Staff Profile

I joined Newcastle University in 2020 as Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science. Before this, I completed my PhD at the University of Birmingham (2006-2008) and completed postdoctoral training at the Copenhagen Muscle Research Centre/ Metabolic Mass Spectrometry Facility (2008-2010), where I was mentored by Professor Gerrit van Hall and Professor Bengt Saltin. I also held academic posts at Brunel University (2010-2012) and Loughborough University (2012-2020).

My research focuses on how diet and exercise influence human metabolic health and performance, with special emphasis on skeletal muscle. Much of this work involves the provision of small amounts of isotopically labelled compounds, combined with blood and tissue sampling, to trace the turnover and fate of key substrates of interest (e.g., glucose, amino acids, free fatty acids). I have a particular interest in how overeating and inactivity leads to impairments in skeletal muscle metabolism, as well as understanding the decline in muscle mass and function that occurs with ageing. 

I lead an MSc module in Exercise Metabolism and Sports Nutrition and I teach on the BSc in Sport and Exercise Science. 

• Whytock KL, Parry SA, Turner MC, Woods RM, James LJ, Ferguson RA, Stahlman M, Boren J, Strauss JA, Cocks M, Wagenmakers AJM, Hulston CJ, Shepherd SO. A 7-day high-fat, high-calorie diet induces fibre-specific increases in intramuscular triglyceride and perilipin protein expression in human skeletal muscle. Journal of Physiology 2020, 598(6), 1151-1167.
• Gomez I, Ward B, Souilhol C, Recarti C, Ariaans M, Johnston J, Burnett A, Mahmoud M, Luong LA, West L, Long M, Parry S, Woods R, Hulston C, Benedikter B, Niespolo C, Bazaz R, Francis S, Kiss-Toth E, van Zandvoort M, Schober A, Hellewell P, Evans PC, Ridger V. Neutrophil microvesicles drive atherosclerosis by delivering miR-155 to atheroprone endothelium. Nature Communications 2020, 11, 214.
• Dewhurst-Trigg R, Wadley AJ, Woods RM, Sherar LB, Bishop NC, Hulston CJ, Markey O. Short-term High-fat Overfeeding Does Not Induce NF-κB Inflammatory Signaling in Subcutaneous White Adipose Tissue. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 2020, 105(7).
• Patel S, Alvarez-Guaita A, Melvin A, Rimmington D, Dattilo A, Miedzybrodzka EL, Cimino I, Maurin A-C, Roberts GP, Meek CL, Virtue S, Sparks LM, Parsons SA, Redman LM, Bray GA, Liou AP, Woods RM, Parry SA, Jeppesen PB, Kolnes AJ, Harding HP, Ron D, Vidal-Puig A, Reimann F, Gribble FM, Hulston CJ, Farooqi IS, Fafournoux P, Smith SR, Jensen J, Breen D, Wu Z, Zhang BB, Coll AP, Savage DB, O'Rahilly S. GDF15 Provides an Endocrine Signal of Nutritional Stress in Mice and Humans. Cell Metabolism 2019, 29(3), 707-718.e8.
• Parry SA, Turner MC, Woods RM, James LJ, Ferguson RA, Cocks M, Whytock KL, Strauss JA, Shepherd SO, Wagenmakers AJM, Van Hall G, Hulston CJ. High-Fat Overfeeding Impairs Peripheral Glucose Metabolism and Muscle Microvascular eNOS Ser¹¹⁷⁷ Phosphorylation. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 2019, 105(1), 65-77.
• Hulston CJ, Woods RM, Dewhurst-Trigg R, Parry SA, Gagnon S, Baker L, James LJ, Markey O, Martin NRW, Ferguson RA, van Hall G. Resistance exercise stimulates mixed muscle protein synthesis in lean and obese young adults. Physiological Reports 2018, 6(14), e13799.
• Parry SA, Woods RM, Hodson L, Hulston CJ. A single day of excessive dietary fat intake reduces whole-body insulin sensitivity: The metabolic consequence of binge eating. Nutrients 2017, 9(8), 818.
• Parry SA, Smith JR, Corbett TRB, Woods RM, Hulston CJ. Short-term, high-fat overfeeding impairs glycaemic control but does not alter gut hormone responses to a mixed meal tolerance test in healthy, normal-weight individuals. British Journal of Nutrition 2017, 117(1), 48-55.
• Hulston CJ, Churnside AA, Venables MC. Probiotic supplementation prevents high-fat, overfeeding-induced insulin resistance in human subjects. British Journal of Nutrition 2015, 113(4), 596-602.
• Borno A, Hulston CJ, Van Hall G. Determination of human muscle protein fractional synthesis rate: An evaluation of different mass spectrometry techniques and considerations for tracer choice. Journal of Mass Spectrometry 2014, 49(8), 674-680.