Bethan Phillips
Professor of Translational Physiology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences
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Teaching Summary
My teaching contribution is primarily based around two courses both hosted within the Division of Medical Sciences & Graduate Entry Medicine at the Royal Derby Hospital Centre; Graduate Entry… read more
Research Summary
As part of the MRC-Versus Arthritis Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research (CMAR), my work focuses on the pathophysiology of musculoskeletal morbidities (sarcopenia, cachexia, arthritis, disuse,… read more
Manuscript review for a variety of clinical and physiology journals, including: Applied Physiology, Nutrition & Metabolism; Experimental Physiology; American Journal of Physiology Heart & Circ; Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise; Techniques in Coloproctology and Cancer Research Fronteirs.
Associate Editor for Applied Physiology, Nutrition & Metabolism.
My teaching contribution is primarily based around two courses both hosted within the Division of Medical Sciences & Graduate Entry Medicine at the Royal Derby Hospital Centre; Graduate Entry Medicine and BSc (Hon) Medical Physiology & Therapeutics. I deliver cardiovascular physiology on both of these courses, in addition to skeletal muscle physiology on the undergraduate course. I also contribute to faculty-level postgraduate research training, delivering sessions on critical appraisal of the scientific literature". I am module convenor for two optional modules on the BSc course; Skeletal Muscle in Health and Disease (2nd year) and Ageing Systems Physiology (3rd year). I deliver invited teaching sessions at the University of Exeter and am heavily involved in encouraging our undergraduate students to engage with scientific outreach opportunities.
Current Research
As part of the MRC-Versus Arthritis Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research (CMAR), my work focuses on the pathophysiology of musculoskeletal morbidities (sarcopenia, cachexia, arthritis, disuse, metabolic syndrome etc.) and interventions to mitigate their progression and consequences. Combining molecular biology, stable isotope methodologies and detailed in vivo human physiology, I have been a key part of a team that has uncovered fundamental parameters governing alterations in musculoskeletal metabolism with ageing and disease. The unique aspect of my expertise is combining detailed in vivo human physiology with state-of-the-art vascular imaging methodologies to determine links between vascular function (including the musculoskeletal microvasculature) and metabolic dysregulation in ageing and disease, and in the context of exercise-, nutrition- and pharmacological-based interventions. Latterly, I have also been involved in the application of OMIC technologies to discover predictors of, and the basis for, musculoskeletal and vascular decline in ageing and disease. My future focus is aimed at investigating the mechanisms of, and developing predictors for, the heterogeneous metabolic and physiological improvements in responses to exercise-for-health interventions and conversely, disuse or inactivity. I also have a strong interest in developing optimal exercise training interventions, based around clinical constraints (e.g. time to surgery), to improve physical function in varying clinical cohorts (i.e. colorectal cancer, rheumatoid arthritis). I have significant involvement with aspects of research relating to postgraduate training, ethics and scientific outreach.