pharma sponsored projects. As Medical Director of the LHC he also oversees multiple translational research projects focusing on airways disease.

Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care

Focus: Skeletal muscle loss and dysfunction during aging and disease

Dr. Englund’s research is focused on identifying the molecular and cellular mechanisms underpinning skeletal muscle loss and dysfunction in the context of aging and disease. His research team uses in vitro and in vivo approaches, together with advanced molecular techniques, with the aim of identifying new druggable targets in skeletal muscle that may then be translated to humans.

Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology

Focus: Role of the circadian clock in CNS function and implications for disease pathology.

The overall goal of Dr. Gamble’s research program is to investigate environmental modulation of circadian clock function in mammalian systems and the contribution of clock disruption to pathological disease. Her group is interested in how nutrition (high caloric diets, meal timing) and disease (obesity, neurodegeneration) influence clock-driven changes in physiology and behavior in brain regions such as the SCN, hippocampus and substantia nigra.

Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy

Focus: Mechanisms of reduced mobility in older adults, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and other individuals with disability.

Dr. Hurt is a biomechanist whose research concentrates on aspects that negatively impact mobility such as reduced strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, and degraded control over dynamic stability. All of these factors act to reduce an individual’s functional mobility.

Professor, Department of Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease

Focus: Rehabilitation and Prehabilitation in Peripheral Artery Disease.

Dr. Jackson’s research focuses on enhancing physical function and quality of life among persons with cardiovascular disease, with particular emphasis on those with peripheral artery disease. In particular, she is interested in developing efficacious and effective exercise-focused interventions to improve function and claudication-related outcomes in PAD.

Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care

Focus: Aging, neuropsychiatric disorders, cognition, and mobility.

The primary focus of Dr. Kennedy’s lab is on the intersection of medical illness and neuropsychiatric disorders, particularly between cognition and mobility, with an emphasis on hospitalization-associated disability.

Professor, Department of Neurology

Focus: Mechanisms of growth factor mRNA stabilization in malignant gliomas and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and more recently on molecular biomarkers in ALS.

Dr. King studies how growth factor mRNAs such as VEGF and IL-8 are stabilized by cellular factors and upregulated to promote tumor cell growth and angiogenesis. He also investigates how ALS linked to mutations of superoxide dismutase leads to motor neuron degeneration and VEGF mRNA destabilization. These two models provide excellent platforms to study the impact of posttranscriptional RNA regulation on human disease.

Professor, Department of Neurology

Focus: Prevention and rehabilitation of cognitive dysfunction in aging and vascular disease.

Dr. Lazar is a neuropsychologist with broad interests in aging and vascular disease, with emphases on reversible causes of cognitive decline, riskfactor
modification to promote cognitive resiliency, and recovery after stroke. The current focus of Dr. Lazar’s lab is the use of physical exercise in the prevention or rehabilitation of cognitive dysfunction due to vascular events.

Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care

Focus: Translational research to preserve functional independence in older adults.

Dr. Mankowski's translational and team-science research program is focused on preserving physical and cardiovascular function in older age. His research spans testing the effects of nutritional and exercise training interventions on physical and cardiovascular function in moderately functioning older adults and survivors of critical illness (sepsis). He also studies heterogeneity of physical and cognitive dysfunction after surviving sepsis.

Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care

Focus: Genetic approaches to combat musculoskeletal conditions.

Dr. McDonald is a genetic epidemiologist with interests in the analysis of complex traits and diseases including COPD – for which she was recently awarded an R01. Her lab is involved with cutting-edge studies including the Million Veterans Program (MVP) and the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Initiative.

Associate Professor, Department of Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences

Focus: Neuromodulation and cognitive rehabilitation.

Dr. McGregor’s research interests include aging, cognitive disability, and neurorehabilitation, and he has been PI of multiple federally-funded projects to investigate, personalized lifestyle interventions to remediate aging-related declines in cognition and motor control and relief of chronic pain through non-invasive neurostimulation.

Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Preventive Medicine

Focus: Exercise rehabilitation for cancer survivors.

Dr. Rogers’ research interests focus on exercise promotion and benefits in chronic disease populations, especially cancer survivors. Her research program centers on translational, multidisciplinary randomized trials involving exercise. Her published work has enhanced the knowledge base for understanding and successfully applying the social cognitive theory to exercise behavior in cancer survivors.

Professor, Department of Neurology

Focus: Mechanisms of cognitive and behavioral impairment in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and development of therapies.

Dr. Roberson’s research aims to combine pursuit of the molecular mechanisms AD and FTD disorders with a search for new therapeutic strategies. His basic and clinical research is focused largely on tau, including ongoing studies of three different tau-directed therapies and a tau PET imaging agent, as well as registries for patients with tauopathy.

Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Disease

Focus: Gene expression programs that are activated by transcriptional regulators and how they ultimately affect metabolism.

Dr. Rowe’s research – including a recent R01 award – is seeking understand the role of the PGC-1 isoforms and the role they play in maintaining mitochondrial function in response to exercise and other stimuli in skeletal muscle.

Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology

Focus: Outcomes and quality of life research in arthritis and osteoporosis.

Dr. Saag is Director of the Comprehensive Arthritis, Musculoskeletal, Bone, and Autoimmunity Center. As an outcomes researcher he has particular expertise in rheumatoid arthritis, pharmaco-epidemiology, osteoporosis, and population-based investigations, working with large databases, survey research and quality indicator development. He also has interests in pragmatic clinical trials, and comparative effectiveness research in musculoskeletal disorders such as RA and gout.

Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology

Focus: Patient outcomes in osteoarthritis, joint replacement, gout and other rheumatic diseases.

Dr. Singh’s research focus is patient-reported outcomes in various forms of rheumatic disease.He performs studies of comparative effectiveness of treatments used in gout and joint replacement patients, and communication of medication risk in disadvantaged patients.

Professor, Department of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology

Focus: Mechanism of TGF-ß action in developmental and disease processes.

Dr. Serra’s research focus is the role and mechanism of embryonic and post-natal skeletal development and to apply this knowledge to the understanding and treatment of human degenerative skeletal disorders.

Professor, Department of Neurology

Focus: Understand how deep brain stimulation alters motor system pathophysiology in humans, to optimize clinical outcomes in patients with movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Walker's lab investigates how deep brain stimulation works using a multimodal approach that integrates electrophysiology, neuroimaging, and behavioral measurement in patients with movement disorders. Better understanding of how the therapeutic mechanism of DBS relates to clinical outcomes can be applied to optimize care.

Associate Professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Pathology

Focus: Molecular regulation of cardiac and skeletal muscle energetics and function in disease.

Dr. Wende’s research focuses on gene regulation and extends it to the intersection of environmental influences (e.g. diet and exercise) on chromatin structure and, ultimately, functional changes in muscle function and energetics in cardiometabolic diseases.

Associate Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy

Focus: Impact of health behaviors on health outcomes of people with disabilities and dietary interventions for neurodegenerative diseases in mobility and disability.

Dr. Wingo is a health behaviorist whose research focuses on the role of dietary behaviors and other lifestyle interventions in physical function, metabolic outcomes, and patient reported outcomes in people with multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury and other disability groups.

Professor, Department of Neurology

Focus: Understanding the role of 14-3-3 proteins in neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Dr. Yacoubian’s work develops techniques for using 14-3-3 phosphorylation as a potential biomarker for PD, including the regulation of alpha-synuclein release/spread.

Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology

Focus: Novel therapeutic targets for neurodegeneration.

One of our most successful former trainees to date, Dr. Arrant seeks to integrate data from cellular and animal models with data from patients to gain insight into mechanisms of disease and discover new therapeutic targets for conditions related to cognitive disability. His current K99/R00 and R21-funded projects focus on the mechanisms contributing to Frontotemporal Dementia.

Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Focus: Assistive technologies in non-ambulatory individuals.

The global theme of Dr. Cowan’s research is development, testing, and deployment of cost effective fitness, mobility, and assistive technology interventions that improve independence, decrease burden of care and enhance quality of life in PMR populations. Her current research projects include: a) defining what level of fitness and ‘skill’ are required for non ambulatory individuals with SCI to independently perform transfers to and from the bed, car, shower, and ground and b)
defining how changes in fitness and wheelchair configuration can meaningfully reduce propulsion effort.

Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology

Focus: Cognitive disability in vascular and neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr. Gerstenecker is currently the principal investigator (PI) for an NCMRRfunded K23 award focusing on the interaction between hippocampal atrophy, systemic inflammation, and cognition in persons with MS. Dr. Gerstenecker also has research interest in parkinsonism and the intersection of vascular risk and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology & Oncology

Focus: Physical frailty in older adults with multiple myeloma.

Dr. Giri is an oncologist focused on improving quality of life for cancer survivors, most specifically older adults with multiple myeloma. He is pursuing exercise as a prehabilitation strategy for physical decline in response to stem cell transplant.

Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics

Focus: Technology-aided pediatric rehabilitation.

Dr. Lai is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine, Department of Pediatrics at UAB and Children's Hospital of Alabama. Dr. Lai's
research interests are focused on incorporating consumer-available technologies into health-enhancing therapeutic exercise programs to improve health, function, and well-being among children with disabilities.

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy

Focus: Musculoskeletal injuries in adolescents and young adults.

Dr. Ithurburn's research focuses on improving rehabilitation and outcomes for young, active individuals following lower extremity musculoskeletal injuries.
Specifically, to date, this work has occurred in adolescents and young-to-middle-aged adults with knee injuries and intra-articular, non-arthritic hip pain. His approach to achieve these goals includes leveraging clinical and biomechanical data to determine factors associated with successful or unsuccessful outcomes over time.

Assistant Professor, Department of Nutrition Sciences

Focus: Lifestyle-based physical rehabilitation for persons with obesity.

Dr. Sayer is a clinical obesity scientist whose research program is primarily focused on studying the variability in response to diet and exercise interventions and using those data to develop personalized and adaptive rehabilitation interventions for persons with obesity.

Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Focus: Health promotion, physical activity, telehealth and disability.

Dr. Wilroy’s research interests are to understand the psychosocial factors of adherence to exercise trials in wheelchair users and implementing post-rehabilitative telehealth interventions following acute spinal cord injury.