Orion Willoughby learned early to be curious about how things work. Encouraged by his engineer father and inspired by his involvement in sports, he became fascinated with the human body. By the time he started college, he knew specifically that he wanted to build a career in kinesiology and injury prevention.

After earning his master’s degree in injury prevention from A.T. Still University, Willoughby taught and conducted research at the University of Alabama – Huntsville. In his work there, he focused on fatty liver disease and metabolism. During his time in Alabama, his mentors encouraged him to pursue a Ph.D. in which he could integrate his interests in metabolism, muscle biology, and mitochondrial dynamics. 

With growing interests in muscle biology, metabolism, and how cells manage stress, he chose Virginia Tech’s Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise to pursue his Ph.D. and joined Joshua Drake’s lab.

Willoughby’s dissertation research focused on a protein called Ulk1, which helps cells break down and recycle their own components — a process important for keeping tissues healthy. Scientists have long known that Ulk1 starts this “clean-up” process, but Willoughby studied how it helps muscles adapt when the body doesn’t have enough nutrients.

Understanding this process, he said, could one day help researchers develop new treatments for sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle.

While he said the project is not complete, Willoughby said the work gave him a broader perspective on how the body’s systems communicate with one another. Though his time in the Drake lab has enabled him to study whole-body metabolism while maintaining a translational perspective.

“HNFE’s wide range of research areas created a strong interdisciplinary environment,” he said. 

One of the most impactful partnerships was with Junco Warren at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, whose lab trained him in metabolomics, which is a technique used to measure the chemical processes happening in cells and tissues. Support from colleagues in the Drake and Craige labs also shaped his experience.

Willoughby has also had the opportunity to share his work widely, presenting at four international conferences and one Virginia Tech symposium. He credited these opportunities for giving him valuable networking opportunities, several postdoctoral offers, and earned him an American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology Pre-Doctoral Award.

After graduation, Willoughby will begin a postdoctoral position at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, continuing his work on how proteins interact, how mitochondria function, and how metabolic processes change under stress. He looks forward to returning to Virginia Tech this spring as he and his husband finalize the adoption of their boys.