The ISEH - Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health

04/09/2026

We’re very pleased to invite healthcare and sports medicine professionals to join us for the ISEH Annual Sports Cardio-Respiratory Medicine Webinar 2026 - a FREE virtual CPD evening exploring the latest developments and emerging thinking in sports and exercise pulmonology.

Date: Wednesday 7 October 2026
Time: 5:00pm–7:00pm
Venue: Online webinar

This event will be Chaired by ISEH’s Professor James Hull, Consultant Respiratory Physician.

Speakers:
- Andrea Nicolò, PhD, Associate Professor, Exercise Physiology Lab, Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome, “Foro Italico”

- Kate Rattley, PhD, FHEA, Lecturer in Sport & Exercise Medical Sciences, Institute of Sport, Exercise & Health

- Professor Tod Olin, Associate Professor and Director, Exercise and Performance Breathing Centre, Division of Paediatric Pulmonary Medicine

Join us for an engaging and informative evening bringing together leading experts to share their knowledge, research and practical insights into current and emerging developments in sports and exercise pulmonology.
Secure your place: https://r1.dotdigital-pages.com/p/79Y2-ON1

28/08/2026

ISEH’s Professor James Hull recently contributed his expertise to an article in The Independent exploring the growing interest in VO₂ max-maxxing.

The article looks at what VO₂ max-maxxing is, and how it has moved beyond the world of elite sport, and why VO₂ max is gaining increasing attention in the wellness and longevity space.

Prof. James Hull shared:

“In its strictest sense, VO2 max is describing something called oxygen consumption - it’s a measure that describes the amount of oxygen that the body is able to use and metabolise.

“As we exercise, and our exertion level goes up, more oxygen is consumed - and the amount that’s able to be consumed is dependent on the efficiency of the interactions between our muscles, circulation, heart and lungs.

“Overall, it’s an integrated measure of your cardio, metabolic and respiratory fitness or capability.”

Read the full article here: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/vo2-max-test-fitness-cardio-longevity-b3033184.html

27/08/2026

ISEH and UCL’s Prof. Snehal Pinto Pereira contributed to a recent Good Housekeeping feature exploring the importance of staying active as we move into our late 70s and beyond.

The feature follows actor Felicity Kendal, 79, and grandmother of 13, who recently shared how strength training, dog walking and hatha yoga form part of her weekly routine.

Prof. Snehal Pinto Pereira, Professor in Population Health and Applied Statistics, shared an important perspective on healthy ageing: “The goal isn’t to train like an athlete. It’s to preserve independence and quality of life,” while highlighting the types of exercise that would be most beneficial for this age group, further to her vast research in this area.

Keep reading: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/health/a73345310/felicity-kendal-fitness/

26/08/2026

New systematic review: Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for adverse health outcomes among older adults, highlighting the importance of identifying effective and engaging strategies that promote sustained physical activity. ISEH’s Dr Zarifa Kamilova, Doctorate Student at UCL, recently led a systematic review and meta-analysis, with co authors ISEH’s Professor Mike Loosemore MBE and Dr Bruce Paton and Professor John Buckley (UCL and Keele University).

The study evaluated and synthesised evidence from randomised controlled trials comparing dance interventions with exercise and non-exercise interventions among older adults. The review examined the effects of dance on cardiorespiratory fitness, quality of life (QoL), and muscle strength.

Dance is considered a moderate-intensity form of physical activity that may improve cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) while also encouraging continued participation.

Key points:

- A total of 17 studies with 1,881 older adults were included in the review (about 73% of the participants were women)- (the researchers searched six major research databases for suitable studies and only randomised controlled trials published between 2015 and 2025 were included).

- They compared dancing with regular exercise and with no exercise - focusing on heart and lung fitness, quality of life, and muscle strength.
No statistically significant difference in cardiorespiratory fitness was found between dance and conventional exercise (SMD −0.89; 95% CI −1.81 to 0.03; p = 0.0584).

- There was also no statistically significant difference in quality of life between dance and exercise (SMD 0.43; 95% CI −0.15 to 1.00; p = 0.14).

- Dance produced significantly greater improvements in muscle strength than conventional exercise (SMD 1.64; 95% CI 0.96–2.33; p < 0.0001).

- Their findings showed that dancing and regular exercise showed similar benefits for heart and lung fitness – and similar improvements in quality of life, while dancing showed greater improvements in muscle strength.

Overall, dance appears to be an effective alternative to conventional exercise for older adults, offering comparable benefits for cardiorespiratory fitness and quality of life and potentially greater benefits for muscle strength.

Keep reading: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2026.1902108/full

10/08/2026

ISEH’s Dr Theo Farley recently published a study, (which included Professor Mike Loosemore MBE and a dedicated team of researchers including ISEH UCL sports medicine students), whereby they investigated the effectiveness of two practical neck strengthening programmes designed to improve isometric neck strength in male and female amateur rugby players.

This study (involving 142 male and female amateur rugby players) is believed to be the first to demonstrate an effective neck strengthening intervention in female athletes and also explored links between neck strength, body measurements, training experience, and concussion history.

Swipe for some key insights.

The authors have developed two protocols that are low-cost, time-efficient, and require minimal equipment, making them easy to implement in team training environments.

Dr Farley shared: "It is fantastic to have had so many UCL Sports Medicine students work on this project and have them represented as authors..."

Keep reading: https://iseh.co.uk/news/latest-news/new-study-investigating-the-effectiveness-of-two-practical-neck-strengthening-programmes-in-improving-isometric-neck-strength-among-male-and-female-amateur-rugby-players

Patrick Hogben Lesley McBride Thomas Phillips Tom Williams
Huub Habets Emma Bellairs Baker Greg McHale Jai Gidwani Yazir Raza
Andrew Durham

04/08/2026

Last month marked an exciting milestone for the global exercise neuroscience community as the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health (ISEH) and UCL hosted the inaugural international conference, Boosting Brain Health Through Lifestyle Interventions. Further highlights from the event are shared here.

A defining feature of the conference was its strong emphasis on cross-disciplinary and cross-sector collaboration, achieved through interactive panel discussions and workshops that brought together expertise from across research, clinical practice, and industry.

More than 200 delegates from five continents gathered in London to explore the latest advances in how physical activity and other lifestyle factors can support brain health across the lifespan.

The scientific programme covered a broad range of topics, including dementia prevention, clinical rehabilitation, exercise neurobiology, nutrition, mechanistic pathways, biomarkers, and lifestyle medicine.

Delegates heard keynote presentations from internationally recognised leaders in the field, including founding committee members Professor Kirk Erickson, Associate Professor Christiane Wrann, and Associate Professor Henriette van Praag, alongside an outstanding programme of invited speakers and high-quality submitted research presentations.

The four-day conference, developed and chaired by Professor Flaminia Ronca, brought together world-leading academics, clinicians, practitioners, and early career researchers to exchange knowledge, develop new collaborations, and help shape the future of exercise neuroscience.

Prof Ronca said “It was inspiring to welcome such a diverse group gathered with one common goal: improving people’s lives. Delegates across multiple sectors, disciplines and career stages connected to build something meaningful. I really look forward to developing this further together.”

We extend our sincere thanks to everyone whose dedication and support made this event possible - Keep reading: https://iseh.co.uk/news/latest-news/iseh-and-ucl-host-international-conference-on-boosting-brain-health-through-lifestyle-interventions

Founding Committee
Flaminia Ronca, Christiane Wrann, Henriette van Praag, and Kirk Erickson.

Scientific Committee
Raha Razin, Takeshi Hashimoto, Matthew Taylor, Liye Zou, Irene Esteban-Cornejo, Sina Rosenkranz, Evandro Fang, Mike Loosemore, Filip Swirski, Giselle Petzinger, Michael Jakowec, Lauren Oberlin, Swathi Gujral, Chinedu Momoh, Anthony Hannan, Andrew Ahn, Daphne van der Putte, Jaime Tartar, Benjamin Tari, PhD, Guido Orgs and Henning Boecker.

Hackathon Committee
Rebeca Gavrila (Chair), Jordan Masys, Abbie M. Terun Desai, Kate Rattley, Uzair Hakim, PhD, and Tim Morris.

Support and Organisation
Abbie Mason, Laura Robertson, Helen Bell, Sophie Flanagan, Sarah Thackray, Sophia Watson, and Aisha Abass.

Sponsors

TopTech – Jianchuang Technology, Labfront, Artinis NIRx, Xiel, and Heights.

28/07/2026

Last week, the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health (ISEH) and UCL hosted the international conference on “Boosting Brain Health Through Lifestyle Interventions”, marking an exciting milestone for the global exercise neuroscience community.

More than 200 delegates from 5 continents came together in London to explore the latest advances in how physical activity and lifestyle factors can support brain health across the lifespan.

The four-day conference, developed and chaired by Prof Flaminia Ronca, brought together world leading academics, clinicians, practitioners and early career researchers to shape the future of the field together.

The pre-conference programme, hosted at the ISEH, included a Brain fNIRS workshop and a Hackathon with five winning teams.

The workshop was delivered in partnership with Artinis / NIRx, UCL and Birkbeck University, where attendees learned best practice in the application and processing in brain fNIRS imaging.

The hackathon was delivered by Labfront, Garmin and the ISEH, where interdisciplinary teams of newly acquainted early career researchers pitched for innovation projects, and winning teams were awarded funding to implement them. All projects sought to develop interventions to support brain health using wearable devices.

Across the main conference, delegates explored topics spanning dementia prevention, clinical rehabilitation, exercise neurobiology, nutrition, mechanistic pathways, biomarkers, and lifestyle medicine. Highlights included keynotes from internationally recognised experts, including founding committee members Prof Kirk Erickson, Assoc Prof Christiane Wrann and Assoc Prof Henriette van Praag.

We are grateful every delegate and invited speaker who travelled to London to contribute their expertise, enthusiasm and commitment to advancing exercise neuroscience.

We extend our sincere thanks to our founding committee, organising team, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors and volunteers whose dedication made this inaugural meeting such a success.

Keep reading: https://iseh.co.uk/news/latest-news/iseh-and-ucl-host-international-conference-on-boosting-brain-health-through-lifestyle-interventions

19/07/2026

Ahead of this evening's World Cup final in New Jersey, air quality has become a growing concern. In the days leading up to the match, New York and the surrounding region experienced poor air quality as smoke from wildfires in Canada drifted across multiple major cities in the United States.

FIFA's communication to stakeholders is that the forecast for today is more favourable.

Professor James Hull, Consultant Respiratory Physician at ISEH, spoke to The Athletic, part of The New York Times, to share his expert insight on the issue.

In the days leading up to Sunday's final, New York has been hit with poor air quality as a result of wildfires in Canada.

17/07/2026

We’ve been delighted to welcome early career researchers to our central London facility today for the International Society for Exercise Neuroscience Hackathon with Labfront & Garmin; held as part of the ISENs pre conference programme - and ahead of the ISENs Inaugural Meeting: Boosting Brain Health Through Lifestyle Interventions (17th -19th July), taking place this weekend.

Hosted at ISEH today, the Hackathon brings together researchers to explore how wearable technology and real-world data can advance brain health through lifestyle interventions.

14/07/2026

Not to be missed...🧠 Very few places remain to be part of an event that will shape the future of the International Society for Exercise Neuroscience (ISENS) and advance basic and translational research in brain–body interactions that support human brain health through lifestyle-based interventions. The expert panel of speakers will include ISEH’s Dr Flaminia Ronca.

All delegates who register for the conference will receive complimentary ISENS membership as part of their registration.

Dates & venues
• 16 July 2026: Pre-conference workshop: Applying and analysing brain fNIRS by Artinis Medical Systems and NIRx Medical Technologies at Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health (ISEH)
• 17 July 2026: Pre-conference Hackathon for Early Career Researchers, sponsored by Labfront, at Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health (ISEH) (FREE)
• 18–19 July 2026 - Main Conference, UCL at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust

Learn more and join us:

This inaugural meeting will focus on collaboration, strategy, and knowledge exchange.