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The UAB Center for Exercise Medicine (UCEM) hosted its 9th Annual Symposium - focused on "Exercise and Aging" - on September 11 and 12, 2023 at The University of Alabama at Birmingham Alumni House. 

The Symposium brought together about 150 scientists, clinicians, students and trainees from various fields. It featured eight speakers from external universities, six UAB speakers, flash talk presentations by faculty members and corporate organization representatives, a trainee poster presentation competition, a trainee flash talk competition and a networking reception. Sessions focused on Exercise and Aging Physiology, Clinical Exercise Interventions and Exercise and Skeletal Muscle Aging.

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The UAB Center for Exercise Medicine (UCEM) will host its 2023 Hunter-Bamman Award Lecture on April 14, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. CT at the UAB Kaul Finley Conference Center. Registration is required to attend.

Laurie J. Goodyear, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Joslin Diabetes Center will deliver the lecture entitled “Novel Mechanisms for the Benefits of Exercise on Health.” Goodyear’s research is focused on elucidating the molecular mechanisms through which exercise improves health with a major focus on metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity.

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The UAB Center for Exercise Medicine (UCEM), the UAB Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC) and the UAB Center for Engagement in Disability Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (CEDHARS) jointly hosted the "Precision-the genes and beyond" Interdisciplinary Research Symposium on September 15 and 16, 2022 at the Hill Student Center Ballrooms, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama. Partnering with CEDHARS, the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD) sponsored lunch and photography for the event.

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Anna Thalacker-Mercer, PhD, assistant professor in the UAB Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology has been appointed as the Associate Director of UCEM.

Dr. Thalacker-Mercer has been very active with UAB since her postdoctoral fellowship at UAB in 2007 under the mentorship of Marcas Bamman, PhD, Founding Director of UCEM.

“I’m very excited to have Dr. Thalacker-Mercer take this new leadership role within UCEM,” said Thomas Buford, Director of UCEM. “She is an outstanding scientist with a strong history at UAB and a heart for connecting people in related disciplines. I’m excited to see all the exciting ideas and initiatives she will bring to the center.”

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The UAB Center for Exercise Medicine hosted its Fall 2021 Research Retreat on November 4 and 5, 2021 at the Lakeshore Foundation. The two half-day event featured 10-minute presentations of 30 investigators at UAB conducting exercise medicine research.

The retreat was designed to facilitate awareness and new collaborations among investigators across UAB who conduct research broadly related to exercise. More than 80 attendees comprising students, pre-and post-doctoral trainees, faculty and staff joined the sessions virtually. The event showcased seven sessions with interdisciplinary topics that steer exercise medicine research at UAB – Exercise Biology, Behavior Change, Early Career I, Rehabilitation, Pre-Clinical Research, Early Career II and Clinical Research.

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The UAB Center for Exercise Medicine (UCEM) will host its inaugural Hunter-Bamman Award Lecture on November 8, 2021 from noon to 1.15 p.m. CT virtually. This lecture will be co-sponsored by the UAB Nathan Shock Center.

Sue C. Bodine, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center Chair, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine will deliver the lecture on “Regulation of Skeletal Muscle Mass and Function: the critical role of recruitment and loading throughout the lifespan.” Registration is required to attend.

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Thomas Buford, PhD, Director of the UAB Center for Exercise Medicine and Associate Professor in the UAB Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care has been invited to serve as a member of the NIH’s Aging Systems and Geriatrics (ASG) Study Section, Center for Scientific Review. He will serve for a period of four years beginning July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2025.

The ASG study section reviews grant applications that are typically clinical-translational efforts and primarily involve human subjects. Proposed studies may investigate geriatric syndromes and conditions, complex late-life disorders that involve multiple organ systems such as frailty, incontinence, balance, loss of functional capacity, delirium, fatigue, and multimorbidity.

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The UAB Center for Exercise Medicine (UCEM) was honored to host Juleen Zierath, PhD, Professor, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden and University of Copenhagen, Denmark on March 8, 2021 for the virtual UCEM Distinguished Lecture Series. Her presentation entitled “Circadian Control of Systemic Metabolism in Type 2 Diabetes and Impact of Exercise Training” was co-sponsored by the UAB Nutrition and Obesity Research Center (NORC).

Dr. Zierath is an internationally-renowned physiologist who serves as the section head for Integrative Physiology at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. She is also a Member of the Nobel Assembly as well as Member and former Chairman of the Nobel Committee. Dr. Zierath presented to nearly 100 attendees from UAB as well as other institutions across the globe on the importance of exercise and physical activity to the preservation of insulin sensitivity and the prevention/treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. She also discussed cutting edge science regarding the importance of circadian biology on the interaction of these factors.

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The UAB Center for Exercise Medicine (UCEM), UAB Hypertension Research Center (HRC) and the McKnight Brain Institute (MBI) are pleased to announce a joint RFA to fund pilot research that focuses on the intersection of exercise, hypertension and cognition. We anticipate funding projects that expand the scope of the applicant to include research relevant to all three of these specific areas. Only proposals with a clear translational relevance will be considered. Funds should be used to generate key preliminary data to develop publications and contribute to an application for extramural funding. Funding that continues ongoing projects will not be considered. Interdisciplinary, multi-PI projects that link basic, clinical or population investigators and have advanced beyond the initial stages of planning are strongly encouraged to apply. Projects that are responsive to an upcoming or issued NIH RFA or Program Announcement will be considered high priority. Applications from PIs from multiple schools and/or that establish new collaborations are encouraged.

If funded, the proposed start date of the Joint Pilot Grant will be September 1, 2021. Up to 2 pilot projects with budgets not exceeding a total of $50,000 each will be awarded based on merit of the applications. Awards are not renewable. Awardees will be required to present at one of the annual meetings of either the UCEM, HRC or MBI as well as provide an interim and final report of accomplishments.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Letter of Intent must be submitted electronically in a single PDF to Faith Lang (faithlang@uabmc.edu) by Friday, May 21, 2021 at 5:00pm CT and full proposals are due July 15, 2021. All applications should use the NIH PHS 398 forms for cover page, key personnel, budget, budget justification and NIH Biosketch, along with other support for all key personnel. Applications must use Arial 11-point font with 0.5-inch margins. Faculty salary, travel or publication costs are not to be included. NO indirect costs are awarded. Budgets should not be used to offset faculty salary. Applications that are not formatted as described will not be considered for review.

KEY DATES

May 21, 2021: Deadline to submit Letter of Intent (see RFA below for details)
June 1, 2021: Applicants notified for full proposal submission
July 15, 2021: Full proposal submission deadline
September 1, 2021: Proposed funding start date

Abbi Hernandez, PhD, UAB Center for Exercise Medicine T32 program's postdoctoral trainee received a travel award for her poster presentation at the 2021 Virtual UAB Microbiome Center Symposium. Hernandez’s work titled “Alzheimer’s disease-inflicted microbiome alterations may be ameliorated by a ketogenic, time restricted diet in rats” investigated the effects of different dietary paradigms on the gut microbiome in young and aged rats.

“We found that time restricted feeding, regardless of macronutrient composition, resulted in significant changes in the gut microbiome of both age groups,” Hernandez said. “Notably, we saw a restoration of specific microbiota that are negatively affected by Alzheimer’s disease and by obesity or other metabolic impairment.”

She added that these data give her more evidence that the gut can be utilized as a target for Alzheimer’s disease and other metabolic disorders that occur with aging. She plans to continue to investigate in this area.

Congratulations, Abbi!

Liliana Baptista, PhD, Post- Doctoral Fellow in the UAB Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Care received the Hardest Working Postdoc Award from the UAB Office of Postdoctoral Education.

A native of Portugal, Baptista joined UCEM Director Dr. Thomas Buford's lab as a postdoctoral trainee in 2018. She received her doctorate in Sport Sciences, with a concentration in Physical Activity and Health from the University of Coimbra, Portugal. She then did her fellowship at the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal. During this period, she received the Earlier Career Researcher award from the International Society of Exercise Immunology. Since then, she has authored 14 manuscripts on international peer-reviewed journals.

Currently, she is working on the Angiotensin Converting Enzyme- inhibitors Combined with Exercise for hypertensive Seniors (ACES) trial - a multi-site three-arm clinical trial conducted at the UAB Center for Exercise Medicine.

Broadly, her research focuses on understanding how exercise and/or medications can improve physical function associated with aging and/or disease. Currently, she is developing projects related to understanding how exercise influences the gut microbiome and associated metabolites (i.e. metabolomics). She hopes to contribute her efforts toward effective interventions that promote functional independence and health-related quality of life in older adults.

Congratulations Liliana!

Beth Kitchin, PhD, RDN, Assistant Professor in the UAB Department of Nutrition Sciences spoke about the ACES Study on WBRC FOX6 News' Good Day Alabama on September 29, 2020. Headed by UCEM's director Dr. Thomas Buford, the ACES (ACE Inhibitors Combined With Exercise for Seniors With Hypertension) trial is a randomized, controlled trial to determine if choice of antihypertensive medication influences changes in functional status and other cardiovascular risk factors among older persons with hypertension. Check out the segment below.

You Might Qualify for the ACES Study If You: 

• Are a man or woman age 60 years or older

• Have high blood pressure

• Are on a blood pressure medicine

• Can come to study visits at UAB

Bret Goodpaster, PhD Scientific Director from Advent Health's Translational Research Institute, Orlando, Florida presented at UCEM's 8th Annual Gary R. Hunter Award Lecture on September 17, 2020. This distinguished lecture titled "Exercise improves health through energy metabolism" focused on how exercise is used as a tool to unravel the mechanisms around the pathophysiology of insulin resistance in Type 2 Diabetes.

Key points of the talk:

• Mechanisms of insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes revealed by exercise

• Exercise improves aspects of energy metabolism that are intractable by weight loss

• Intramyocellular lipids and insulin resistance

• Metabolic flexibility

• Exercise and mitochondrial capacity

Marcas Bamman, PhD, FACSM, Director of the UAB Center for Exercise Medicine was interviewed by WBRC FOX 6 News’ Good Day Alabama anchor Mike Dubberly on Wednesday, July 8, 2020. Dr. Bamman highlighted the importance of the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium (MoTrPAC) study and explained what the researchers are trying to understand from the results of the study.

Mike Dubberly: We know exercise can transform your body but researchers at UAB are studying what happens on a molecular level when you work out. Dr. Marcas Bamman is the Director of the UAB Center for Exercise Medicine. He joins us now by Facetime. Doctor, it’s good to have you with us this morning.

Dr. Bamman: Thank you very much!

Mike Dubberly: Definitely! In layman’s terms, explain to our viewers what you are looking at in this study.

Dr. Bamman: So, we have known for a long time that exercise has numerous health benefits, right? It is important in disease prevention. It is also important in disease treatment and this ranges from brain diseases to cancers to heart disease and the list goes on. What we have never really understood is how at the cellular level and even at the molecular level what is being turned on and being turned off when we exercise that would result in this health benefit that we are trying to capitalize on. So, this is a really important effort. It’s actually the largest investment our government has ever made to understand how exercise is leading to all these wonderful health benefits that we have come to learn and know.

Mike Dubberly: And this looks like a rather comprehensive study here of using a very large sample size. Explain a little further though why this is so crucial long term.

Dr. Bamman: I think it is crucial long term because the more we understand about how exercise leads to a given health benefit - whether that’s reducing diabetes risk, treating high blood pressure, etc. We can then begin to more precisely prescribe exercise to best treat that individual who is either benefitting in a certain molecular way or perhaps benefitting in a different molecular way. So, we want to understand at the individual level what is being activated that will help that person in their course of either treatment or prevention.

Mike Dubberly: Well, that’s huge. This can help people make better decisions of what form of exercise is best for them. That’s a game changer. We do know that different bodies react differently to certain types of exercise. Is some of that due to genetics that we already have the answer to?

Dr. Bamman: Some of it actually is genetic Mike, but I will say it’s beyond that. It’s how we actually express our genes. So, even though you and I have some subtle differences in our genetic makeup, most of our genes are very much in common. And so, the difference is between the way you and I look, think, talk, behave or how we express our genes. In this project, we are studying those processes in a large group of people to be able to understand the impact. I call it sort of – what “genes” are you wearing? What brand of “genes” are you wearing? We want to understand if your brand of genes is different from mine, how that impacts these outcomes.

Mike Dubberly: We got to quickly wrap up. I just have one quick question. I know this is on hold just for now because of COVID. Are you looking for volunteers and what should they expect?

Dr. Bamman: Yes, we are. We are actually looking for two groups of people. The largest group are people who are not regularly exercising. We want to actually recruit those people and train them for 12 weeks. The other group are people who are already trained because we want to compare their effects to those who are not yet exercise trained. So, we are actively recruiting. The study will kick off again probably in early August and as we are dealing with our re-start programs in the UAB Heersink School of Medicine.

Mike Dubberly: Dr. Marcas Bamman, again the director of the UAB Center for Exercise Medicine. So, if you are interested in taking part in volunteering, that is the department to contact. Doctor, thank you!

Dr. Bamman: Thank you, Sir. Take care.

The UAB Center for Exercise Medicine is looking for pre-doctoral students at UAB to join its dynamic NIH T32 Interdisciplinary Training program in Pathobiology and Rehabilitation Medicine.

The overarching goal of the training program is to develop burgeoning scientists into future leaders in translational rehabilitation research – scientists who are equipped to test and disseminate novel strategies that will alleviate impairment and compromised life quality in the face of chronic disease management.

EXPECTATIONS of trainees include participation in a relevant research project related to medical rehabilitation under the guidance of one of the expert faculty mentors from areas of concentrated strength, including Musculoskeletal Disorders, Neurologic Diseases, Cardiometabolic Diseases, and Cancer. Trainees are also expected to participate in important career development activities including research roundtables, distinguished lectures, journal clubs, and the annual symposium.

BENEFITS to trainees include scientific support through a three-member translational mentoring team comprised of the trainee’s primary mentor and two additional members designed to complement the trainee in his or her scientific goals. Financially, this competitive award will support the trainee with a stipend, health insurance, tuition, and travel and supply funds.

ELIGIBILITY requirements include:

• UAB predoctoral student in good standing in a relevant graduate program. This training program is designed primarily for predoctoral students preparing to enter the second year of training.

• Interest in translational research ranging from mechanisms of disease pathobiology to rehabilitation strategies (e.g., exercise medicine, experimental therapeutics, device development).

• U.S. citizen or permanent resident.

Interested students can apply here. Applications must be submitted by 5 p.m., July 20, 2020.
For questions, please contact Purnima Kasthuri Janarthanan at kjpurni@uab.edu. 

UAB Center for Exercise Medicine inaugurated its “Muscle Connections” journal club session on Friday, April 24, 2020. Muscle Connections journal club participants get a chance to interact with scientists and clinicians from several disciplines while discussing the latest and most impactful skeletal muscle-based research in both human and animal model systems. These unique sessions aim to build and update an understanding of how skeletal muscle connects to various dimensions of human health.

Skeletal muscle is a highly active tissue with roles in movement, metabolism, and overall health. Targeting skeletal muscle through exercise induces a complex array of coordinated cellular and molecular processes that improves symptoms and co-morbidities associated with numerous chronic conditions, including musculoskeletal, cardiorespiratory, metabolic, immunologic, and neurologic disorders. While muscle may play a central role in molecular communication underlying adaptations to exercise, understanding the full range of these mechanisms and their clinical utility in disease treatment and prevention is a truly interdisciplinary effort.

Anyone with an interest in skeletal muscle research is welcome to attend. Please find the upcoming sessions here.

UAB Center for Exercise Medicine trainees presented at the Discoveries in the Making event at the Lumbar on Tuesday, February 11 on the topic Exercise is a Powerful Medicine: How should we use it?

Trainees presented on how the UAB Center for Exercise Medicine is working to understand the full range of benefits that come with exercise and how we can take advantage of individual responses to training to maximize health outcomes.

• Post-doctoral trainee Jeremy McAdam, PhD presented his research on Exercise and Epigenetics.

• Pre-doctoral trainee Margaret Bell, MS presented her research on Exercise and Heterogeneity in Muscle Gains.

• Post-doctoral trainee Samia O’Bryan, PhD presented her research on Exercise and Body Composition Misconceptions.

• Pre-doctoral trainee Devin Drummer, MS presented his research on Exercise and its Role in Human Disease.

• Post-doctoral trainee Kaleen Lavin, PhD presented her research on Exercise and the Brain.

• Visiting Scientist Gustavo Schaun, MS presented his research on Exercise and Function.

“Leveraging Individual Differences in Exercise Responsiveness to Advance Precision Medicine”

Thursday, October 24, 2019 | 12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. | Bavaro Hall, Holloway Hall, Room 116 

Speaker:
Marcas M. Bamman, PhD, FACSM
Professor and Center Director
UAHSF Endowed Professor in Regenerative and Translational Medicine
Departments of Cell, Developmental, & Integrative Biology; Medicine; and Neurology
UAB Center for Exercise Medicine NIH National Rehabilitation Research Resource to Enhance Clinical Trials (REACT)
NIH Medical Rehabilitation Research Resource Network (MR3 Network)
Birmingham/Atlanta VA Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC)
UAB - The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Our director Dr. Marcas Bamman will deliver the 28th Annual Mary and Butch Slaughter lecture at the Curry School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia on October 24, 2019. The lecture will focus on effective exercise intervention as a medical strategy. Following the lecture, there will be a discussion focussing on how a targeted approach should be employed when prescribing exercise, which can be more effective than prescription medication and comes with fewer side effects.

All are welcome!

UAB Center for Exercise Medicine’s trainees including NIH National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research funded T32 trainees won awards at the 16th Annual UAB Postdoctoral Research Day.

Liliana Baptista, PhD – Mentee of Thomas Buford, PhD, Associate Director of UAB Center for Exercise Medicine (UCEM) – was awarded first place in the Applied Research Data Blitz for her research titled “Multimodal intervention to improve functional status in hypertensive older adults: a pilot randomized controlled trial.”

"This pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) was designed to provide the preliminary data necessary to conduct a full-scale trial to compare the efficacy of differing first-line antihypertensive medications in improving functional status in older adults, when combined with exercise," Baptista said.

Jessica Baird, PhD – Mentee of Rob Motl, PhD, Associate Director for Rehabilitation Research at UCEM – was awarded second place in the Applied Research Data Blitz for her research titled "Physical Activity and Walking Performance across the Lifespan in Multiple Sclerosis."

“There is evidence of an association between physical activity (PA) and walking performance in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS),” Baird said. “We are unaware of research that has examined this association in older adults, who represent a fast growing age-group with MS.”

Baird and her team examined this relationship and found that physical activity was significantly associated with walking speed and walking endurance in older adults with MS. From this association, Baird suggests that interventions that aim to increase physical activity may concurrently be approaches for managing walking impairment, particularly in older adults with MS.

Yi Sun, PhD – Mentee of Thomas Buford, PhD and Christy Carter, PhD, Associate Professor in the UAB Department of Medicine – was awarded second place in a Basic Research Data Blitz for her research titled “Ang(1-7) as a novel therapeutic to preserve physical function in late life.”

“Declining physical function and associated diseases in older individuals have enormous emotional, clinical and public health consequences;” Sun said, “therefore, therapeutics for preserving function and keeping older adults living independently are imperative,” she added.

Her study provided proof of concept that delivery of a genetically modified probiotic secreting angiotensin(1-7) to aged rats may promote physical health.

“Our study is highly translatable to humans because using probiotics to deliver health-promoting compounds is low-cost, easy to take and there is a lower burden for regulatory approval,” Sun said.

Kaleen Lavin, PhD – Mentee of Marcas Bamman, PhD, Director of UCEM – was awarded third place in an oral presentation for her research titled “Transcriptional Networks Underlying Motor Unit Remodeling in Parkinson’s Disease Skeletal Muscle.”

Her project was a collaboration with Mt. Sinai School of Medicine to profile transcriptome-wide gene expression in skeletal muscle from individuals with Parkinson’s disease and healthy adults.

“Using Next-Generation Sequencing and a network-based statistical analysis (WGCNA), we identified clusters of genes that characterize type I myofiber grouping, a muscle pathology often seen in Parkinson’s disease,” Lavin said.

Lavin’s ongoing research is aimed at using similar discovery approaches to examine the impact of exercise rehabilitation on gene expression in this population.

UCEM’s T32 Pre-and Post-Doctoral training program provides interdisciplinary training in pathobiology and rehabilitation medicine. Exercise medicine being a major focus of this training program, its overarching goal is to develop burgeoning scientists into future leaders in translational rehabilitation research—scientists who are equipped to test and disseminate novel rehabilitative strategies that alleviate impairment and compromised life quality in the face of chronic disease management.

March 20, 2019 | 12 p.m. to 3.45 p.m. | UAB Wallace Tumor Institute - Room 101 and Lobby

UAB Center for Exercise Medicine will host Alison Cernich, Ph.D. – Director of the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health – on March 20, 2019.

Program highlights:

• Dr. Cernich will deliver a lecture on “Rehabilitation Research at NIH: Programs and Opportunities” from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at the UAB Wallace Tumor Institute - Room 101. Lunch will be provided.
• There will also be a poster viewing session from 1 p.m. to 2.30 p.m. that highlights – informative posters of UAB research programs relevant to medical rehabilitation, and research of NCMRR T32-funded trainees.
• Following the poster session, there will be a Q&A session from 2.45 p.m. to 3.45 p.m. – where medical rehabilitation researchers and prospective NCMRR applicants get a chance to interact with Dr. Cernich.

Dr. Cernich is a board-certified neuropsychologist who is known for her work in TBI and computerized neuropsychological assessment. She provides oversight for the portfolio of NCMRR and works within NIH to coordinate rehabilitation research. She serves on multiple interagency strategic planning committees and government oversight committees for major research initiatives in the federal government relevant to disability and rehabilitation research.

This is a great opportunity to get insight into medical rehabilitation research and exchange your ideas with a national leader. So, please plan to attend. Registration is free, and lunch will be provided for those who have registered. 

Registration is now closed. Please contact Purnima Kasthuri Janarthanan for details.