Self-described ‘mitochondria nerd’ explores exercise as medicine with new research award

Ryan Montalvo is, by his own description, a total mitochondria nerd.

Mitochondria, the so-called “power plants of the cells” – a phrase Montalvo doesn’t particularly care for – are forever on his mind. He’s got mitochondria T-shirts. His young son cuddles with a mitochondria plush toy. His license plate? HOT MITO.

But mitochondria are more than a passing fascination for the postdoctoral associate in Zhen Yan’s lab at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. His deep interest in cellular energy is central to his research on how exercise impacts human health and fights disease. He’s pursuing that research with an inaugural Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Postdoctoral Excellence Award.

“Starting off on the right foot is really important, and this award feels like a great way to begin my postdoctoral studies,” said Montalvo, who joined the Yan Lab in September. “It is also great to be in an environment where postdocs are so supported, even right off the bat. The ongoing support from the research institute and Virginia Tech has been incredibly encouraging.”

“Ryan came to the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute with his ardent passion about exercise medicine and a very strong expertise in mitochondrial energetics.” said Yan, professor and director of the research institute’s Center for Exercise Medicine Research. “He also brought here a superb team work spirit.”

Yan is also a professor in the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise in Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute advisory board members Mary Denton Roberts and David Lyerly established the awards to support postdoctoral associates who are poised to make scientific impact.

Roberts, formerly a microbiology and immunology instructor at Radford University, and Lyerly, co-founder and chief science officer of TechLab Inc., recognized the importance of supporting postdoctoral excellence in efforts to advance knowledge, innovation, and a proficient new generation of researchers.

“We are very fortunate at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute to have an advisory board that is so deeply interested in and supportive of our research programs and the people who implement them,” said Michael Friedlander, executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and Virginia Tech’s vice president for health sciences and technology. “David Lyerly, who is one of our advisory board members, and his wife, Mary Denton Roberts, deeply appreciate the scientific enterprise and the critical role researchers in the early stages of their careers as postdoctoral fellows play in advancing discovery. That prescient understanding coupled with their generosity are truly making a difference in the discovery process and its translation, for which we are extremely grateful.”

To get this far, Montalvo overcame a disease challenge of his own.

During his sophomore year at Liberty University, he began to feel numbness in his extremities. It progressed to a point of debilitation, hampering his ability to take notes during lectures and causing him to withdraw from classes. Doctors soon discovered lesions on his brain and diagnosed him with multiple sclerosis.

Medications brought the disease under control, and Montalvo finished his degree in molecular biology.

“Coping with those problems, it makes you more resilient going forward. And resilience is something you definitely need in science. You need a high tolerance for frustration,” he said. “It makes other things easier because you know you can overcome obstacles.”

While he was learning to manage his multiple sclerosis, Montalvo learned to love research – a passion that would carry him through a fellowship at the University of Maryland-Baltimore and graduate studies at the University of South Carolina and the University of Florida before landing at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute.

He knew of Yan, a leader in the field of exercise medicine research, and shared his interest in exercise and the role of mitochondria in staving off disease.

“We know exercise is beneficial, but we don't know why,” Montalvo said. “So uncovering that is the exciting part.”

Montalvo’s research focuses on an enzyme called AMPK that serves as an energy sensor in muscles. When energy levels sink, this enzyme regulates the mitochondria in muscle cells to generate more energy, but that function can be impaired by factors like a high-fat diet or diseases such as diabetes.

Montalvo and Yan are studying how exercise, which triggers the enzyme to do its job, can overcome those impairments, boost energy production, and combat poor diet, disease and their effects.

“It’s not just a matter of ‘exercise is good.’ It’s ‘this kind of exercise is good for this condition and that kind of exercise is better for that disease,’” Montalvo said. “It takes a lot less exercise than people think to maintain what could be qualified as a healthy lifestyle, and it’s highly translatable. You can take exercise to almost any disease and find a potential benefit.”

Montalvo is in just the right spot for a mitochondria nerd, working with and learning from Yan at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute.

“We have so many tools now to answer questions more specifically that we haven't been able to in the past,” he said. “That’s going to help so many people.”