Understanding how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health (both physically and mentally).
Cluster lead
Background info
The aim of this research cluster is to bring together the diverse expertise within the sport and exercise BCU community. We have a range of established researchers, early career researchers, PhD, masters, and undergraduate students contributing to this important work to improve performance and health across the city of Birmingham and beyond.
We believe in a philosophy that promotes and encourages engagement at all levels, to improve quality of life and to foster the values of BCU including inclusivity, partnership working and community focused outcomes. The cluster operates with key strategic aims to build a national and international reputation:
- Promoting an inclusive research environment for all study levels and backgrounds
- Ensuring practical application of our research through external partnership working and offering sport and exercise solutions for sporting bodies
- Creating a research environment that supports collaboration and growth to tackle real-world problems in sport and the wider community.
Research objectives
- To understand the mechanisms involved in improving the technique/efficiency of athletes, reducing the incidence of injury/illness in athletes, helping athletes peak for competition, and the mental preparation of athletes.
- To provide research for academics and students that are orientated towards sport and exercise sciences research.
- To support the development of research themes and groups within sport and exercise sciences.
RAYSD Lab
Group Leader – Dr Adam Kelly
The Research into Athlete Development and Youth Sport Development (RAYSD) lab has been designed around three integral outcomes: (a) Participation, (b) Personal Development, and (c) Performance (the 3Ps). The overall purpose of ADYS is to work alongside collaborative partners to design, implement, and evaluate new and existing organisational structures in sport. Moreover, ADYS’ mission is to help create evidence-based approaches to facilitate more appropriate athlete development and youth sport settings.
Human Performance and Health Group
Group Leader - Dr Meghan Brown
The Human Performance and Health research group is a vibrant and dynamic research community spanning from postgraduate research students through to established experts. The team has a wealth of experience across a number of disciplines and their research activity spans a wide remit. Our team also actively engage in applied work offering evidence-based solutions to improve performance or health to a wide range of national and international partners.
Our goal is to conduct wide-reaching, impactful and internationally significant research to provide insight into the achievement and maintenance of peak performance and health to benefit both athletes and the wider community.
We are committed to pursuing improved sport performance through research exploring factors contributing to athletic success; including training, recovery and adaptation. We also aim to further our understanding of the components influencing and limiting optimal human health and quality of life.
Injury and Rehabilitation Group
Group Leader - Dr Adam Herbert
With a focus on injury reduction, our aims are to conduct injury surveillance, explore the efficacy of recovery modalities and athlete wellbeing, and develop interventions to maximise athlete availability and performance.
Physical Activity and Health
Group Leader - Dr Irfan Khawaja
The health benefits of physical activity are well documented and there is a strong relationship between physical activity and risk for developing chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease, diabetes and colon cancer. Specifically in England, physical inactivity directly contributes to one in six deaths, and cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the UK.
The aim of this research group is to explore physical activity and health-related behaviours, and implement interventions to help create environments which are conducive and facilitate physical activity. Understanding the causes of physical activity behaviour particularly in childhood, is essential for the development and improvement of public health interventions, as aetiological studies of disease provide information about treatments.
