Personal profile

Scholarly biography

Ifigenia (Fenia) joined the University of Brighton in 2010 as a Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science.

Fenia comes from a diverse background of educational and research experiences, having studied and worked as an academic both in Europe and America. Fenia has a BSc in Exercise Science from the  University of Athens, Greece; an MscEdu in Exercise Science from Northern Illinois University in America; and a Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology/Science Education, from Syracuse University in New York State in America. She was previously been a Lecturer in Applied Physiology at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, and a Lecturer in Exercise Physiology/Sports Nutrition, at the University of Athens in Greece.

Fenia is a member of the equality and diversity committee in the School of Sports and Health Sciences and is a passionate advocate of equality and diversity issues in the student population and in the workplace.

Fenia teaches a variety of courses in exercise physiology, exercise and health, nutrition for health and sports, exercise testing and prescription for athletes and clinical populations both in the BSc and MSc educational level in Sport Science.

Fenia’s research interests lie in the area of clinical exercise physiology, health and nutrition.  Her research is focused on the effects of exercise and diet on health and specifically on abdominal obesity and chronic low grade inflammation and on clinical populations such as obese individuals, type 2 diabetes patients and peri- and post-menopausal women.

More recently her research is focused on mental health. Fenia has been investigating the effects of different exercise modes such as interval exercise Vs continuous exercise on older women and mood; Primarily her focus lies in the investigation of the effects of lifestyle interventions through new innovative behavioral management techniques such as mindfulness and mindful eating on mood, eating behaviour and overall wellbeing in young adults, university students, mental illness patients and athletes. Her most recent work is focusing on the effects of chronic dieting, low energy availability (LEA) and relative energy deficiencty in sports (RED-S) in young adults and competitive and recreational athletes in a number of psycho-physiological parameters such as: mood disturbances, eating behaviour, metabolic and hormonal disfunctions, bone metabolism and energy regulation. 

 

 

Research interests

Fenia is the founder and the lead of the newly established Nutrition, Behaviour and Mental Health (NBMH) research group (https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/nutritionmentalhealthgroup/) that has 4 distinct research areas and themes: Nutrition and metabolism; Eating Disorders; Behaviour Change and Mindful Eating; and Lifestyle Interventions for Obesity and comorbidities. The group comprises by a multidisciplinary, diverse network of research experts in the field of Nutrition, Sport and Exercise Physiology, Clinical Physiology, Health and Applied Psychology.

 

My research interest lies on the effects that lifestyle interventions such as diet and exercise have on the health of the average individual and most importantly on clinical population such as obese, type 2 diabetic patients, peri- and post-menopausal women etc. 

The last five years, my research interest has also focused into the area of mental health. I have been conducting research investigating the effects that exercise and dietary interventions have on individuals with mental health problems such as severe mental illness patients and individuals that exhibit disordered eating behaviours or are clinically diagnosed with eating disorders.

At present, I am continuing my research on older women with a greater focus on the effects of high intensity interval exercise on exercise capacity, mood and congition. Recently, I have started investigating new, innovative strategies to promote health such as mindfulness and mindful eating and I am currently exploring the relationship between mindful eating and disordered eating (binge eating) and mood in university students and mentally ill patients. Moreover, I am in the process of exploring eating behaviour in a multidisciplinary approach, by integrating consuming behaviour, psychology of consumption and mindful eating. 

At the present moment, in collaboration with a research network of international experts in Europe and Australia, I am leading an international project on the investigation of the effects of  low energy availability (LEA) and relative energy deficiencty in sports (RED-S) in young adults and competitive and recreational athletes on mental health, eating behavior, body image, and metabolic and hormonal disregulations.

Finally, I am currently involved in the investigation of blood flow restriction on healthy and diseased populations as well as elite athletes.

 

 Current Research Projects

- The investigation of the effects of LEA and RED-S on the mental health, disordered eating behavior and metabolic/hormonal disregulations in young adults and competitive athletes.

- Blood flow restriction on health and diseased populations and elite athletes.

- The effects of high intensity interval exercise Vs continuous exercise on the exercise capacity, fat oxidation, mood and enjoyment of exercise in overweight peri- and post-menopausal women.

 - Eating Disorders in elite level athletes. 

 - The effects of disordered eating and poor mental health on mindful consumption of food in young adults. A multi-disciplinary collaborative research project between the University of Brighton,  Nottighnam Trent University and Conventry University.

 - Mindful eating and mood. An investigation of the relationship between mindless eating, binge eating behaviour and mood in sports science, health science and pharmacy and medical science students. A multi-disciplinary collaborative research project between the University of Brighton and Brighton and Sussex Medical School.

 - The association between work-related stress, eating behaviour and binge eating in academic staff in the UK. A multi-disciplinary collaborative research project between the University of Brighton and Brighton and Sussex Medical School.

 

 

 

Approach to teaching

I have always been a great advocate of collaborative teaching. Through my Phd studies in Science Education and after completing my training and receiving a Certificate in University Teaching in Syracuse University, I have been a great believer of the strenght of a collaborative style of teaching in the advancement and learning progress of students. The teaching environment that us, the academic professionals create for our students, should be one of support, engagement and exploration. The students should be seen as an active learner that builds on his/her current experiences and knowlwedge and uses these experiences and knowledge to learn and expand. Working in small groups, stimulating active and autonomous thinking through student-led projects in the classroom we can allow our students to become independent and active thinkers.

 

As an active researcher and active learner myself, I strive for the intergration of research into teaching. By stimulating research-informed teaching through the inclusion of our research work in our teaching/curriculum as well as the introduction of small research projects to our students, we can support them into acquiring a hands on experience on experimentation, trial and error practices, autonomy of thinking and reflection. We can encourage students to seek and discover new knowledge.

 

My teaching is focused on the following scientific areas:

-Exercise and Health

-Nutrition for Performance

-Nutrition for Health Promotion

-Energy Metabolism and Endocrinology 

-Exercise and Systemic Inflammation

-Eating Behaviour

-Eating Disorders

Supervisory Interests

My research and supervisory interests lie in the areas of:

-Lifestyle interventions of exercise and diet on obesity and its comorbidities

-Exercise and dietary effects on mental health

-Performance arts and wellness and mental health

-Eating behaviour and novel behaviour modification interventions such as mindful eating

-Eating disorders in the general population and athletes

-Low Energy Availabilty (LEA) and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports (RED-S) and its effects on mental health and metabolic, hormonal and eating behaviour disturbances young adults and athletes

-Sports Nutrition

-Blood flow restriction on health, diseased populations and elite athletes

External positions

External Reviewer, Oxford Brookes University

2019 → …

Expert/Reviewer for the European Commission-Horizon 2020 Grants, European Commission

1 Dec 2017 → …

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