Welcome from the team!

Welcome to this course on Exercise Prescription for the Prevention and Treatment of Disease. In this short video, Prof. Cuisle Forde talks about the key learning objectives of this course, and what’s in store for you over the next two weeks.

Five educators will be guiding you through this course from the discipline of Physiotherapy and the discipline of Physiology at Trinity College Dublin.

This week Cuisle and Aine will be guiding you through exercise prescription for the prevention of disease. This will include defining physical activity, exploring perceptions of exercise prescription, examining the body’s response to physical exercise, looking at the evidence behind exercise prescription, and detailing physical activity guidelines. Read more about their roles, and why they value exercise as a treatment tool:

Professor Cuisle Forde Through an interest in technology and innovative teaching methods, I helped develop Trinity College’s Online Postgraduate Certificate and Diploma in Clinical Exercise. My research is primarily in the area of exercise and physical activity levels in paediatric and clinical populations, including those with chronic communicable diseases.

Professor Aine Kelly Prof. Áine Kelly is Professor in Physiology and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Science Education in Trinity College Dublin. She holds a first class honours degree in Physiology and PhD in Neuroscience from Trinity College Dublin. Her research expertise lies at the interface between exercise physiology and neuroscience. Her specific research focus is an assessment of how lifestyle factors such as physical activity and fitness can enhance brain function throughout the lifespan and help to protect against age-related decline in cognitive function. She has published over 40 scientific research papers and book chapters and her research has been funded by the Health Research Board, Science Foundation Ireland and IRCSET. She is President of Neuroscience Ireland, Ireland’s national neuroscience society.

Next week, Cuisle and Aine will be joined by two more exercise prescription experts, Mikel and Fiona, who will be exploring exercise prescription for the treatment of cardiovascular, pulmonary, brain, and musculoskeletal diseases. They will also be looking at exercise prescription for children and older adults, and examining tools for measuring exercise. Read more about them:

Professor Mikel Egana I am an Associate Professor of Physiology at Trinity College Dublin. I am primarily interested in determining the most effective exercise training interventions to improve the cardiovascular health and exercise tolerance in clinical populations. An optimal exercise prescription is considered as important as an optimal pharmacological prescription or dietary modification particularly during the initial years after the onset of type 2 diabetes as well as other cardiorespiratory chronic conditions.

Professor Fiona Wilson l am an Associate Professor and Head of the Discipline of Physiotherapy at Trinity College. I have over 30 years of clinical and research experience of physiotherapy and exercise medicine. I have worked in elite and international sport as well as hospital medicine and I am interested in exercise in managing disorders and disease in all populations. I have a particular interest in musculoskeletal disease and recognise that exercise has a very positive effect in managing such disorders.

Dr Neil Fleming will also be on hand to respond to your queries. Read more about Neil.

Dr Neil Fleming l am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Human Performance Laboratory at Trinity College Dublin. This role involves the exercise testing and training prescription of elite athletes from across the country, while my own research focuses on neuromuscular adaptations to training in athletic and clinical populations. Having worked for 3 years as an exercise scientist in America, I am a huge advocate of the ACSM motto “exercise is medicine”.

Will Fox will be helping you with any technical queries and comments.

From June 28th, this course will not be monitored by academics. If you have any questions or queries, please address these to other learners in the discussion section below. The discussion section is still moderated to make sure comments are in line with FutureLearn’s Code of Conduct.

We have included a glossary of terms in the downloads section of each step that you can refer to and we hope it includes all the terms included within this course (if you come across any terms that are not included please let us know through the comments).

Now that we have introduced ourselves, we would love to hear about you and why you have joined the course. Helpful instructions on how to make comments and reply to other learners can be found here.

Click on the pink speech bubble icon at the bottom of this page to introduce yourself to your fellow learners and the team.

Once you have watched the video, and introduced yourself to other learners, click on the pink circle below on the right to Mark as Complete and then click on the Next button below right to take you to the next step.

Welcome to the course!

Course note: Individuals and pathologies vary greatly. None of the opinions discussed as part of this course are designed, nor intended to be an offer to treat, prescribe or give advice to individuals with cancer or any other pathologies. The research, opinions and content presented throughout the course should in no circumstance be solely relied upon by any learner. If a learner is suffering from a particular health condition being discussed during the course, they should always seek medical advice from a qualified practitioner.