Academic Contacts:
Prof Giuseppe de Vito, PhD, MD
Giuseppe was born in 1958 in Blantyre (Malawi). He then grew up in Italy where he graduated in Medicine and Surgery in 1986 at the medical school of the University of Rome la Sapienza. At the same university he completed firstly a clinical specialization in Sports Medicine (1989) and then a PhD in Human and Exercise physiology (1994) presenting a thesis on exercise training adaptations in the older individual. Before joining UCD in July 2007 he previously held academic positions in Glasgow (1996-2005; University of Strathclyde) and in Rome at the University Institute of Movement Science (2005-2007). As specialist in Sports Medicine he has acted as Team Physician to the Italian Olympic Committee, being from 1994 to 1996 the physician/physiologist of the Italian Olympic Sailing team. In the past, he represented Italy in the World Championships as a Modern Pentathlete. He is a member of both British and Italian Physiological Societies and member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology and of the Journal of Physical Activity and Ageing. He has published widely on aspects of muscle function and cardiovascular control across the lifespan.
Tel: +353 1 716 6511
Email: giuseppe.devito@ucd.ie
Prof Colin Boreham BA, MA, PhD
Colin is a Sports and Exercise Scientist of over 30 years standing. He has published over 100 peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters largely on the topic of exercise and health, which remains his main interest. He also retains an active interest in the field of elite sports performance, having been an Olympic competitor himself ( Decathlon, 1984 Los Angeles). He is currently the Director of the UCD Institute for Sport and Health, having formerly held the posts of Professor of Sport and Exercise Science ( Univ. Ulster,1996-2006) and Director of Physical Education ( Queens Univ., 1989-1996).He sits on the editorial boards of two journals ( Pediatric Exercise Science and Journal Sports Sciences) and was a member of the 2001 UK Research Assessment Panel for Sports Studies.He also sits on the Irish Institute of Sport Advisory Panel, and is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, European College of Sports Sciences and the Royal Society of Medicine.
Tel: + 353 1 716 2067
Email: colin.boreham@ucd.ie
Dr Tara Magdalinski, BHMS (Hons), PhD
Tara completed undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Human Movement Studies at The University of Queensland, focussing on the sociological and historical aspects of sport. In 1996, she accepted a position as a founding member of the Faculty of Arts at the University of the Sunshine Coast, where she developed courses in sports history, the sociology of sport and sports media. Tara has published widely in the area of sports studies focussing most recently on the cultural construction of performance and technology and the body, whilst her current research interests include topics as varied as performance enhancing substances, Australian identity, sporting mascots and the corporate motives of Olympic education programs. Tara co-edited (with Timothy Chandler), With God on their Side: Sport in the Service of Religion (London, Routledge, 2002), and her research monograph, Sport, Technology and the Body: The Nature of Performance, will be published by Routledge in October 2008.
Tel: + 353 1 716 3439
Email: tara.magdalinski@ucd.ie
Dr Karen Hennessy, BEd (Hons), MSc, MBA, Phd
Karen qualified as a teacher in physical education with third level maths and subsequently worked teaching PE and Maths at secondary school level for a number of years. While teaching, Karen undertook an MSc in Exercise Physiology in Trinity College Dublin. In 1999 she took up a new position as Assistant to the Academic Director in the UCD Centre for Sports Studies (CSS). Her responsibilities included the development and management of the Sports Management programmes (Dip & BSc in Sports Management), lecturing and development of other activities of the CSS. In 2003, Karen was appointed as a college lecturer within the Centre for Sports Studies and also completed an MBA in Sports Management (University of Leicester). Over the years, Karen has served time as the director of the Diploma and Degrees in Sport Management and Sport & Exercise Management and as acting head of the Centre for Sports Studies. Karen completed her PhD on Brand Equity in 2010. In her spare time Karen was a regular competitor at county and national level across a number of disciplines and is still a regular competitor at national and international level in the equestrian sport of eventing.
Tel: + 353 1 716 3460
Email: karen.hennessy@ucd.ie
Dr Eamonn Delahunt, BSc (Hons), Phd
Eamonn graduated with a 1st Class Honours Degree from the UCD School of Physiotherapy in 2003. Upon graduation Eamonn was the recipient of a prestigious IRCSET post-graduate research scholarship. He was awarded his PhD from the UCD School of Physiotherapy and Performance Science in 2006. Eamonn has been the recipient of numerous research bursaries for his research on chronic ankle instability and has published on this topic in all the leading Sports Medicine/Science journals. He currently works as a college lecturer in the UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Population Science, and acts as the Programme Co-ordinator for the BSc Health and Performance Science Degree Programme. Eamonn also has extensive clinical experience having previously worked as a Chartered Physiotherapist in ExWell Medical. Eamonn also currently works as the Academic Mentor to the UCD Elite Athlete Academy.
Tel: + 353 1 716 6671
Email: eamonn.delahunt@ucd.ie
Dr Brendan Egan, BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD
Brendan received his BSc in Sport and Exercise Science from the University of Limerick in 2003, before graduating from Loughborough University with distinction from the MSc in Sport and Exercise Nutrition programme. He returned to Ireland in late 2004 to commence doctoral studies under the supervision of Dr. Donal O'Gorman at Dublin City University. The focus of this research was on skeletal muscle adaptation to exercise, and in particular the continuity between acute molecular responses to individual bouts of exercise and the adaptations in skeletal muscle induced by exercise training. He was awarded his PhD in 2008, before moving on to the prestigious Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. There, he completed his post-doctoral training in Prof. Juleen Zierath's Integrative Physiology group at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery. Here his research, using animal and in vitro cell systems, focussed on the transcriptional regulation of skeletal muscle insulin resistance in Type 2 diabetes by small, non-coding RNAs. He joined the faculty at UCD in 2011, and currently holds a position as Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science in the School of Public Health, Physiotherapy, and Population Science, covering modules in sports nutrition, exercise prescription and molecular exercise physiology. His current research interests concern the nutritional enhancement of sports performance, and the molecular regulation of skeletal muscle function and adaptation in exercise, health and disease. On the sporting front, he has represented Sligo in Gaelic football at Senior inter-county level since 2003.
Tel: + 353 1 716 6508
Email: brendan.egan@ucd.ie
Dr James Matthews, BA (Hons), MA, PhD
James obtained a BA (Hons) Degree in 2000 followed by an MA in Organisational and Social Psychology in 2002 from the UCD School of Psychology. After working in the area of Organisational Development for four years, he returned to UCD in 2006 to begin doctoral research in the field of Sport and Exercise Psychology under the guidance of Prof Aidan Moran. He received a post-graduate research scholarship for his work from the Irish Research Council of Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) and completed his PhD in 2009. He joined the UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Population Science in 2012 as a College Lecturer and acts as the Programme Co-ordinator for the Diploma in Sport and Exercise Management. Prior to this, James held positions as a visiting lecturer in Dublin City University and as a Psychologist in the energy industry designing mental skills training programmes for teams which work in high risk environments. He has published research in the field of Sport and Exercise Psychology and his research interests focus on the motivational and social cognitive aspects of sport and exercise behaviour.
Tel: + 353 1 716 3449
Email: james.matthews@ucd.ie
Dr Brian Caulfield, B Physio, M MedSc, MISCP
Tel: + 353 1 716 6515
Email: brian.caulfield@ucd.ie
Mr Romain Denis, BSc (Hons), MSc, MPhil
Romain received his BSc and MSc (Research) in exercise physiology from Montpellier University, France and MPhil from Brunel University, U.K. As a BASES accredited laboratory director and Sport and Exercise scientist, Romain Denis coordinates the Human performance laboratory (BASES accredited). This includes staff scheduling, organisation of equipment maintenance, staff training and ensuring high quality assurance standards. Romain works with runners, cyclists and triathletes of all abilities, but also with international squads in Rugby, Hockey and Sailing. He has considerable experience in providing training advice, physiological support and is a competitive runner himself. Romain's research interests include muscle mechanic and metabolic responses to exercise along with cardiovascular adjustments and capillary blood flow regulation. His teaching interests lie in exercise physiology more specifically in cardiovascular and respiratory adaptations / responses to exercise, control of blood flow and muscle metabolism.
Tel: + 353 1 716 3290
Email: romain.denis@ucd.ie
Dr John Shuttleworth, BEd, MA, MSc, PhD
Tel: + 353 1 716 3458
Email: john.shuttleworth@ucd.ie
Administration Contacts:
Administration Manager -
Ms Ann O'Hanlon BA (Hons), MBS
Responsibility for Ad Astra Elite Athlete Programme
Tel: +353 1 716 3291
Email: a.ohanlon@ucd.ie
Email: eliteathleteacademy@ucd.ie
Development Officer -
Ms Fiona McVeigh BSc (Hons), GSR, ARTC
Responsibility for Work Placement Co-Ordination
Tel: +353 1 716 3011
Fax: + 353 1 716 3071
Email: fiona.mcveigh@ucd.ie
Programme Administrators Centre for Sports Studies -
Ms Gillian Johnston BA (Hons), LCCI PSC
Responsibility for Sport & Exercise Management Administration
Tel: + 353 1 716 3430
Fax: + 353 1 716 3421
Email: sports.studies@ucd.ie
Email: gillian.johnston@ucd.ie
Ms Linda Stone
Responsibility for Institute of Sport and Health and Health & Performance Science Administration
Tel: + 353 1 716 3271
Fax: + 353 1 716 3492
Email: sports.institute@ucd.ie
Email: linda.stone@ucd.ie