Expert given £100,000 to explore how staying active can ward off dangerous effects of stress
A RESEARCHER at Loughborough University has been given £100,000 to investigate how staying active can help maintain health during periods of stress.
Dr Nicola Paine, lecturer in health psychology within the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, will research how physical activity affects immune cells.
Acute periods of short-term stress, such as being late for an important meeting or receiving bad news, are something that people routinely experience.
Over a longer, prolonged period this stress exposure could be detrimental to your health.
The project will build on Dr Paine’s previous work regarding the impact of acute psychological stress on levels of cardiovascular health.
Speaking about the award, Dr Paine said: “I am honoured that the Academy of Medical Sciences has awarded me funding to develop my research into the impact of inactivity on our immune system and how it responds to stress.
“Both levels of inactivity and stress are highly prevalent and continuing to rise in society and understanding how these factors interact to potentially increase risk of heart disease is a key public health issue.
“As we better understand the stress-induced immune mechanisms and cells that are affected by physical inactivity, we can start to design interventions to target these mechanisms. This will help improve our responses to stress and more widely our health.
“I am excited to further develop my research in this area, and grow my research team, and sincerely thank the academy for their support.”
The £100,000 grant was awarded by the Springboard Fellowship from the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Dr Paine will have access to the academy’s mentoring and career development programme. The research project is due to commence in August and will run until 2023.
Professor Michael Gleeson, also from the university, recently published the Pick n Mix Diet, a book promoting using a variety of different diets alongside light exercise, to lose weight and get into shape.