Ms Gemma Knowles

Ms Gemma Knowles

Doctoral Researcher

Contact details

Address
Public Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
School of Health and Population Sciences
HSRC building (WAVES office)
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

PhD title: Ethnic variations in childhood obesity and associated lifestyle factors

Supervisors: Dr. Peymane Adab and Dr. Neil Thomas

Gemma is a Doctoral Researcher in the department of Public Health and Epidemiology. Her main research interests are physical activity and health, body composition measurement techniques, and ethnic variations in the correlates of obesity and physical activity.

Qualifications

  • BSc in Sport and Exercise Science, University of Birmingham, 2008

Biography

Gemma’s research is primarily based on the WAVES study, an obesity prevention intervention targeting primary school children across the West Midlands. Her thesis will explore ethnic differences in the correlates of obesity and physical activity among the WAVES cohort. She is also working with a research team at the Institute of Human Performance, at the University of Hong Kong, on a collaborative project which aims to understand the links between physical activity and cardiometabolic health in Chinese primary school children. Gemma’s research is funded by the university’s Centre for Obesity Research, and an Overseas Research Funding Award

Research

  • Centre for Obesity Research.
  • WAVES study research team.

Other activities

Gemma has a part time position in the Postgraduate Student Recruitment department, and is a postgraduate student mentor for the School of Health and Population Sciences.

Outside of academia, Gemma spends most of her time running around a hockey pitch. She is also a qualified hockey coach and enjoys coaching junior and adult teams. She also enjoys running, cycling and football.