Our people

Areas of expertise: sports nutrition; exercise metabolism; supplements; low energy availability; ketogenic diet

ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8866-5637

Phone: 0422 635 869

Email: Louise.Burke@acu.edu.au

Location: ACU Canberra Campus

Louise is a sports dietitian with 40 years of experience in the education and counselling of elite athletes. She worked at the Australian Institute of Sport for thirty years, first as Head of Sports Nutrition and then as Chief of Nutrition Strategy. She was the team dietitian for the Australian Olympic Teams for the 1996-2012 Summer Olympic Games. Her publications include over 350 papers in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, and the authorship or editorship of several textbooks on sports nutrition. She is an editor of the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Louise was a founding member of the Executive of Sports Dietitians Australia and is a Director of the IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition.

She was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2009 for her contribution to sports nutrition. Louise was appointed as Chair in Sports Nutrition in the Mary MacKillop Institute of Health Research at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne in 2014 and took up this position in a full-time capacity in 2020.

Select publications

• Collins J, Maughan RJ, Gleeson M, Bilsborough J, Jeukendrup A, Morton JP, Phillips SM, A. Armstrong L, Burke LM, Close GL, Duffield R, Larson-Meyer E, Louis J, Medina D, Meyer F, Rollo I, Sundgot-Borgen J, Wall BT, Boullosa B, Dupont G, Lizarraga A, Res P, Bizzini M, Castagna C, Cowie CM, D'Hooghe M, Geyer H, Meyer T, Papadimitriou N, Vouillamoz M, McCall. UEFA expert group statement on nutrition in elite football. Current evidence to inform practical recommendations and guide future research. Br J Sports Med. 2020:bjsports-2019-101961. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2019-101961.

• Stevens, C.J.; Ross, M.L.R.; Carr, A.J.; Vallance, B.; Best, R.; Urwin,C.; Periard,J.D.; Burke, L.M. Postexercise hot-water immersion does not further enhance heat adaptation or performance in endurance athletes training in a hot environment. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, April 2021

• Burke LM, Whitfield J, Heikura IA, Ross MLR, Tee N, Forbes SF, Hall R, McKay AKA, Wallett AM, Sharma AP. Adaptation to Low Carbohydrate High Fat diet is rapid but impairs endurance exercise metabolism and performance despite enhanced glycogen availability. J Physiol. 2021 599(3):771-790

• Burke LM. Ketogenic low CHO, high fat diet: the future of elite endurance sport? J Physiol. 2021 599(3):819-843.

• Whitfield J, Burke LM, McKay AKA, Heikura IA, Hall R, Fensham N, Sharma AP Acute Ketogenic Diet and Ketone Ester Supplementation Impairs Race Walk Performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2021;53:776-84.

• McKay AKA, Pyne DB, Burke LM, Peeling P. Iron Metabolism: Interactions with Energy and Carbohydrate Availability. 2020; 12(12):3692. doi: 10.3390/nu12123692.

• Wells KR, Jeacocke NA, Appaneal R, Smith HD, Vlahovich N, Burke LM, Hughes D. The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC) position statement on disordered eating in high performance sport. Br J Sports Med. 2020: bjsports-2019-101813. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2019-101813. 

• King AJ,Burke LM, Halson SL, Hawley JA. The Challenge of Maintaining Metabolic Health During a Global Pandemic. Sports Med. 2020; 50(7):1233-124

• Burke LM, Sharma AP, Heikura IA, Forbes SF, Holloway M, McKay AKA, Bone JL, Leckey JJ, Welvaert M, Ross ML. Crisis of confidence averted: Impairment of exercise economy and performance in elite race walkers by ketogenic low carbohydrate, high fat (LCHF) diet is reproducible. PLoS One. 2020 4;15(6):e0234027. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0234027

• Heikura IA, Burke LM, Hawley JA, Ross ML, Garvican-Lewis L, Sharma AP, McKay AKA, Leckey JJ, Welvaert M, McCall L, Ackerman KE. A Short-Term Ketogenic Diet Impairs Markers of Bone Health in Response to Exercise. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2020; 10:880. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2019.00880. eCollection 2019.· Betts JA, Gonzalez JT, Burke LM, Close GL, Garthe I, James LJ, Jeukendrup AE, Morton JP, Nieman DC, Peeling P, Phillips SM, Stellingwerff T, van Loon LJC, Williams C, Woolf K, Maughan R, Atkinson G. PRESENT 2020: Text Expanding on the Checklist for Proper Reporting of Evidence in Sport and Exercise Nutrition Trials. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2020; 30(1); 2-13.

• McCubbin AJ, Allanson BA, Caldwell Odgers JN, Cort MM, Costa RJS, Cox GR, Crawshay ST, Desbrow B, Freney EG, Gaskell SK, Hughes D, Irwin C, Jay O, Lalor BJ, Ross MLR, Shaw G, Périard JD, Burke LM. Sports Dietitians Australia Position Statement: Nutrition for Exercise in Hot Environments. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2020; 30(1): 83-98

Projects

• Effects of Mitopure (Urolithin A) on skeletal muscle function, iron regulation and endurance performance (2021). Funding: Amazentis, Switzerland: $294K

• The effect of ketone ester supplement in conjunction with adaptation to ketogenic diet on metabolism and performance in elite athletes (2020) Funding: Project Grant. Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, Australian Catholic University: $128K

• The effect of potato-supported strategies to increase carbohydrate oxidation, race economy and performance during endurance exercise (2018-2019). Funding: Alliance of Potato Research and Education (USA): US$140K

• The effect of dietary periodisation strategies on health and performance outcomes in world class endurance athletes (2017-2019): Funding: 3 year extension of Program Grant (2017000800) from Australian Catholic University Research: 533K continuing Supernova projects

• The effect of different dietary strategies on health and performance outcomes of a block of intensified training in world class endurance athletes (2015-2016). Funding: Project fund from AIS High Performance Sports Research Fund (40K) towards Supernova project

• The effect of dietary periodisation strategies on health and performance outcomes in world class endurance athletes (2014-2016) Funding: 3 year Program Grant (2013000800) from Australian Catholic University Research Funding (480K)

• Effects of a high calcium pre-event meal on performance, biomarkers of calcium homeostasis and post-exercise appetite in female cyclists (2013). Funding: Dairy Australia ($100 K)

• Effect of pantothenic acid on enhancing muscle metabolic function and performance via optimisation of Coenzyme A concentrations (2012-2013). Funding: Australian Sports Research Program Big Ideas Fund ($110 K) 

• Effect of dairy-based high-protein, variable-carbohydrate diets and exercise on muscle maintenance and movement (2012-2013). Funding: Dairy Health and Nutrition Research Consortium ($520 K)

• Optimising exercise and nutrition throughout the Life Cycle (2010-2013) Study 1. The effect of the daily pattern of dietary protein intake on muscle protein synthesis and whole body net protein balance after exercise Study 2. The impact of negative energy balance on acute muscle protein synthesis. Funding: ARC Linkage Grant LP100100010: ($660 K).

Accolades and awards

• Excellence in Mentoring (2017). Sports Dietitians Australia 21st anniversary Awards

• Medal of the Order of Australia (2009). For services to sports nutrition, as a dietitian and through academic, research and administrative roles)

• Citation Award (2009) American College of Sports Medicine

• Australia Bulletin Smart 100 Award (2007) Winner in Category: Sport

• Distinguished Scholar Award (2007): Sports, Cardiovascular and Wellness Nutritionists, USA

• David R Lamb Excellence in Education Award (2007), Gatorade Sports Science Institute

Appointments and affiliations

• Member, Australian Institute of Sport, Sports Supplement Framework Committee

• Member, Nutrition Working Group of International Olympic Committee

• Director, International Olympic Committee Diploma in Sports Nutrition

Editorial roles

• Special projects editor, International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism

Public engagement

• Twitter - @LouiseMBurke