Cardiovascular Health Sciences research group
The Cardiovascular Health Sciences Research Group investigates the role of exercise and physical activity in shaping cardiovascular and respiratory health, with a primary focus on improving the prevention, early identification, and clinical management of cardiovascular disease.
Understanding how the heart and vasculature adapts to exercise provides a powerful window into both human performance and disease. Our research brings together physiology, imaging, and clinical science to better distinguish health from pathology and ultimately improve cardiovascular outcomes.
David Oxborough
Co-Research Group Lead, RISES
Our core areas of activity
Sports cardiology and pre-participation screening
The Sports Cardiology and Pre-Participation Screening subgroup investigates cardiovascular adaptation to exercise in both elite and recreational athletes. Using electrocardiography and advanced echocardiographic imaging, our research seeks to define the normal range and determinants of the athlete’s heart, including the influence of age, sex, ethnicity, and sporting discipline.
A key focus of our work is improving the ability to differentiate physiological cardiac adaptation from inherited cardiac conditions such as cardiomyopathy. In parallel, we evaluate the effectiveness of pre-participation cardiac screening programmes, contributing to the development and implementation of national screening guidelines informed by our research.
Discover our work on Sports Cardiology and pre-participation screening
Image and performance enhancing drugs and cardiovascular health
The Image and Performance Enhancing Drugs and Cardiovascular Health subgroup investigates the cardiovascular effects of image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs) in recreational gym users through to competitive bodybuilders.
Our research adopts a multidisciplinary approach, integrating sports cardiology, nutrition, lipidomics, and advanced cardiovascular imaging to better understand the physiological and pathological consequences of IPED use.
Through this work, we aim to identify the cardiovascular risks associated with these substances and develop evidence-based strategies to raise awareness, improve detection, and ultimately reduce harm within these populations.
MOTIVATE
With funding from UKRI and national charities, we developed MOTIVATE, an evidence-informed, theory-driven intervention designed to improve exercise uptake and adherence among people living with long-term conditions.
The programme combines personalised virtual counselling from clinical exercise physiologists with the latest generation of wearable technologies to support home-based physical activity, helping individuals safely integrate exercise into their daily lives.
Cutaneous Vascular and Sudomotor Structure and Function in Health and Disease
The cutaneous vascular and sudomotor function and structure in health and disease subgroup focuses on understanding how the skin’s key vascular and sudomotor functions and structures adapt to exercise and environmental stressors in healthy and disease populations.
Using a range of intricate thermoregulatory and microvascular assessment methods, our research aims to further understand how cutaneous microvascular and sudomotor function and structure respond to exercise and environmental stressors in health and disease.
Discover our work on Cutaneous vascular and sudomotor structure and function
Atrial Fibrillation and Stroke
Dr Ellen Dawson is part of a large EU consortium (TARGET) led by Dr Sandra Ortega-Martorell at LJMU, which aims to revolutionise the management of Atrial Fibrillation (AF) and AF-related strokes (AFRS).
By developing novel virtual twin-based AI models, TARGET combines mechanistic and data-driven virtual twins with causal AI to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice. These models consider established risk factors, comorbidities, imaging, and biomarkers to create personalised approaches that optimise stroke management, rehabilitation treatments, and enhance patients' quality of life.
The integration of these models into monitoring devices and rehabilitation tools accelerates clinical adoption, reducing healthcare costs and overcoming challenges faced by healthcare systems.
Misconceptions in Hypertension (MITH)
Dr Ellen Dawson is leading a ‘Thematic Doctoral Programme’ at LJMU crossing multiple disciplines and themes. Hypertension affects over 1.28 billion people globally, with high prevalence in regions like Cheshire and Merseyside.
Despite efforts to manage the condition, myths hinder progress in three key themes: prevention, detection, and treatment. MITH aims to enhance hypertension management through targeted research and tailored interventions.
Cardiovascular epidemiology
The Cardiovascular Epidemiology theme focuses on understanding the determinants and distribution of cardiovascular disease and guiding primary and secondary prevention.
Using large-scale datasets and advanced analytical approaches, our research aims to identify the lifestyle, clinical, and biological drivers of cardiovascular risk and translate these findings into evidence-based prevention and precision medicine strategies.
Cardiopulmonary health and climate change
The Cardiopulmonary Health & Climate Change subgroup focuses on how rising temperatures and extreme weather events affect the heart and lungs, particularly in vulnerable populations.
Our research aims to better understand how heat stress impacts people living with long-term heart and/or lung conditions, and to develop new approaches to study these effects.
Discover our work on Cardiopulmonary health and climate change
Nutrition, exercise and cardiometabolic health
The Nutrition, Exercise and Cardiometabolic Health subgroup investigates how dietary patterns and lifestyle behaviours influence cardiometabolic risk across diverse populations.
Our research combines large-scale observational analyses using electronic health records and population databases with interventional studies to better understand mechanisms linking nutrition, physical activity, exercise, and metabolic health. Using approaches such as lipidomics, we explore how lifestyle factors influence cardiovascular risk beyond traditional measures.
Alongside observational work, we conduct pilot, feasibility, and randomised controlled trials evaluating nutrition and combined nutrition–exercise interventions, with cardiometabolic outcomes including lipid metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and inflammation. Through this integrated approach, we aim to generate evidence that informs effective lifestyle strategies for the prevention and management of cardiometabolic disease.
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Clinical exercise physiologists: establishment and recognition as healthcare professional in UK
With funding from Research England, we established Clinical Exercise Physiologists (CEPs) as a registered health professional in the UK.
Clinical Exercise Physiologists are university qualified health professionals who specialise in the prescription and delivery of evidence-based exercise interventions to optimise the prevention, treatment and long-term management of acute, sub-acute, chronic and complex conditions (NHS careers).
Our work involved identifying and working with an established regulator to develop pathways for formal registration of CEPs based upon formal education, knowledge, skills and competencies.