Physiology of Performance and prevention

Head:

Univ.-Prof. Justin Stevan Lawley, PhD

Integrative physiology: understanding the basic physiology of human adaptation to exercise training and extreme environments and in using this knowledge to improve human health

Exercise science with a focus on training interventions to improve human health
Exploring the use of non-pharmacological therapies such as passive heating as an adjunct to exercise training to improve exercise tolerance and cardiovascular health
Using advanced research methods and interventional paradigms to identify changes in the heart and blood vessels that enable positive adaptation to exercise depending on age, sex and underlying clinical diseases

Expanding the concept of "sport is medicine" by determining precise adaptations to exercise training during adolescence and documenting the protective effect against prolonged inactive lifestyles in adulthood

Exercise and low-grade passive heating to improve vascular function in ageing
Sedentary ageing is associated with dysfunction and stiffening of the major blood vessels throughout the body, which leads to hypertension, an increase in cardiac work and cardiac dysfunction, and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. To forward the science base around effective preventative strategies to ameliorate vascular ageing, the overall aim of this body of work is to examine the independent and interactive effects of exercise training and passive heat therapy on vascular health.
Cardiovascular protection thru adolescence endurance training
The objective of this project is to identify how adolescent exercise training modifies the heart and blood vessels with the aim of bridging a fundamental knowledge gap to the concept that exercise training causes long-lasting structural adaptations in the heart and blood vessels or primes the cardiovascular system such that greater improvements in fitness can be obtained after periods of sedentary behaviour later in life.
Cyclists cardiovascular health
There is a controversy about whether large amounts of exercise may limit the health benefits of exercise training and/or cause heart rhythm problems and sudden cardiac death. The aim of this project is to examine longitudinal data about how large volumes of exercise training impacts the cardiovascular system of junior and adult high-level athletes.

Research Center Health and Prevention across the Lifespan