An international athletics star has rolled into a new position as lecturer at the University of Dundee's School of Life Sciences, training students about how the human body reacts to exercise.
Former triathlon champion Henning Wackerhage, from Germany, has just taken up the post of Lecturer in Molecular Exercise Physiology and will combine his scientific and teaching experience with his first-hand understanding of exercise to teach students studying for the popular BSc Honours degree in Sport Biomedicine.
Sports Biomedicine applies the principles of natural sciences to biological and medical problems in sports and exercise. It will help us to understand the basis of excellence in sport, as well as the impact of a lack of exercise on health (such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes and osteoporosis) and the often very effective treatment of these diseases with exercise therapy. In addition, the course will be at the cutting edge by exploring the molecular bases of adaptation to exercise. Although it has only been running for one year, applications to the course have already tripled.
As a tri-athlete, Henning was a member of Germany's national team and German University Triathlon champion in 1988 and came 3rd in the German Triathlon Championships and 5th in the European Triathlon Union Series in 1989. He has developed an in-depth knowledge of physical training which, for the last five years, has enhanced his teaching and research interest in molecular exercise physiology. In his previous job at the University of Central Lancashire, he developed exercise therapy classes and investigated the signal transduction that mediates the adaptation to exercise.
On his Dundee appointment Henning (36) said, "Sports Biomedicine deals with how training actually works and having first hand experience of this is certainly useful. The University of Dundee is a world-leader in life sciences and I am looking forward to contributing to a degree that will be at the cutting edge, relevant, interesting and, with the rising interest in sport, our graduates will have very good job prospects."
Dr Wackerhage joins an active research group directed by Professor Mike Rennie which currently holds £ 0.6 million of research grants to investigate human metabolism and exercise in diabetes, aging and osteoporosis.
The Sports Biomedicine course was launched in October 2001 by University Rector and comedian, Fred MacAulay and celebrity Gail Porter, who marked the occasion by climbing on to exercise bikes while wired up to hear monitor machines for a ten-minute cycling competition.
Further information and application details can be received from Alison Cattanach, Admissions and Student Recruitment, University of Dundee. Tel: 01382 344029 email: srs@dundee.ac.uk
Contact: Henning Wackerhage h.wackerhage@dundee.ac.uk Tel 01382 345124
By Jane Smernicki, Press Officer 01382 344768 j.m.smernicki@dundee.ac.uk