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Center for Exercise Medicine

Moving Research into Medicine

The UAB Center for Exercise Medicine (UCEM) focuses on improving the health and well-being of children and adults of all ages through acceleration of innovative, exercise-based interdisciplinary research across five pillars – precision, regeneration, rehabilitation, interaction, and sustainability.

Interested in participating in exercise research?

We are looking for volunteers for various exercise-based studies to help understand the role of exercise as medicine at the molecular, cellular and clinical levels. By participating, you receive supervised exercise training from certified trainers, valuable information about your health.

Opportunities to Participate

Research

The center's research mission is to build a foundation of excellence for innovative and large-scale, multi-investigator studies that help advance the field of exercise biology and medicine.

Our Studies and Services

Training & Education

UCEM offers a multi-tiered education and training program structured for exercise medicine researchers ranging from undergraduates to senior scientists.

Interdisciplinary Training in Pathobiology and Rehabilitation Medicine
NIH National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research
1T32HD071866

Purpose

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 rehabilitative strategies that will alleviate impairment and compromised life quality in the face of chronic disease management. Exercise Medicine is a major focus of this training program.

The program supports 3 predoctoral and 4 postdoctoral trainees each year.

Core Levels of Inquiry

  • Molecular pathobiology

  • Rehabilitation science/physiology

  • Rehabilitation medicine (i.e. clinical trials)

Areas of Concentration

  • Musculoskeletal disorders

  • Neurologic diseases

  • Cardiometabolic diseases

Apply

Click below to access the appropriate application. Please email Megan Rollins, MSHI at meganr22@uab.edu for questions.

Predoctoral Application

Postdoctoral Application

  • "The T32 program provided a great interdisciplinary training experience with both established and emerging research scholars. Guidance and support from my mentor Dr. Thomas Buford, co-mentors Drs. Marcas Bamman and Gary Cutter, and others led to a successfully funded American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. I am thankful for the foundation of research training for T32 program provided at the UAB Center for Exercise Medicine."

    Sara Harper, PhD
    Postdoctoral Trainee
    March 2018 - November 2019

  • "As a T32 postdoctoral trainee with the UAB Center for Exercise Medicine, I have had the opportunity to work with and learn from world-renowned scientists. The T32 provides invaluable resources, such as a team of mentors, that helps to form a strong support system and enables me to accomplish my research goals. Through these experiences, I not only have become a better researcher, but the professional development opportunities offered have prepared me well for successfully navigating the multifaceted world of academia."

    Jessica Baird, PhD
    Postdoctoral Trainee
    Current

  • "UCEM’s T32 Training Program is truly interdisciplinary: as a trainee, I had frequent interactions with experts in neurology, bioinformatics, genomics, biomedical sciences, clinical trial design, etc., both at and outside of UAB. Collaborating with these individuals and their teams has expanded my knowledge and application of tools to understand and promote human health through exercise. Along with hands-on experience in mentoring, study design, and scientific communication, the wet- and dry-lab skills I have acquired while working on the T32 have guided me towards a more concrete understanding of my own long-term career goals as a scientist and made them feel more achievable."

    Kaleen M Lavin, PhD
    Postdoctoral Trainee
    September 2017 - September 2019