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Global list of academics and students at ACU for world-leading exercise and nutrition research

ACU’s prestigious Centre for Human Metabolism and Performance has attracted an impressive  influx of international visiting professors and students this year.

Centre director Professor John Hawley said the centre was currently hosting visiting professors from South Korea, Canada, and Belgium alongside a team of PhD students from China, Iran, and Scotland.

“These collaborations are putting ACU in the international spotlight,” Professor Hawley said.

“It’s a testament to the reputation of our centre and the outstanding people within it that so many talented researchers want to work with, and among, the very best in their fields.

“It is a wonderful opportunity to recognise and celebrate the incredible people who have chosen ACU and the Centre for Human Metabolism and Performance as their academic home.”

PhD candidate Shahin Khodabandeh from Iran chose ACU because of its excellent research facilities and advanced laboratory equipment, to match his interests in exercise and nutrition.

“What truly drew me here, though, was the chance to work with the centre’s internationally respected researchers, people whose work I have followed and admired for years,” he said.

“For anyone in the field of exercise nutrition, having the opportunity to learn from such researchers is something special, and I’m grateful to be part of this team.”

Among the PhD cohort is former university basketball athlete Mingyue Yin from Chengdu in China.

“My master's research previously focused on application research on brief high-intensity exercise, such as exercise snacks and HIIT, and now centres on exercise, nutrition, and mitochondrial metabolism, specifically their effects on molecular response and whole-body integrative adaptation in humans,” Mingyue said.

“I am deeply honoured to have received the RTP scholarship to join ACU, where I can work under Professor Hawley and collaborate with an outstanding international team of supervisors at a world-class exercise metabolism platform.”

Competitive distance runner Yana Pauwelyn, a master’s student in Biomedical Research in Movement Sciences at KU Leuven in Belgium, is completing an internship.

“I am particularly inspired by ACU’s innovative research environment and world-leading facilities, including its metabolic chamber,” she said.

“The opportunity to learn from Professor Louise Burke, a global leader in sports nutrition research, made ACU the ideal place for my research internship.”

She is working alongside Professor Jonghoon Park from the Department of Physical Education at Korea University in Seoul, South Korea, where he leads the Exercise Nutrition and Biochemistry Laboratory.

Professor Park’s research focuses on how exercise and nutrition improve obesity, diabetes, metabolic health, and performance in elite athletes.

“ACU’s Centre for Human Metabolism and Performance provide one of the world’s leading environments for exercise and nutrition research, with exceptional facilities and a highly collaborative scientific culture,” he said.

“Working with Professor John Hawley – whose pioneering work has greatly influenced my own –was a major motivation for my visit, and I believe this experience will significantly strengthen the impact of my future research.”

Another researcher committed to advancing work in human metabolism and performance, Professor Martin Sénéchal from the Canada’s University of New Brunswick (UNB) is also collaborating with the centre.

“At my institution, I lead the Cardiometabolic Exercise and Lifestyle Laboratory which mostly focus on obesity, type 2 diabetes and exercise response,” he said.

“UNB is officially ranked the number 1 university in the Atlantic provinces and is the university with the biggest research output in New Brunswick.

“I chose to visit CHMP at ACU because of their gold‑standard facilities and internationally recognised expertise in metabolism. The research output that came out of the CHMP at ACU sparked several novel research questions from our group over the last decade. 

“The ACU and CHMP environment is renowned for producing high‑impact research, exactly the kind of environment in which I hope to contribute. I am eager to become more deeply engaged in the research taking place here, and I hope to build strong, long‑term collaborations that extend well beyond my visit, enriching human metabolism research and strengthening the work within my home laboratory.”

Caption: International visiting professors and students at the Centre for Human Metabolism and Performance. Pictured from back left Professor Jonghoon Park (South Korea), Professor Martin Sénéchal (Canada), Jay Chan (Hong Kong), Mingyue Yin (China), Alicia Walker (Australia), Kyle Dunlop (Scotland), Shahin Khodabandeh (Iran), Tine Geets (Belgium). Seated: Dominique Greyvenstein, (Canada), Professor Louise Burke, Professor John Hawley and Yana Pauwelyn (Belgium). Not pictured: Megan Doherty (Australia) and Wentao Tang (China).