The overall aim of this research project is to address novel aspects of integration between respiratory function and human performance and health.
Specific aims are:
- to develop a novel method of evaluating the contractile properties of the human diaphragm and to determine the role these properties may play in the loss of respiratory muscle function with fatigue in young and older adults;
- to explore maladaptation of the respiratory system in response to heat stress and dehydration in young and older adults; and
- to evaluate generic exercise-based rehabilitation for chronic breathlessness and to provide exploratory data on the feasibility and acceptability of a state of the art decision making tool where patients exercise at home in a virtual group supported by an “exercise-avatar”.
The impact of the research is wide ranging and long lasting, with the potential to make a difference to the lives of elderly people and clinical populations, including patients with COPD, heart failure and asthma.
Research Outputs
Simpson AJ, Romer LM, Kippelen P (2017). Exercise-induced dehydration alters pulmonary function but does not modify airway responsiveness to dry air in athletes with mild asthma. J Appl Physiol 122(5):1329-1335.
Simpson AJ, Bood JR, Anderson SD, Romer LM, Dahlén B, Dahlén SE, Kippelen P (2016). A standard, single dose of inhaled terbutaline attenuates hyperpnea-induced bronchoconstriction and mast cell activation in athletes. J Appl Physiol 120(9):1011-1017.
Marshall, H., Gibson, OR., Romer, LM., Illidi, CR., Hull, JH. and Kippelen, P. (2020) 'Systemic but not local rehydration restores dehydration-induced changes in pulmonary function in healthy adults'. Journal of Applied Physiology, 130 (3). pp. 517 - 527. ISSN: 8750-7587
Dr Lee Romer - Dr Lee Romer is a Reader in Human and Applied Physiology at Brunel University of London. His research examines how respiratory system function influences exercise tolerance and fatigue in health and disease.
Following undergraduate and postgraduate studies at Brunel, Dr Romer worked as a physiologist at the British Olympic Medical Centre before undertaking doctoral research at the University of Birmingham. He subsequently completed post-doctoral research at the John Rankin Laboratory of Pulmonary Medicine, University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA, before returning to Brunel in 2004. He has been a Reader since 2009 and served as Head of Department (formerly Division) of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences from 2014 to 2018.
Dr Romer has authored more than 100 journal articles, reviews and book chapters, including invited reviews and chapters associated with the American College of Sports Medicine, American Physiological Society, American Thoracic Society and International Olympic Committee Medical Commission. He is currently Senior Editor of Experimental Physiology and has held editorial positions with several other international journals. He is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and The Physiological Society and an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences. His work has attracted more than 9,000 citations, with a Google Scholar h-index of 47.
His work has extended beyond the university through engagement with elite sport, professional organisations and professional education. He has subsequently provided physiological consultancy and advice to UK Sport, ParalympicsGB and the English Institute of Sport, including work to develop physiological services for GB governing bodies. He has also contributed to professional standards in the sport and exercise sector through technical evaluation and occupational-standard development with SkillsActive.
He has contributed to professional education through invited teaching and specialist courses in respiratory and exercise physiology, including as faculty for the annual Cambridge–UCLA Symposium on Clinical Exercise Testing and Interpretation. He has also undertaken advisory work for professional organisations, including the European Lung Foundation, and contributed to professional resources on physical activity and respiratory disease.