Double Olympic champion to attend sport nutrition event at Northumbria

Dame Kelly Holmes, Technical Advisor at the GSK Human Performance Lab, will join leading experts in sport and exercise nutrition at Northumbria University, Newcastle this week.

Dame Kelly comes to Northumbria as the University once again plays host to the International Sports and Exercise Nutrition Conference 2013 (ISENC13) between 17-19 December.

The event was launched at Northumbria University last year following the London 2012 Olympic Games. It brings together international experts in the field to review the latest evidence of the effects of diet and exercise on human health and performance.

The Conference is organised and marketed by North East based Sports Marketing Company Roberts and Partners Ltd. They are also responsible for the very successful International Sports Science and Sports Medicine Conference (ISSSMC), also hosted at Northumbria.

While on campus conference delegates will have an opportunity to tour Northumbria University’s state of the art sport science laboratories housed in the £30m Sport Central facility.

On 18 December, Dame Kelly will be the special guest at a Northumbria University-sponsored Q&A event. The two-time Olympic medallist will appear in her role as Technical Advisor for the GSK Human Performance Lab – one of the conference’s major sponsors. She will talk to delegates about the role that nutrition has played in her athletic career and success.

The GSK Human Performance Lab is a new world class science facility focused on applied and discovery research, which combines GSK science expertise, external advisors and cutting edge technology to deepen understanding of human performance to enable people to do more, feel better and live longer.

Dame Kelly said: “I’m looking forward to ISENC13 and seeing everyone at Northumbria University in my role as Technical Advisor to the GSK Human Performance Lab. The GSK Human Performance Lab has sophisticated equipment and technology and its scientists are at the cutting edge of sport science. My aim is to give them further insight and understanding into elite human performance.”

During the conference Dr Emma Stevenson, Reader in Sport and Exercise Nutrition and Associate Director of Northumbria’s Brain, Performance and Nutrition Research Centre (BPNRC), will share the latest research into the effects of nutritional supplements on brain function currently taking place at the University.

In her talk, entitled Supplements for Cognitive Function, Dr Stevenson will describe how the BPNRC has developed a software tool to measure brain performance that will aid researchers in higher education and pharmaceutical companies.

The Computerised Mental Performance Assessment System (COMPASS) is a battery of standardised cognitive tasks and mood measures that has already produced a dossier of published research, including papers examining the effects of caffeine, sage, and omega-3 fatty acids on cognitive performance.

Dr Stevenson, who is chair of ISENC13’s local organising committee, said: “It is fantastic to have world-leading experts in sport and exercise nutrition sharing research and practice at the ISENC conference here at Northumbria University. We are very much looking forward to welcoming friends and colleagues from around the globe.”

Prof Kath McCourt, Executive Dean of Health and Life Sciences at Northumbria University, said: “We are delighted to host the International Sports and Exercise Nutrition Conference at Northumbria once more, following the success of its inaugural year in 2012. The conference brings together leading experts in the field in order to share their research and nutritional knowledge to a wider audience.

“Dame Kelly Holmes – an Olympic double gold medallist – will be a fitting guest for this international event.”

Dave Roberts, MD of Sports Marketing Agency Roberts and Partners Ltd, added: “We are delighted to be returning to Northumbria University with this conference where we recently hosted the ISSSMC Conference.

“Northumbria University Students Union is a great venue to stage the conference and has a very helpful and well organised team that assist to ensure the conference runs smoothly. We have delegates from over 35 countries across the world and all are made welcome by the conference team at Northumbria.”

ISENC13 is a high-level educational event for sports nutritionists, personal trainers and any professional interested in sports nutrition. The conference will feature presentations and discussions by 30 leading global experts in all aspects of nutrition and exercise. Around 300 delegates are expected to attend.

ISENC13 will be held in the Domain Conference Hall at Northumbria Students’ Union, Sandyford, from December 17 – 19. For more details, visit http://www.isenc.org.