• BSc (Hons.) Sport and Exercise Sciences (University of Birmingham)
• MSc (Dist.) Exercise Physiology (Loughborough University)
• PhD Sport and Exercise Sciences (University of Birmingham)

Dr Gareth Wallis joined the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences in November 2011 to establish a world-leading research group studying the impact of nutrition on exercise metabolism in relation to health and optimal sporting performance.

Following Undergraduate (Birmingham, 2000) and Masters (Loughborough, 2001) degrees, Dr Wallis worked as a Sport Scientist at the Sport Medicine, Human Performance and Fitness Services Unit (2001-2002) at the University of Birmingham (UK), where he delivered world-class physiological support to high performance athletes.

In 2003 he moved to the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Birmingham to undertake a PhD (2003-2006) under the guidance of Professor Asker E Jeukendrup. His PhD research focused on ‘Exercise Metabolism and Carbohydrate Ingestion in Men and Women’, and made significant contributions to current Sports Nutrition guidelines for endurance athletes. Dr Wallis conducted post-doctoral studies in the laboratory of the world-renowned exercise physiologist Professor George A Brooks in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. At Berkeley he researched in a broad range of areas including exploring novel hypotheses on the role of the mammalian lung in metabolic integration, exercise and training effects on substrate metabolism and metabolic consequences of traumatic brain injury. During his time in Berkeley he was awarded a Senior Research Training Fellowship from the American Lung Association.

Before joining the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Dr Wallis worked as a Principal New Product Research Scientist at GlaxoSmithKline Nutrition (the manufacturers of the Sports Nutrition brands Lucozade Sport and Maxinutrition), based in the UK (2008-2011). In this role he provided strategic scientific input, technical oversight and undertook human volunteer research study management in a scientific program developing innovative new product and claims opportunities for GSK Nutrition, with a particular emphasis on sport and exercise science/nutrition.

Organiser of the ‘Sports Nutrition’ module, available to 3rd year undergraduates studying on the BSc Sport and Exercise Sciences.

A PhD opportunity is available within the Exercise Metabolism Research Group. The project, supervised by Dr Gareth A Wallis, will explore dietary influences on exercise metabolism in relation to the maintenance of lifelong health and in the achievement of optimal sporting performance.

More information can be found at: http://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=36900&LID=151

Dr Wallis’s basic passion is in understanding how and the mechanisms by which exercise and/or nutrition can be used to maintain or improve human health and performance. He studies the influence of diet or nutrition on exercise metabolism in relation to health and optimal sporting performance.

His research aims are to: 

• Explore the physiological significance of variations in substrate oxidation during exercise 
• Attempt to further understand the biological and nutritional determinants of the metabolic response to exercise 
• Explore new dietary and/or exercise interventions designed to optimize the metabolic response to exercise

The ultimate goal of the research is to generate scientific understanding and evidence to support novel ways to influence substrate metabolism to promote the maintenance of human health and/or improve exercise or sporting performance. During his time in Berkeley he was awarded a Senior Research Training Fellowship from the American Lung Association.

Throughout his doctoral and post-doctoral training Dr Wallis used a diverse array of experimental techniques including classic human exercise physiology testing and whole body metabolic techniques (indirect calorimetry, stable isotope tracer methods), human skeletal muscle sampling, and the combination of stable isotope tracers with arterial-venous blood sampling to characterize the dynamic flux of metabolites across diverse tissues (brain, lung, leg) in man and small animals. Many of these techniques are now used due to the excellent facilities provided at the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Birmingham.

1. Atkinson, G., Taylor, C.E., Morgan, H., Ormond, L.R. & Wallis, G.A (2011). Pre-race dietary carbohydrate can independently influence sub-elite marathon running performance. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 32:1-7
2. Zarins, Z.A., Wallis, G.A., Faghihnia, N., Johnson, M.L., Fattor, J.A., Horning, M.A. & Brooks, G.A (2009). Effects of endurance training on cardio respiratory fitness and substrate partitioning in postmenopausal women. Metabolism, 58(9):1338-46.
3. Zarins, Z.A., Johnson, M.L., Faghihnia, N., Horning, M.A., Wallis, G.A., Fattor, J.A. & Brooks, G.A (2009). Training improves the response in glucose flux to exercise in postmenopausal women. Journal of Applied Physiology, 107(1):90-7.
4. Hulston, C.J., Wallis, G.A. & Jeukendrup, A.E (2009). Exogenous carbohydrate oxidation with glucose plus fructose intake during exercise. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 41(2):357-63.
5. Wallis, G.A., Hulston, C.J., Mann, C.H., Roper, H., Tipton, K.D. & Jeukendrup A.E (2008). Post exercise muscle glycogen synthesis with combined glucose and fructose ingestion. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 40(10):1789-94.
6. Wallis, G.A., Friedlander, A.L., Jacobs, K.A., Horning, M.A., Fattor, J.A., Wolfel, E.E., Lopaschuk, G.D. & Brooks, G.A (2007). Substantial working muscle glycerol turnover during two-legged cycle ergometry. American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, 293(4):E950-7.
7. Wallis, G.A., Yeo, S.E., Blannin, A.K. & Jeukendrup, A.E (2007). Dose-response effects of ingested carbohydrate on exercise metabolism in women. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 39(1):131-138.
8. Wallis, G.A., Dawson, R., Achten, J., Webber, J. & Jeukendrup, A.E (2006). Metabolic response to carbohydrate ingestion during exercise in males and females. American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, 290(4):E708-15.
9. Wallis, G.A., Rowlands, D.S., Shaw, C., Jentjens, R.L.P.G. & Jeukendrup, A.E (2005). Oxidation of combined maltodextrins and fructose ingestion during prolonged exercise. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 37(3):426-432.
10. Jeukendrup, A.E & Wallis, G.A (2005). Measurement of substrate oxidation during exercise by means of gas exchange measurement. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 26 (Suppl 1):S28-37.