Industry conference to welcome international speakers

March 27, 2014

More than 1,000 delegates from the national and international sports science and dietetics industries will converge on the Adelaide Convention Centre between 10 and 12 April to discuss the latest exercise, sports science and nutrition trends and discoveries at the upcoming 6th Exercise & Sports Science Australia Conference and Sports Dietitians Australia Update: Research to Practice.

The event is the sixth biennial conference hosted by Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA) and combines a strong scientific program with expert panels, interactive sessions, real life case studies, workshops and presentations.

ESSA Executive Officer Anita Hobson-Powell said event organisers had raised the bar once again, attracting an impressive line-up of keynote presenters from around the globe, including high profile Dr Michael J. Joyner, Professor of Anaesthesiology at Mayo Clinic and world-renowned commentator on the obesity epidemic; Dr Daniel Eichner, Executive Director of the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah which is one of two World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratories in the USA; and Neuroscience Research Australia Deputy Director Professor Simon Gandevia.

“Attendees will also be treated to a special presentation from Olympic gold medallist and ten times world champion Anna Meares and her coach Martin Barras who will be covering perspectives on injury recovery and performance,” Ms Hobson-Powell said.

“The session will detail Anna’s physical and psychological recovery following a serious cycling accident in Los Angeles that left her neck fractured in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics.”

Ms Hobson-Powell said it was not often that so many of the world’s leading sports science, exercise and dietetics experts came together to share their expertise and discuss a range of contemporary issues and industry trends.

“We’re thrilled to be welcoming such high calibre speakers this year and exploring issues as wide-ranging as altitude training and osteoporosis prevention, right through to blood doping identification methods and maximising muscle hypertrophy in athletes via protein supplementation.”

“The recent Essendon Bombers supplement scandal has shone the light on the important role played by exercise scientists within Australia, and this conference will not only reinforce the need for best practice standards, but also deliver quality information to assist those in the industry to achieve these.”

“Exercise and sports science practitioners operate in an environment that is constantly evolving so this conference will enable them to keep abreast of the latest research, technical information, products and equipment.”

The program also includes the Sir Frank Cotton Memorial Lecture presented by University of Melbourne Professor Mark Hargreaves, which will consider the role of DNA in enhancing health and human performance.

For more information regarding ESSA or the upcoming conference, please visit www.essa.org.au.

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Event summary

What: 6th Exercise & Sports Science Australia Conference and Sports Dieticians Australia Update: Research to Practice
Date: 10-12 April 2014
Where: Adelaide Convention Centre, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia
More info:
W: www.essa.org.au/2014Conference
E: conference@essa.org.au
T: (07) 3862 4122

For further media information, please contact Kristen from Fresh PR & Marketing on 0406 546 461 or email kristen@freshprm.com.au.

Keynote speakers
(Interviews on request)
Dr Michael J. Joyner, Mayo Clinic
The inactivity epidemic: What can we do?
Can your genes predict performance/health?
Thursday, 10 April, 8.30am-9.30am
Saturday, 12 April, 11.00am-11.45am

Michael J. Joyner, M.D., is the Caywood Professor of Anesthesiology at Mayo Clinic where he was named Distinguished Investigator in 2010. His interests include exercise physiology, cardiovascular regulation, the physiology of world records, autonomic regulation of metabolism, and clinical transfusion practices.

His undergraduate (1981) and medical (1987) degrees are from the University of Arizona with residency and research training at Mayo. He has held leadership positions at Mayo, in the extramural research community, and with leading journals. His lab has been funded by the NIH since 1993, and former fellows have established independent research programs at leading institutions throughout the world.

Dr Daniel Eichner, Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory
What is the athlete blood passport and how is it used?
Thursday, 10 April, 9.30am-10.30am

Dr Daniel Eichner is the Executive Director of the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) in Salt Lake City, Utah, one of two World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratories in the USA. He has extensive anti-doping experience and has set SMRTL up as an Athlete Biological Passport Management Unit whereby they conduct blood and steroid passport testing and evaluations for various sports and federations.

Eichner’s research interests include blood doping, growth hormone, IGF-1, testosterone and peptide detection. Prior to joining SMRTL he was the Science Director at the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). At USADA, he provided scientific support for USADA’s programs in research, intelligence, sample collection planning, results management, arbitration and education.

Prior to joining USADA, Dr Eichner was the Chief Scientific Officer for the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA). During his time at ASADA, he was a member of the Anti-Doping Research Program, Anti-Doping Ethical Review Board and an expert witness for numerous Australian customs investigations relating to steroid and performance-enhancing seizures. He received his B.S. from the Australian National University (ANU) with first class honours and later completed his Ph.D. in medical science from the ANU.

Professor Simon Gandevia, Deputy Director at Neuroscience Research Australia
Why is my patient fatigued? Where may the changes occur?
Friday, 11 April, 1.30pm-2.30pm

Simon Gandevia is an NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow and Deputy Director of Neuroscience Research Australia. He studied Medicine at the University of New South Wales and has a number of bachelor and doctoral degrees (BSc Med, MBBS, PhD, MD, DSc). He subsequently conducted research in clinical neurophysiology at the Prince Henry Hospital, and in 1992, with three colleagues, he established the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute (now Neuroscience Research Australia).

Simon’s research on volunteers and patients focuses on the way the human brain controls movement, with emphasis on three major areas: neural mechanisms underlying proprioception, the control of human movement and posture, and the neural control of breathing.

He has published more than a hundred papers in the Journal of Physiology. In 2001, in a widely-cited review in Physiological Reviews, he helped establish the concept of ‘supraspinal’ fatigue in human exercise. He has longstanding editorial roles with the Journal of Physiology and Journal of Applied Physiology and he currently heads an NHMRC program in ‘Motor Impairment’. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 1998.

Professor Nicola Lautenschlager, University of Melbourne
The key role of exercise for healthy ageing, cognitive impairment and dementia
Saturday, 12 April, 1.30pm-2.30pm

Professor Lautenschlager is an academic old age psychiatrist who received her undergraduate and postgraduate training at the Technical University in Munich, Germany.

From 2000 to 2008 she worked at the University of Western Australia in Perth where her last position was Professor in Old Age Psychiatry and Deputy Head of School.

In 2008 she took up the position of University of Melbourne Professor of Old Age Psychiatry. She is the Director for the St. Vincent’s Health Aged Mental Health Service in Melbourne. Her current research focus is diagnosis of cognitive impairment and intervention trials for older adults to improve mental health outcomes.

Professor Lorimer Moseley, University of South Australia, Neuroscience Research Australia
Exercise for the patient in chronic pain
Saturday, 12 April, 8.30am-9.30am

Professor Lorimer Moseley is a clinical scientist investigating pain in humans.

Lorimer joined NeuRA from The University of Oxford, UK, where he was Nuffield Medical Research Fellow in the Pain group, Department of Clinical Neurology, and Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Genetics. In 2011, Lorimer was also appointed Professor of Neuroscience and Chair in Physiotherapy, The Sansom Institute for Health Research at the University of South Australia.

He has published 140 papers, three books and numerous book chapters. He has given over 120 keynote or invited presentations at interdisciplinary meetings in 26 countries and has provided professional education in pain sciences to over 6000 medical and health practitioners. He consults to governmental and industry bodies in Europe and North America on pain-related issues. He was awarded the inaugural Ulf Lindblom Award for the outstanding mid-career clinical scientist working in a pain-related field by the International Association for the Study of Pain, was shortlisted for the 2011 and 2012 Australian Science Minister’s Prize for Life Sciences, and won the 2013 Marshall & Warren Award from the NHMRC, for the Best Innovative and Potentially Transformative Project.

Professor Luc van Loon, Maastricht University
Maximizing muscle hypertrophy via protein supplementation in athletes
Dietary protein and muscle maintenance in clinical populations
Thursday, 10 April, 2.30pm-3.30pm
Saturday, 12 April, 11.00am-11.45am

Luc van Loon is a Professor of Physiology of Exercise and Head of the M3-research unit at the Department of Human Movement Sciences at Maastricht University Medical Centre.

Luc has an international research standing in the area of skeletal muscle metabolism. Current research in his laboratory focuses on the skeletal muscle adaptive response to exercise, and the impact of nutritional and pharmacological interventions to modulate muscle metabolism in health and disease.

The main research interests of his laboratory include exercise metabolism, sports nutrition, adaptation to endurance and resistance type exercise, and the use of physical activity and/or dietary interventions to improve health in chronic metabolic disease (aging and type 2 diabetes). The latter are investigated on a whole-body, tissue, and cellular level, with skeletal muscle as the main tissue of interest.

Luc has authored more than 170 original, peer-reviewed research and review articles. He is member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism (IJSNEM) and the European Journal of Sport Science (EJSS). He is a member of the Scientific Board of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS) and the Benelux Association for Stabile Isotope Scientists (BASIS).

To support the use of stable isotopes in biomedical research, Prof. van Loon is also scientific coordinator of the Stable Isotope Research Center (SIRC) at the Academic Hospital in Maastricht and coordinator of the Human Performance Laboratory at the Department of Human Movement Sciences.

About ESSA
Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA) is the peak professional body for exercise and sports science in Australia and provides national leadership and advocacy on key issues. It supports its members and the community through fostering excellence in professional practice, education and training and research.
Website: www.essa.org.au

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