Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Glasgow

Research in the Exercise Science Group is focused on how environmental (chronic and acute exercise, diet, obesity, altitude, socio-economic and cultural factors, etc) and innate (genes, family history, ethnicity) factors interact to influence human health and performance.  This is embodied in the dual initiatives of IDEAL (Institute of Diet, Exercise and Lifestyle) and ICEARS (International Centre for East African Running Studies).  While the end-point foci of these two initiatives differ, i.e. prevention and management of disease versus maximising athletic performance, there is much overlap in the mechanisms underpinning both, and in many ways maximal human performance and cardio-metabolic diseases can be viewed as two ends of a continuum.  For example, muscle oxidative capacity, which is a central factor in determining endurance ability, is also an important determinant of insulin sensitivity and lipoprotein metabolism. It is also clear that certain populations experience disproportionate success in particular sporting events (e.g. East Africans in endurance sports, West Africans in sprint/power sports) and others have disproportionately high rates of cardio-metabolic diseases (e.g. Blacks of West African origin, South Asians): the responsible mechanisms in terms of muscle and substrate metabolism are likely to overlap.  Thus, by studying exercise in the entire spectrum of the human population from cardiac-patients, through to groups at increased risk of cardio-metabolic diseases, the "healthy" population and elite athletes, together with studies of appropriate experimental model systems, from the molecular and cellular to the whole body level, we are able to improve understanding of both human health and disease and elite sporting performance.

IDEAL                                                                  ICEARS

Institute of Diet, Exercise and Lifestyle            International Centre for East African Running Science

IDEAL
Many of the major public health issues of the next few decades (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and some cancers) are intimately linked with lifestyle issues such as what a person eats and how active and fit they are. In the city of Glasgow we have the critical mass and breadth of expertise to study the effects of diet, exercise and lifestyle on health and disease from the molecular to population level and throughout the life course from in utero to old age.  The West of Scotland, with its wide range of socio-economic levels and high disease burden, provides the ideal setting to investigate and develop strategies for lifestyle intervention to improve public health.  The combination of expertise and setting may be unique in the United Kingdom. The Institute for Diet, Exercise and Lifestyle (IDEAL) was officially opened in 2006.  Its establishment has enabled us to build on our strengths in this area by providing a central translational research and teaching/training facility integrating Exercise Science, Human Nutrition and cognate research areas in Glasgow to address some of the major public health issues of our time.  Some examples of our current research in this field include investigations into: genetic and environmental contributions to childhood obesity; the influence of physical activity on insulin resistance and adipose tissue function in women with a family history of type 2 diabetes; the role of muscle metabolism in insulin resistance in South Asians; and the use of novel technologies to measure physical activity.  Our research is funded by a number of National and International bodies including the BBSRC, BHF, Diabetes UK, European Union, and the Translational Medicine Research Collaboration.

ICEARS
In the increasingly competitive world of sport, the debate surrounding predictors of sporting success has intensified, with the question of "nature" versus "nurture" at the fore. The disproportionate success of certain populations in sporting events has sustained the belief that genetic endowment has a role in the determination of athletic success. For example, male East African athletes currently hold the majority of distance running world records. The University of Glasgow in 2004 launched a new Research Centre, International Centre for East African Running Science (ICEARS), in an attempt to rigorously study this phenomenon. The objectives of ICEARS are to co-ordinate and facilitate excellence in education, research, training and sports science support in the context of elite human performance. This successful initiative has active members and partners in more than 14 countries, including the Australian Institute of Sport, USA Olympic Committee, Scottish Institute of Sport and Global Sports Communication (www.globalsportscommunication.nl), the largest and most important athlete and sports marketing agency in the world). ICEARS facilitates interaction between elite athletes worldwide including Scottish athletes, university students and other interested parties. Since its initiation, the remit of ICEARS has been broadened to cover other aspects of elite sports performance, with recent projects including studies of: West African and American sprinters, elite commonwealth swimmers, professional boxers, and factors affecting cycling performance in both laboratory and field settings.  As from 1st January 2009 (and for 3 years), ICEARS is being hosted by Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya under the directorship of Mr Edwin Anjila (new Director of ICEARS). 

Members of the Exercise Science Group

• Prof Ian McGrath (Regius Professor of Physiology, Head of Research)
• Prof Timothy Noakes (University of Cape Town, Visiting Professor)
• Dr Ron Baxendale (Reader, Head of Teaching, Visiting Professor at Beijing Sports University)
• Dr Yannis Pitsiladis (Reader, Visiting Professor at Moi University, Kenya)
• Dr Jason Gill (Senior Lecturer, Co-ordinator of IDEAL)
• Dr Niall MacFarlane (Senior Lecturer)
• Dr Ole Kemi (Lecturer)
• Dr Barbara Cogdell (University Teacher)
• Victoria Penpraze (University Teacher)
• Nairn Scobie (University Teacher)
• Dr Lesley Hall (Clinical Research Fellow)
• Dr Colin Moran (Post-doc)

To help realise the research goals of IDEAL and ICEARS, the Exercise Science group has established strong links with other groups in the University in the form of collaborative research projects and shared PhD students. We have ongoing research links with colleagues in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Dr Ian Salt, Dr Pawel Herzyk), Cardiac Physiology and Imaging (Prof Godfrey Smith, Prof Stuart Cobbe, Dr Francis Burton), Human Nutrition (Prof Mike Lean, Dr Dalia Malkova, Prof John Reilly), Metabolic Medicine (Prof Naveed Sattar), Molecular Genetics (Dr Mark Bailey, Dr Richard Wilson), Nursing Studies (Margaret Sneddon), Physics (Dr Ken Skeldon), Psychology (Dr Stephanie Biello), Reproductive and Maternal Medicine (Dr Dilys Freeman, Prof Richard Fleming), Statistics (Dr Vincent Macaulay, Dr Nema Dean) and Vascular Biochemistry (Prof Muriel Caslake, Prof Chris Packard).
In addition, the group has a number of ongoing collaborative links throughout the UK, Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia.  These include:

Collaborators in the UK:

• Dr Hugh Montgomery, University College London
• Prof Victor Zammit, University of Warwick Medical School
• Prof Raj Bhopal, University of Edinburgh
• Dr William Goodwin, University of Central Lancashire
• Dr Liam Kilduff, University of Swansea

Collaborators in Europe:

• Prof Bengt Kayser, University of Geneva, Switzerland
• Dr Yannis Manios, Harokopio University, Greece
• Prof Klaas Westerterp, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
• Prof Renee Ventura-Clapier, University of Paris-Sud, France
• Dr Ulrik Wisloff and Prof Oyvind Ellingsen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
• Dr Per Haram, University Hospital, Tromso, Norway
• Dr Tomas Venckunas, Lithuanian Academy of Physical Education
• Dr Silvia Arribas, Autonomous University of Madrid
• Prof Elisabet Vila, Autonomous University of Barcelona
• Dr Pilar D'Ocon, University of Valencia
• Dr Luc Magnus, IAAF Medical and Anti Doping Department, Monaco

Collaborators in Africa:

• Prof Timothy Noakes, University of Cape Town, South Africa
• Prof Mike Boit, Kenyatta University, Kenya
• Dr Bezabeh Wolde, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
• Prof Kihumbu Thairu, Moi University, Kenya (Dr Yannis Pitsiladis is also a visiting Professor at Moi University)

Collaborators in the Americas:

• Prof Steven Britton, University of Michigan, USA
• Prof Gianluigi Condorelli, University of California, USA
• Prof Fred Kolkhorst, San Diego State University, USA
• Dr Krista Austin, United States Olympic Committee (USOC)
• Dr Dianne Perez, The Lerner Research Institute, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
• Dr Paul Simpson, San Francisco VA Medical Center and University of California, USA
• Professor the Honorable Errol Morrison, University of the West Indies, Jamaica
• Prof Carlos Calvo, University of Concepcion, Chile
• Prof Francisco Perez, University of Chile, Chile

Collaborators in Asia:

• Beijing Sports University, Dr Ron Baxendale is a visiting Professor
• Prof Masashi Tanaka, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Japan

Collaborators in Australia:

• Prof Kathryn North, University of Sydney, Australia

Studying Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Glasgow

Undergraduate courses (BSc/BSc(Hons)/MSci)

Masters courses (MSc/MRes)

Postgraduate research degrees (MSc/PhD)