Dr Adam Herbert

Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science

Email:: Adam.Herbert@bcu.ac.uk
Phone:: 0121 331 6854

Adam completed both his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at Manchester Metropolitan University before undertaking a position as the Sport Scientist at Port Vale Football Club.

This primarily involved providing support to academy players age 8 – 18 before Adam then moved into the role as Head of Academy Sport Science and Medicine, overseeing the department.

Adam has also gathered applied experience during his time at Spire Healthcare where he worked with a wide range of athletes and individuals providing educational support, physiological assessment, hydrotherapy sessions as well as strength and conditioning services.

Adam completed his PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University, which was entitled “The genetics of bone mineral density and the associated influence on performance and stress fracture incidence in high-level endurance runners”.

This involved working with numerous athletes and organisations and resulted in the publication and presentation of high-quality research in internationally renowned journals and at international conferences.

Alongside completing his PhD, Adam gathered substantial experience delivering material and supervising students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level before joining Birmingham City University in 2018.

He is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and primarily teaches on the BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science degree alongside being a route lead on the Masters by Research course in the School of Health Sciences.

Adam continues to research within many areas across sport and exercise science, specialising in physiology.

Current Activity

Areas of Expertise

Qualifications

Memberships

Teaching

Research

Publications

Herbert, A.J., Williams, A.G., Lockey, S.J., Erskine, R.M., Sale, C., Hennis, P.J., Day, S.H. and Stebbings, G.K., 2021. Bone mineral density in high-level endurance runners: part A—site-specific characteristics. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 121(12), pp.3437-3445.

Herbert, A.J., Williams, A.G., Lockey, S.J., Erskine, R.M., Sale, C., Hennis, P.J., Day, S.H. and Stebbings, G.K., 2021. Bone mineral density in high-level endurance runners: Part B—genotype-dependent characteristics. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 122(1), pp.71-80.

Varley, I., Stebbings, G., Williams, A.G., Day, S., Hennis, P., Scott, R., Grazette, N. and Herbert, A.J., 2021. An investigation into the association of bone characteristics and body composition with stress fracture in athletes. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness.

Herbert, A.J., Williams, A.G., Hennis, P.J., Erskine, R.M., Sale, C., Day, S.H. and Stebbings, G.K., 2019. The interactions of physical activity, exercise and genetics and their associations with bone mineral density: implications for injury risk in elite athletes. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 119(1), pp.29-47.

Khanal, P., He, L., Herbert, A.J., Stebbings, G.K., Onambele-Pearson, G.L., Degens, H., Morse, C.I., Thomis, M. and Williams, A.G., 2020. The association of multiple gene variants with ageing skeletal muscle phenotypes in elderly women. Genes, 11(12), p.1459.

Brazier, J., Antrobus, M.R., Herbert, A.J., Callus, P.C., Stebbings, G.K., Day, S.H., Heffernan, S.M., Kilduff, L.P., Bennett, M.A., Erskine, R.M. and Raleigh, S.M., 2022. Gene variants previously associated with reduced soft tissue injury risk: Part 1–independent associations with elite status in rugby. European Journal of Sport Science, pp.1-10.

Antrobus, M.R., Brazier, J., Callus, P., Herbert, A.J., Stebbings, G.K., Day, S.H., Kilduff, L.P., Bennett, M.A., Erskine, R.M., Raleigh, S.M. and Collins, M., 2022. Concussion-associated gene variant COMT rs4680 is associated with elite rugby athlete status. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, pp.10-1097.

McAuley, A.B., Hughes, D.C., Tsaprouni, L.G., Varley, I., Suraci, B., Baker, J., Herbert, A.J. and Kelly, A.L., 2022. Genetic associations with personality and mental toughness profiles of English academy football players: An exploratory study. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, p.102209.

Dines, H., Nixon, J., Lockey, S.J., Herbert, A.J., Kipps, C., Pedlar, C.R., Day, S.H., Heffernan, S.M., Antrobus, M.R., Brazier, J. and Erskine, R.M., 2022. Collagen gene polymorphisms previously associated with resistance to soft-tissue injury are more common in competitive runners than non-athletes. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

Antrobus, M.R., Brazier, J., Callus, P.C., Herbert, A.J., Stebbings, G.K., Khanal, P., Day, S.H., Kilduff, L.P., Bennett, M.A., Erskine, R.M. and Raleigh, S.M., 2022. Concussion-Associated Polygenic Profiles of Elite Male Rugby Athletes. Genes, 13(5), p.820.

McAuley, A.B., Hughes, D.C., Tsaprouni, L.G., Varley, I., Suraci, B., Roos, T.R., Herbert, A.J. and Kelly, A.L., 2022. Genetic Testing in Professional Football: Perspectives of Key Stakeholders. Journal of Science in Sport and Exercise, 4(1), pp.49-59.

Hall, E.C., Almeida, S.S., Heffernan, S.M., Lockey, S.J., Herbert, A.J., Callus, P., Day, S.H., Pedlar, C.R., Kipps, C., Collins, M. and Pitsiladis, Y.P., 2021. Genetic polymorphisms related to VO2max adaptation are associated with elite rugby union status and competitive marathon performance. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 16(12), pp.1858-1864.

McAuley, A.B., Hughes, D.C., Tsaprouni, L.G., Varley, I., Suraci, B., Roos, T.R., Herbert, A.J. and Kelly, A.L., 2021. Genetic association research in football: A systematic review. European Journal of Sport Science, 21(5), pp.714-752.

McAuley, A.B., Hughes, D.C., Tsaprouni, L.G., Varley, I., Suraci, B., Roos, T.R., Herbert, A.J. and Kelly, A.L., 2021. The association of the ACTN3 R577X and ACE I/D polymorphisms with athlete status in football: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Sports Sciences, 39(2), pp.200-211.

Papadimitriou, I.D., Lockey, S.J., Voisin, S., Herbert, A.J., Garton, F., Houweling, P.J., Cieszczyk, P., Maciejewska-Skrendo, A., Sawczuk, M., Massidda, M. and Calò, C.M., 2018. No association between ACTN3 R577X and ACE I/D polymorphisms and endurance running times in 698 Caucasian athletes. BMC Genomics, 19(1), pp.1-9.

Stebbings, G.K., Williams, A.G., Herbert, A.J., Lockey, S.J., Heffernan, S.M., Erskine, R.M., Morse, C.I. and Day, S.H., 2018. TTN genotype is associated with fascicle length and marathon running performance. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 28(2), pp.400-406.

Herbert, A. J., Williams, A. G., Hennis, P. J, Erskine, R. M., Sale, C., Day, S. H. and Stebbings, G. K. 'The interactions of physical activity, exercise and genetics and their associations with bone mineral density: Implications for injury risk in elite athletes. European Journal of Applied Physiology.

Papadimitriou, I. D., Lockey, S. J., Voisin, S., Herbert, A. J., Garton, F., Houweling, P. J., ... & Calò, C. M. (2018). No association between ACTN3 R577X and ACE I/D polymorphisms and endurance running times in 698 Caucasian athletes. BMC genomics, 19(1), 13.

Stebbings, G.K., Williams, A.G., Herbert, A.J., Lockey, S.J., Heffernan, S.M., Erskine, R.M., Morse, C.I. and Day, S.H. (2017). TTN genotype is associated with fascicle length and marathon running performance. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports.

Herbert, A. J., Williams, A. G., Lockey, S. J., Erskine, R. M., Sale, C., Hennis, P. J., Antrobus, M. R., Brazier, J., Heffernan, S. M., Day, S. H., Stebbings, G. K. (2018). Bone mineral density and associated genetic variants in high-level Caucasian marathon runners. Proceedings of the 23^rd Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (Dublin, ROI).

Herbert, A. J., Williams, A. G., Lockey, S. J., Erskine, R. M., Hennis, P. J., Sale, C., Day, S. H. and Stebbings, G. K. (2017). Associations of bone mineral density-related genes and marathon performance in elite european caucasian marathon runners. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK).

Stebbings, G. K., Herbert, A. J., Brazier, J., Lockey, S. J., Erskine, R. M., Day, S. H. and Williams, A. G. (2017). No association between tendon-related genes and performance in elite european caucasian marathon runners. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine. International Sports Science and Sports Medicine Conference (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK).

Herbert, A. J., Williams, A. G., Lockey, S. J., Erskine, R. M., Heffernan, S. M., Pedlar, C. R., Kipps, C., Day, S. H. and Stebbings, G. K. (2016). ACTN3 R577x genotype is not associated with elite european caucasian marathon performance. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine. 34^thWorld Congress of Sports Medicine, International Federation of Sports Medicine (Ljubljana, Slovenia).

Lockey, S., Erskine, R., Pedlar, C., Kipps, C., Heffernan, S., Herbert, A., Stebbings, G., Williams, A. and Day, S. (2015). The individual and combined association between multiple gene polymorphisms and elite endurance athlete status. 20^th ECSS Annual Congress, Malmo, Sweden.

Lockey, S., Erskine, R., Herbert, A., Pedlar, C., Kipps, C., Williams, A. and Day, S. (2014). ACTN3 R577X genotype is not associated with elite marathon runners. Physiological Society, London, UK.