ACES Study on WBRC FOX6
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:
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Are a man or woman age 60 years or older
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Have high blood pressure
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Are on a blood pressure medicine
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Can come to study visits at UAB
8th Annual Gary R. Hunter Award Lecture
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:
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Mechanisms of insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes revealed by exercise
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Exercise improves aspects of energy metabolism that are intractable by weight loss
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Intramyocellular lipids and insulin resistance
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Metabolic flexibility
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Exercise and mitochondrial capacity
Bamman interviewed by WBRC FOX6 News for the MoTrPAC Study
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.
NIH T32 Pre-doctoral Openings – Call for Applications
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:
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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.
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Interest in translational research ranging from mechanisms of disease pathobiology to rehabilitation strategies (e.g., exercise medicine, experimental therapeutics, device development).
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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.
Introducing Muscle Connections Journal Club
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.
UCEM Trainees presented at the Discoveries in the Making event
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.
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Post-doctoral trainee Jeremy McAdam, PhD presented his research on Exercise and Epigenetics.
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Pre-doctoral trainee Margaret Bell, MS presented her research on Exercise and Heterogeneity in Muscle Gains.
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Post-doctoral trainee Samia O’Bryan, PhD presented her research on Exercise and Body Composition Misconceptions.
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Pre-doctoral trainee Devin Drummer, MS presented his research on Exercise and its Role in Human Disease.
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Post-doctoral trainee Kaleen Lavin, PhD presented her research on Exercise and the Brain.
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Visiting Scientist Gustavo Schaun, MS presented his research on Exercise and Function.
28th Annual Mary and Butch Slaughter lecture
“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!
Congratulations to our exercise medicine trainees who won at the 16th Annual UAB Postdoctoral Research Day!
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.
"State of the Field Address" by Dr. Alison Cernich, Director of the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR)
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.
UCEM hosted its 6th Annual Symposium
On September 21, 2018, the UAB Center for Exercise Medicine (UCEM) hosted its 6th Annual Symposium in Birmingham, Alabama at the Hill Student Center Ballroom, University of Alabama at Birmingham. The Symposium had a turnout of 183 participants that comprised scientists, clinicians and trainees from various fields of medicine. It featured four speakers, a trainee poster presentation competition, and an abstract competition. It also featured two workshops – Science Communication and REACT Clinical Trials – as pre-symposium events on Sept. 20, 2018. Attendees came from a wide range of universities and institutions across the United States, including Auburn University, Samford University, University of Montevallo, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, Washington University, University of Florida, Indiana State University, University of Memphis and various schools within UAB.
Speakers
The Symposium’s keynote speakers were Fabrisia Ambrosio, Ph.D., Associate Professor of the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Director, Rehabilitation for UPMC International, University of Pittsburgh, and Alex Hutchinson, Ph.D., Physicist, Author & Journalist from Toronto. As an abstract competition winner, Matthew A. Romero, Ph.D. Student, Molecular and Applied Sciences Laboratory, Auburn University, also had an opportunity to present his research to the Symposium audience. Post lunch, the symposium featured Thomas Buford, Ph.D., Associate Director of UCEM, and Abbie Smith-Ryan, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Exercise Physiology; Director of Applied Physiology Laboratory; Co-Director of Human Performance from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
Talk titles
- Dr. Ambrosio - "Regenerative Rehabilitation: Applied Mechanobiology Meets Stem Cell Therapeutics"
- Dr. Hutchinson - "It’s All in Your Head": Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance"
- Matthew A. Romero - “Transposable Elements in Skeletal Muscle: The Effects of Exercise on LINE-1 Regulation”
- Dr. Buford - “Exercise and Aging: The Lion in the Path"
- Dr. Smith-Ryan - "Interval Training: An Evidenced Based Therapeutic Approach to Exercise"
Competitions
Abstract Competition - The Symposium featured an Abstract Competition, along with a maiden Oral Presentation Competition – wherein the Abstract Competition winner had the opportunity to present his or her research to the symposium audience. Abstracts submitted by the participants – with their research’s purpose, methods, results, conclusions, future directions, and acknowledgments – were reviewed by the UCEM Education Committee. The Abstract Competition winner was conferred a $600 travel award.
Abstract Competition winner:
Matthew A. Romero, Molecular and Applied Sciences Laboratory, School of Kinesiology, Auburn University.
Transposable Elements in Skeletal Muscle: The Effects of Exercise on LINE-1 Regulation.
Poster Presentation Competition - UCEM sponsored a trainee poster presentation competition, highlighting the research of undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral trainees, including clinical fellows and residents. Trainees were invited to submit abstracts on basic, clinical, translational, and population science that are broadly related to exercise medicine.
From the 42 participants, faculty judges selected 6 winners, and presented a $600 travel award to each of them. The winners are:
Devin Drummer, Department of Biomedical Science, UAB
The Effect of Montmorency Cherry Juice on Acute Post-Exercise Inflammation Following Whole-Body Resistance Training
Rebecca Hennessy, Departments of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy, UAB
Instrumentation Validation in the Development of a Rehabilitative Virtual Reality Walking Environment
Rylie Hightower, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neurology, UAB
MiR-486 is an Epigenetic Regulator of the Pathological Progression of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Kaleen M. Lavin, Ph.D., Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, UAB
Mechanisms of Motor Unit Remodeling in Parkinson’s Disease Human Skeletal Muscle
Jodi R. Paul, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, UAB
Development Of A Time-Restricted Exercise Intervention To Restore Physiological Rhythms In Midbrain Dopamine Neurons Of PD Mice
Ray A. Spradlin, College of Health and Human Performance, University of Florida
Muscle IGF-I Production is Critical for Functional Recovery of Skeletal Muscle Following Disuse Atrophy
Congratulations to all the winners!
"ENDURE" Book Signing
Dr. Hutchinson’s book “ENDURE,” a New York Times bestseller, was featured at the Symposium. UCEM staff and guests had the opportunity to interact with Dr. Hutchinson and buy his book.
Pre-symposium Events
As pre-symposium events, a Science Communication Workshop and REACT Clinical Trials Workshop were conducted on Sept. 20, 2018 featuring various experts as discussion leaders.
Science Communication Workshop
UCEM’s Science Communication workshop was open to anyone seeking improvement in disseminating science to the public. The session featured Dr. Hutchinson and UAB experts in the fields of science and communication as discussion leaders.
Moderator:
- Marcas Bamman, Ph.D., Professor, Departments of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology; Medicine; and Neurology; Director, UAB Center for Exercise Medicine; Director, REACT Center
Discussion Leaders:
- Alex Hutchinson, Ph.D., Physicist, Author & Journalist, Toronto, Canada
- Lori McMahon, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology; Dean, UAB Graduate School and Director, UAB Comprehensive Neuroscience Center
- Jefferson Walker, Ph.D., Director, Research Communication Graduate Certificate Program and Instructor, Graduate School Professional Development Program, University of Alabama at Birmingham
REACT Clinical Trials Workshop
This workshop addressed challenges and opportunities for impactful clinical trials in medical rehabilitation, such as:
- Trial design
- Issues in recruitment and retention
- Mobile technology integration
- Multi-modal interventions
- Control groups
- Response heterogeneity
- Rigor & reproducibility
- Data and safety monitoring
Discussion Leaders:
- Marcas Bamman, Ph.D., Professor, Departments of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology; Medicine; and Neurology; Director, UAB Center for Exercise Medicine; Director, REACT Center
- Gary Cutter, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Biostatistics, UAB; Associate Director, REACT Center; Director, NARCOMS
- Rob Motl, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, UAB; Associate Director, UAB Center for Exercise Medicine; Director, REACT Mobile Technology Laboratory