People
Charlie Foster is a global leader in systematic reviews and meta-analysis of the evidence base for physical activity, with reviews on epidemiology, correlates, interventions and evaluation of natural experiments. Charlie co-authored the 2011 UK CMO physical activity guidelines and is now the Chair of the UK CMOs Expert Committee for physical activity. Charlie will lead the work on the update of the UK CMO 2011 physical activity guidelines, provide support for the Expert Working Groups (EWGs) and lead the CMO Guidelines Writing Group to produce the final report.
Kate Willis started her career in the Centre for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences at the University of Bristol as fieldworker, gaining experience in participant recruitment, data collection and management. Kate has spent the last three years as a Research Associate working on a variety of projects aimed at increasing physical activity levels among adolescent girls. She has a vast amount of valuable experience in the process evaluation of large complex interventions, qualitative analysis and stakeholder management. Kate is the Central Review Team Research Associate for this project and will coordinate the key milestones, as well as support the needs of each EWG.
John Reilly was formerly Professor of Paediatric Energy Metabolism at the University of Glasgow, but now is currently Professor of Physical Activity & Public Health Science at the University of Strathclyde. His research work focuses on: interventions for the prevention of child and adolescent obesity worldwide; the consequences of obesity and low physical activity in children and adolescents globally; the development and consequences of sedentary behaviour during childhood and adolescence globally. His vast experience leads him to Chair the Under 5s EWG.
Chair of the Children and Young People EWG, Russ Jago is Professor of Paediatric Physical Activity & Public Health and Head of the Centre for Exercise, Nutrition & Health Sciences, within the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol. His two inter-linked areas of research are: a) understanding the factors that influence children and adolescents' physical activity, and sedentary behaviour; and b) designing and evaluating complex interventions to change physical activity and sedentary behaviour among children and adolescents.
Marie Murphy is Professor of Exercise and Health leading the Centre for Physical Activity and Health Research at the University. Marie’s research focuses on the effect of physical activity and exercise, in particular walking, on health and uses a multidisciplinary approach which includes outcome measures ranging from the behavioural to the biochemical. She is a member of the CMOs expert advisory group on physical activity and was a co-author of the current UK CMO 2011 guidelines (“Start Active Stay Active”). Marie is Chairing the Adult EWG.
After becoming the first recipient of the Research into Ageing Queen Mother Research Fellowships, Professor Dawn Skelton specialised in exercise interventions to reduce falls. Consequently, she moved into practice by becoming a Falls Researcher in the NHS at Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth Health Authority. She then took on the role of Scientific Co-ordinator of the European Commission funded ProFaNE (Prevention of Falls Network Europe) project at the University of Manchester. She is a commissioned author for the World Health Organisation and the Department of Health. Her extensive background leads her to Chair the Older Adults EWG.
Ashley Cooper is Professor of Physical Activity and Public Health. He is involved in a number of physical activity intervention trials including Early-ACTID, a major randomised clinical trial of physical activity and dietary modification in the management of newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes in adults. This work has contributed to the establishment of Biomedical Research Unit in Nutrition, Diet and Lifestyle at Bristol, where he leads the “Sedentary Behaviour and Type 2 Diabetes” research theme, making him an excellent candidate to Chair the Sedentary Behaviour EWG.
Nanette Mutrie is Chairing the Communication and Surveillance EWG. She has been the Chair of Physical Activity for Health at the University of Edinburgh since July 2012 and directs the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre (PAHRC). In January 2015 Nanette was awarded an MBE in the New Year's Honours list for services to physical activity for health in Scotland. Nanette has also been involved in various policies, for example, ‘Let’s make Scotland more active’ and the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) programmes on physical activity and the environment.