Tackling REDs

Professor Asker Jeukendrup is one of the world’s leading sports nutritionists and exercise physiologist who spent most of his career as a professor at the University of Birmingham (UK) as Head of The Human Performance Laboratory. Currently he is a (visiting) professor at Loughborough University. He has authored 9 books and over 250 research papers and book chapters. During his career Asker has worked at the forefront of research as well as directly with athletes, including Olympic and World champions, Tour de France cyclists and Champions league football teams.

Neil Walsh is currently a professor at Liverpool John Moores University. Prior to working at LJMU, Neil spent 19 years at Bangor University where his team produced leading research on: nutritional strategies to avoid immune suppression and infection; practical strategies to acclimate to the heat; and, new techniques for non-invasive biomonitoring of athletes and soldiers. His team’s work has influenced UK military policy by showing the benefits of preventing nutritional deficits in soldiers for both immune health and physical performance. Neil has published widely in international journals, co-authored a textbook in Exercise Immunology and led a highly cited consensus statement on exercise and immunity in 2011.

More recently, Neil has co-authored consensus statements on ‘dietary supplements and the high-performance athlete’ for the International Olympic Committee and ‘immunonutrition and exercise’ for the International Society of Exercise Immunology. He currently serves on the editorial board of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise and Exercise Immunology Review and has previously served as Physiology editor for Journal of Sports Sciences. Neil frequently provides education and training for staff at world-leading sports teams and organisations.

Charles Pedlar is a Professor of Applied Sports and Exercise Science at St Mary's in the Faculty of Sport, Allied Health, and Performance Science. Charles started out as a research assistant for the British Olympic Association based at Northwick Park Hospital and funded by the English Institute of Sport, now UK Sports Institute (UKSI). Whilst embedded in high performance sport Charlie completed his PhD at Brunel University in 2007 entitled 'Sleep and Exercise during Acclimation and Acclimatisation to Moderate Altitude in Elite Athletes', which involved a combination of field data collected during moderate altitude training camps and laboratory data, investigating responses to altitude in the GB national squads for Speedskating, Biathlon, Rowing, Kayaking and Athletics. He has a keen interest in the application of scientific research to the training of male and female elite athletes, and as such has been involved in the preparation of elite athletes for international competition. Charles’ specialist areas include altitude and environmental physiology, sleep, the Female Athlete, the application of biomarkers to optimise performance in pro athletes.

Dr Carl Langan-Evans is currently a Post Doctoral Research Fellow and the former Head of Sport Science Support Services/ Strength & Conditioning at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). As a former elite athlete in the sport of Taekwondo, Carl was originally involved with the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences via the LJMU Sport Scholarship programme from 2004 until 2008. During this time, Carl received a number of support services in the areas of strength & conditioning, physiology, psychology and nutrition to aid his competitive goals and this ultimately led to him becoming interested in working within the discipline. Continuing his affiliation with the School, Carl completed his PhD in applied sport physiology and nutrition with a mixed method approach undertaking five qualitative and quantitative, laboratory and field based investigations jointly examining and intervening in making weight strategies for combat sport athletes.