My research interest has long been human exercise tolerance, or the ability to sustain exercise, with a particular focus on the mechanisms of fatigue within the muscles and their interaction with the brain (neuromuscular fatigue). I have more recently added a new strand to my research; this strand finds its origin in the neuroscience: I feel it is time to understand better how perceptions such as fatigue, effort, or pleasantness / unpleasantness, emerge from within the brain when we exercise, how these perceptions interact with each other, and affect our actions / behaviour.

Fatigue remains the prime focus of my work. The Fatigue and Exercise research lab I developed over the years, and lead today at the University of Brighton, studies fatigue in sedentary as well as more physically active healthy humans, and in clinical populations such as people with multiple sclerosis and post-covid.

This better understanding of both psychophysiological and behavioural responses when we exercise is critical for exercise scientists, clinicians, or any practitioners looking to help an individual tolerate exercise better or help improve human tolerance to physical exercise. Our findings inform strategies for exercise-based rehabilitation and training programmes to be safe and effective (i.e. robust science-based interventions).

My work finds impact in the areas of health, sport and wellbeing.

The human body fascinates me: The human body is a truly incredible machine. I also love Science: the different approaches we can choose to try to offer a satisfying answer to an important research question; the different ways of going about it (i.e. methods and methodologies); the creativity it requires but also the challenges it brings that we have to face (and learn from); its limitations (would we ever really know?). I believe my passion for both Exercise Psychophysiology and Science transpires in my teaching style.

As an active researcher and consultant for sport government bodies and NHS trusts, I want to contribute to the design and delivery of research- and consultancy-informed teaching materials to foster students’ engagement, understanding of, and enthusiasm for the professional world.

I am keen to pilot different learning and teaching strategies to improve the courses I am involved with. The two MSc courses I developed and led for seven years (2012-19) include many problem-based learning scenarios (PBL) to prepare students for the ‘real world’. I piloted a PBL intervention in collaboration with the English Institute of Sport (EIS) a few years ago. Student feedback was excellent. It was a great experience. I also introduced in these postgraduate programmes a series of classroom-based Action Learning Sets (ALS) for MSc students to reflect and make the most of their work experience. I believe these learning opportunities are essential for them to develop their employability skill set. You can find more information about these two MSc courses here:

Applied Sport Physiology MSc (PGCert PGDip) / Applied Exercise Physiology MSc (PGCert PGDip)

We also deliver a Strength and Conditioning MSc (PGCert PGDip) alongside our undergraduate programme. You can find details of the sport and exercise science courses on the University of Brighton website.

Some of the key areas I teach in are:

• Exercise intensity domains and exercise tolerance
• The muscle, the nervous system, and exercise
• Neuromuscular fatigue and the muscles – brain interaction during exercise
• The philosophy of science, scientific methods and methodologies, quantitative statistics
• The physiology of training