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IMG 1625The 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.

Speakers:

The Symposium’s external speakers were Jarrod A. Call, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Georgia; Austin Robinson, PhD, Assistant Professor and Director of Neurovascular Physiology Laboratory, School of Kinesiology, Auburn University; Elizabeth Camille Vaughan, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division Director, Geriatrics & Gerontology, Emory School of Medicine; Monica Serra, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Geriatrics, Gerontology and Palliative Care, UT Health San Antonio; Joe Nocera, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine; Madeleine Hackney, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Emory University School of Medicine; Davis Englund, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Kogod Center on Aging LeBrasseur, Lab Mayo Clinic; and Michael Roberts, PhD, Professor, School of Kinesiology, Director of Neurovascular Physiology Laboratory Auburn University.

UAB Speakers

Six Speakers from various schools within UAB delivered 15-minute talks at the symposium. Scroll through the pictures for their talk titles.

Flash Talks by faculty members and corporate organization representatives

Competitions

Abstract Submission:
Students and trainees were invited to submit abstracts on basic, clinical, translational, and population science that are broadly related to: exercise medicine and/or aging.

Flash talk Competition: 
The Symposium featured a flash talk competition, wherein, eight abstracts were selected prior to the symposium for an opportunity to present a 5-minute flash talk to the symposium audience. Abstracts submitted by the participants – with their research’s purpose, methods, results, conclusions, future directions, and acknowledgments – were reviewed by faculty judges prior to the symposium.

Poster Presentation Competition:
The symposium featured a poster presentation competition, highlighting the research of undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral trainees.

From the 35 participants, faculty judges selected - 3 winners for flash talk and presented $700 travel award each; and 5 winners for posters and presented $300 travel award each. The winners were:

Flash Talk Winners:

Julianne Clina (UAB)
Greater Physical Activity Participation Among People with Disabilities Successful at Weight Loss Maintenance 

Ryan Dannemiller (UAB)
The Impact of Serine and Glycine Availability on Skeletal Muscle Cell Composition Following Injury

Mason McIntosh (Auburn University)
Eight weeks of resistance training does not augment markers of skeletal muscle angiogenesis in middle-aged adults

Poster Winners:

Mahima Reddy (UAB)
Comparative Transcriptomics Identifies SLC16A3 As a Potential Downstream Effector of O-GlcNAc-Mediated Cardiac Changes in Diabetes

Catherine Jones (UAB) 
DO PHYSICAL ACTIVITY BEHAVIOR AND RELATED SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY CONSTRUCTS DIFFER BY MAJOR DEPRESSION STATUS IN PERSONS WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS?

Hanna Sothers (UAB) 
Transcriptomic Profile of Severely Affected DMD Skeletal Muscle is Partially Recapitulated by BMP4-Stimulated Mouse Myoblasts

Katherine English (UAB) 
Dock7 is an Essential Regulator of Skeletal Muscle Health and Function

Shia Vang (UAB) 
O-GlcNAc Regulates Fibrosis Resolution in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Congratulations to all the winners and many thanks to all attendees!