Exercise & Health Sciences
ECU’s Exercise and Health Sciences students have access to cutting-edge teaching and research facilities, including state-of-the-art sports science laboratories. In addition, our purpose-built Health and Wellness building includes an occupational therapy teaching suite, nutrition laboratories, and the Edith Cowan University Health and Wellness Institute. We strive for excellence in teaching and learning, and nurture the development of an active research culture.
Real-world experience for our Nutrition and Dietetics students
Our Master in Nutrition and Dietetics students have the chance to undertake a five-month practicum placement period, covering areas of clinical dietetics, community nutrition and foodservice.
Students gain valuable insight and industry experience though placements at a variety of locations, including Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nutrition Australia and Gourmania. The first cohort of Dietetic students set out on practicum at the start of 2011.
Promising ECU Researcher Awarded a Research Scholarship by the Cancer Council
PhD in Sports Science student, Greg Levin, was recently awarded a top-up Ancillary PhD Scholarship by the Cancer Council of Western Australia.
The $12,000 scholarship supports the work of promising young PhD students with a research interest in cancer, and will allow Greg to conduct research into the effects of exercise on the mental health and quality of life of cancer survivors.
Greg is currently working with the team at ECU's Health and Wellness Institute, and hopes to understand why and how cancer survivors experience a boost in self‑esteem and quality‑of‑life when they combine exercise with their treatments.
"ECU enhanced my research skills and helped me gain experience."
"My Masters by Research was hard work but it would have been much harder without the guidance and support of ECU staff and supervisors. They kept me on track, enhanced my research skills and helped me gain employment as a research assistant in the area of Child and Adolescent Health Promotion. Anyone wishing to further their career should consider postgraduate studies at ECU. They're flexible, supportive and focused on you achieving your goals."
Patricia Cardoso
Masters by Research (Public Health) graduate
ECU researchers awarded a research grant in partnership with Woodside
A team of researchers from the School of Exercise, Biomedical and Health Sciences, were recently awarded a $60,000 research grant by the Australia China Natural Gas Technology Partnership Fund (The Gas Fund) to test heat stress interventions under operational conditions.
Led by senior staff in the Faculty of Computing, Health and Science, Associate Prof Jacques Oosthuizen, Mr Joseph Mate and Mr Martyn Cross, the project will look at workers as occupational athletes, analysing how they perform their work in hot environments. The analysis will include field work on Woodside offshore facilities, as well as land-based operations conducted over the summer.
Vario Wellness Clinic - Open to the community
Our Vario Wellness Clinic is staffed by allied health professionals and is open to the community for consultation.
You can book consultations for Physiotherapy, Dietetics, Psychology, Clinical psychology and Exercise physiology.
The clinic also runs a range of programs designed for specific health conditions and populations. Programs include:
- Diabetes
- Cancer
- Overweight children/adults
- Veterans
- Over 50s
- Muscular skeletal conditions
Please see the Vario Wellness Clinic website for information on services.
Keeping Children Fit for Life
Head of the School of Exercise, Biomedical and Health Sciences Professor Rob Newton has embarked on an innovative research project focusing on childhood obesity, exploring the notion that the risks on a child's health due to dieting without accompanying exercise are at least as great as being obese and could be higher.
Findings concluded that the impact on a child later in life could be detrimental, causing early-onset frailty, osteoporosis and other personal injuries, particularly if a cycle of dieting and weight gain is established.
Professor Newton and his team have published the results of their research into the outcomes of resistance training of variable duration on pre-adolescent children aged 7 to 12. The cohort was divided into three and the participants were given, respectively, 8, 16 and 24 weeks of resistance exercises three times a week. They and their parents were also given dietetic information and psychological counselling. Professor Newton states that all the epidemiological research shows that it is fitness rather than fatness that determines your outcome in terms of mortality and morbidity.
Research that makes a difference
Our Exercise & Health Sciences researchers undertake relevant research making a real difference to the local community and society as a whole.
Areas of strength include Exercise, Sports Science and Rehabilitation Research, Health and Ageing, Child Health Promotion, Anti-Bullying and Preventative Health.
Smart 100 list
Professor of Child and Adolescent Health, Donna Cross, earned a place in The Bulletin's Smart 100 list for her ground-breaking work on child health promotion, particularly her research in prevention of bullying, depression and obesity.
The Bulletin's Smart 100 recognises 100 of the most innovative and creative people working in various industries across Australia.
Grant for cancer survivor research
Exercise, Biomedical & Health Sciences researchers, Professor Robert Newton and Dr Daniel Galvao, were awarded $244,000 by the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia to complete a three-year exercise research study of cancer patients.
The research project aims to determine if aerobic and anabolic exercise can reduce the elevated incidence of cardiovascular disease and metabolic complications in prostate cancer patients undergoing androgen deprivation therapy.