Elite and Professional Sport

• Professor Kilduff and Dr Knight currently lead the Welsh Institute of Performance Science whose mission is to further develop sport science in Wales, train future scientists, enhance the application of science in Welsh sports, and increase collaboration between Welsh sport, academia, and business. Dr Love, Dr Bezodis, Dr Hill, Dr Waldron and Dr Mackintosh also sit on the research steering group for WIPS. Prior to the formation of WIPS, Professor Kilduff established the Welsh Elite Performance Sport Innovation Network (WEPSIN) that brought together academics, businesses, and elite sport to answer key performance questions.

• Dr Bezodis, Professor Kilduff and Dr Knight are working on a Welsh Government-funded SMARTExpertise project in collaboration with the Welsh Centre for Printing and Coating and seven industrial partners including the English Institute of Sport. This project is designing, developing and validating wearable technologies for a range of applications to enhance sports performance, including for Olympic athletes. The long-term objective of the project is to lay the foundations for the large-scale manufacture of these smart garments and devices for subsequent commercial use.

• Dr Knight leads SportParentEU, which brings together a team of practitioners and researchers, including Dr Love and Dr Bloodworth from Swansea University, from across Europe to produce information, resources, and suggestions for best practice for parents. This project was, in part stimulated, by Dr Knight’s ongoing collaborations with the NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit. Through these collaborations, Dr Knight is responsible for coordinating research regarding safeguarding young athletes, with a particular emphasis on parental involvement. This research is utilised to underpin the CPSU’s Annual Parent in Sport Week campaign.

• Dr Waldron is working on a SMART Partnerships project co-funded by Welsh-Government and Sports & Wellbeing Analytics, which focuses on the use of wearable technology to monitor the health and performance of elite rugby players.

• Dr Love is currently conducting research on nutritional strategies that protect the health and support the performance of athletes. This has included projects on injury prevention funded by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and supporting the health of young athletes funded by an Erasmus project and local professional sports team.

• Dr Hill is currently leading a project with Sport Wales, which aims to examine and enhance the mental health and well-being of performance athletes, coaches and support staff within the Sport Wales priority sports. This work will directly inform the development of the Sport Wales mental health strategy.

• Dr Owen is currently working on projects relating to the assessment of novel devices for measuring neuromuscular function in elite athletes and the development and assessment of a novel rowing ergometer.

• Dr Heffernan and Professor Kilduff are working with global collaborators on the RugbyGene Study, investigating molecular genetic variation of performance, muscle phenotypes, injury and concussion in elite rugby athletes, as part of the UK led GENESIS project. Dr Heffernan is also working on a project led by Manchester Metropolitan University and in partnership with the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health at University College London, Holos Life Sciences and Oxford BioDynamics, attempting to identify changes in genome conformation following a concussive event in elite rugby union.

Dr Neil Bezodis (EPS Group Lead), Associate Professor

Professor Liam Kilduff (A-STEM Research Centre Lead)

Dr Shane Heffernan, Lecturer

Dr Denise Hill, Senior Lecturer

Dr Camilla Knight, Associate Professor

Dr Thomas Love, Senior Lecturer

Dr Nick Owen, Associate Professor

Dr Mark Waldron, Senior Lecturer

Dr Natalie Brown, Research Assistant

Dr Daniel Cunningham, Research Assistant

Here is a list of the networks that EPS group members are a part of:

• British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) – Dr Knight and Dr Hill are accredited sport and exercise scientists. Dr Hill is a committee member, and BASES CPD representative for the Psychology Division, while Dr Knight is the lead for the development and engagement strand in the Psychology Division. Dr Heffernan sits on the BASES Molecular Exercise Physiology Special Interest Group.
• British Psychological Society (BPS) – Dr Hill is a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the BPS.
• International Society of Biomechanics in Sports (ISBS) – Dr Bezodis is a Fellow and currently a Vice President (Awards) of the Society.
• SportParent EU – Dr Knight is the coordinator of this international sport parenting research network.
• 65 Degrees North – Professor Kilduff is a trustee.