Triggering the 'symphonic biology' of exercise for better health
Physician-scientist R. Sanders Williams of Duke University will deliver the season’s final Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC on Thursday, June 4.
When we exercise, our bodies respond by changing how molecules signal and how cells behave.
Inside skeletal and cardiac muscle, calcium ions move across membranes to trigger contraction. At the same time, those signals activate protein signaling networks that regulate gene expression and the structural properties of muscle tissue.
The effects don’t stop there.
On Thursday, June 4, physician-scientist R. Sanders Williams will discuss how exercise triggers physiological responses across integrated systems within the body that enhance health when he visits the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC to deliver the final Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture of the 2025-26 season.
Williams has spent decades studying the molecular signaling systems that connect physical activity to protective adaptations that fortify the body and promote long-term health, including staving off disease. His talk, “The Symphonic Biology of Exercise,” will examine how exercise reshapes the structure and function of cells and the tissues they comprise across organ systems through coordinated biochemical signaling.
“By uncovering how the body orchestrates the ‘symphonic biology’ of exercise, Dr. Williams’ work is helping scientists develop new strategies to address diseases and conditions that affect nearly everyone, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and age-related decline,” said Michael Friedlander, executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and Virginia Tech’s vice president of health sciences and technology.
Williams is professor and dean emeritus of the Duke University School of Medicine and senior advisor for science and technology at Duke University. His visit coincides with the 20th International Biochemistry of Exercise Conference that is being held in Roanoke this week.
The conference is hosted by Virginia Tech in Roanoke and led by Zhen Yan, director of the FBRI Center for Exercise Medicine Research. Much of Williams’ research centers on how muscle cells interpret workload and convert mechanical activity into changes in gene expression.
Cardiac muscle cells in the heart and skeletal muscle rely on calcium to initiate the contraction process — excitation-contraction coupling. Williams and his collaborators helped show that intracellular calcium signaling also functions as a regulatory system that influences cell growth and metabolic programming. Different contraction patterns produce different intracellular calcium dynamics, which in turn activate distinct transcription factors and signaling pathways.
Williams’ research has also examined stem cell differentiation originating from muscle tissue and the molecular pathways involved in adaptive and maladaptive remodeling of the heart. In disease states, they found that the same signaling systems that help muscle adapt to changing workloads can contribute to pathological growth and loss of function.
Williams was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2002 and serves on the boards of Amgen and Labcorp.
His lecture is free and open to the public. The program will begin with a reception at 5 p.m. and the lecture starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC at 2 Riverside Circle in Roanoke. The lecture will also be live streamed.
