Professor Janice L. Thompson PhD, FACSM

School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences
Professor of Public Health Nutrition and Exercise

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0)121 414 8872
Email: j.thompson.1@bham.ac.uk

Address: School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Professor Janice L. Thompson is a leading expert in the field of public health nutrition and exercise, and their role in preventing and treating risks for obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes across the lifespan.

Qualifications

BSc in Physical Education (Exercise Physiology), California State University, Sacramento

MSc in Physical Education (Exercise Physiology), California State University, Sacramento

PhD in Exercise Science (Exercise Physiology and Nutrition), Arizona State University, Tempe

Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine

Biography

Professor Thompson completed her PhD in Exercise Physiology and Nutrition from Arizona State University in 1991. After completing post-doctoral fellowship training at Stanford University in 1995, she worked at University of North Carolina, Charlotte and at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. Prior to joining the University of Birmingham in 2012, she was Professor of Public Health Nutrition at the University of Bristol. She is a Fellow and Past Vice President of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). She is also a member of the Scientific Committee of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS).

Professor Thompson was awarded the 2015 ACSM Citation Award. This award is granted to an individual or group who has made significant and important contributions to sports medicine and/or the exercise sciences. These contributions may include, but are not limited to, research and scholarship; clinical care; and/or administrative or educational services in sports medicine or exercise science.

Teaching

Professor Thompson is the module co-ordinator for a third-year undergraduate module on Public Health Nutrition. She also contributes lectures to various BSc and MSc courses within the School and across the University. She is the author of 4 nutrition textbooks published in English, Spanish, Korean, and Arabic.

Postgraduate supervision

Janice has supervised 5 doctoral researchers and more than 60 MSc students to completion. She currently supervises 7 doctoral students and welcomes applications from potential doctoral researchers in her areas of interest.

Research

Public health nutrition and physical activity; mixed methods research; dietary assessment techniques; community-based evaluations and interventions; ageing and minority ethnic health.

Professor Thompson gave an invited talk entitled Obesity Wars: Exercise vs. Diet at the Huffines Discussions 5 event (HD5) in November 2015. Watch the video of this talk on the Huffines Institute website here.

Publications

Selected recent publications

Pallan M, T Griffin, K Hurley, E Lancashire, J Blissett, E Frew, L Griffith, K Hemming, K Jolly, E McGee, Thompson J, Jackson L, Gill P, Parry J, and Adab P. Cultural adaptation of a children's weight management programme: the CHANGE intervention development and feasibility study. Health Technology Assessment, 2018 (in press).
Jago R, E Solomon-Moore, Z Toumpakari, DA Lawlor, JL Thompson, and SJ Sebire. Parents’ perspectives of change in child PA & SV between Y1 (5-6) & Y4 (8-9) of primary school: Implications for behaviour change. BMC Public Health, 2018, 18:520. doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5445-2.
Stathi A, J Withall, CJ Greaves, JL Thompson, G Taylor, A Medina-Lara, C Green, J Bilzon, S Gray, H Johansen-Berg, CE Sexton, MJ Western, JL de Koning, JC Bollen, SJ Moorlock, N Demnitz, P Seager, JM Guralnik, WJ Rejeski, and KR Fox. A community-based physical activity intervention to prevent mobility-related disability for retired older people (Retirement in ACTion [REACT]): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials, 2018, 19(1):228. doi: 10.1186/s13063-018-2603-x.
Solomon-Moore E, J Matthews, T Reid, Z Toumpakari, SJ Sebire, JL Thompson, DA Lawlor, and R Jago. Examining the challenges posed to parents by the contemporary screen environments of children: a qualitative investigation. BMC Pediatrics, 2018, 18:129, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-018-1106-y.
Salway RE, SJ Sebire, E Solomon-Moore, JL Thompson, and R Jago. The association of physical activity and sedentary time between children in school-based same-sex friendship networks: a cross-sectional social network analysis. International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2018, 15:18, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-018-0653-9.
Solomon-Moore E, Z Toumpakari, SJ Sebire, JL Thompson, DA Lawlor, and R Jago. The roles of mothers and fathers in supporting child physical activity: a cross-sectional mixed-methods study. BMJ Open, 22 January 2018, http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019732.
Castaneda Gameros D, S Redwood, and JL Thompson. Nutrient intake and factors influencing eating behaviours in older migrant women living in the UK. Ecology of Food and Nutrition, 2018, 57(1):50-68.
Shvedko A, A Whittaker, JL Thompson, and CA Greig. Physical activity interventions for treatment of social isolation, loneliness or low social support in older adults: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials. Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 2018, 34:128-137.
Fermont JM, JM Blazeby, CA Rogers, and S Wordsworth on behalf of the By-Band-Sleeve Study Management Group. The EQ-5D-5L is a valid approach to measure health related quality of life in patients undergoing bariatric surgery. PLoS One, 18 December 2017, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189190.
Macdonald-Wallis C, E Solomon-Moore, SJ Sebire, JL Thompson, DA Lawlor, R Jago. A longitudinal study of the associations of children's body mass index and physical activity with blood pressure. PLOS ONE, 19 December 2017, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188618.