Dr Oliver Gibson is a Senior Lecturer in Exercise Physiology and a member of staff in the Division of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences, Department of Life Sciences and a member of the Centre for Physical Activity in Health and Disease. Oliver is the MSc Sport Performance Science programme lead and module leader for SP1616 Introduction to Human Anatomy and Physiology, SP2605 Physiology of Sport and Exercise, and SP5603 Sport Performance Science. He is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a member of The Physiological Society. Oliver's primary research interests relate to Applied Human Physiology and in particular the impact of Heat Stress on Human Health, Performance, and Function. Please see the Research Tab, for further details. Publications can be viewed in the 'Selected Publications' tab and via Google Scholar. Oliver provides peer-review for a number of international journals, and has presented at numerous of national and international conferences winning several young investigator awards. Throughout his career he has provided physiology consultancy to a number of high performance sports.
Applications are invited from candidates seeking to undertake a focused programme of work related to the above areas using robust sport, health and exercise physiology methods to examine the effects of hyperthermia on the resting and exercising human.
This research focus examines the impact of Heat Stress on Human Health, Performance, and Function and can be broadly divided into three areas:
• Understanding the impact of climate change/heat waves on human health: This work examines the effects of temperature on gut permeability and inflammation in younger and older adults. Associated work considers strategies to improve the resilience of the gut to stress e.g., nutritional interventions.
• Examining the efficacy of heat therapy interventions to enhance health: Experimental work in this area has an emphasis on the impact of passive heating as a means to improve skeletal muscle function and induce targeted adaptations.
• Quantifying changes in sport performance in the heat and examining methods to attenuate performance declines and risk to athlete health: Work in this domain includes laboratory and field based testing to characterise changes in performance and establish the efficacy of heat alleviation interventions such a heat acclimation and pre-cooling.
Doctoral researchers working in this area will utilise an array of thermophysiological and metabolic measurement techniques to quantify systemic and local responses during passive or exertional heat stress. In addition, projects may utilise a variety of tissue sampling techniques e.g., muscle biopsies and venepuncture/cannulation, with the collected samples ultimately analysed using benchtop or advanced measurement approaches e.g., RT-PCr, Western Blotting and ELISA techniques. In addition to conducting human experimental trials, cell culture techniques may be utilised as a complement to the established in vivo human work.
How to apply
If you are interested in applying for the above PhD topic please follow the steps below:
- Contact the supervisor by email or phone to discuss your interest and find out if you would be suitable. Supervisor details can be found on this topic page. The supervisor will guide you in developing the topic-specific research proposal, which will form part of your application.
- Click on the "Apply here" button on this page and you will be taken to the relevant PhD course page, where you can apply using an online application.
- Complete the online application indicating your selected supervisor and include the research proposal for the topic you have selected.
Good luck!
This is a self funded topic
Brunel offers a number of funding options to research students that help cover the cost of their tuition fees, contribute to living expenses or both. See more information here.
The UK Government is also offering Doctoral Student Loans for eligible students, and there is some funding available through the Research Councils.
Many of our international students benefit from funding provided by their governments or employers. Brunel alumni enjoy tuition fee discounts of 15%.