Staff Profile

I am a Research Associate in the AGE (Ageing, Geriatrics and Epidemiology) Research Group within the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre - Ageing, Sarcopenia and Multimorbidity theme.

I joined Newcastle University as a Research Associate in August 2018 as part of the MIlk Intervention Muscle AgeiNg (MIlkMAN) study team. My background is as an exercise physiologist and I am a British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) accredited sport and exercise scientist.

I currently work across a range of studies which are aiming to understand more about the determinants and mechanisms underpinning the development of sarcopenia (the age associated decline in muscle mass and function). Alongside this, I am interested in optimising methods for quantifying and assessing muscle mass, muscle strength and physical performance in older people.

The other main strand of Chris’ work is focused on maximising the potential of exercise, particularly resistance exercise, for the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia in older people, particularly in those living with frailty and multiple long-term conditions.

Google Scholar

My research interests include:

• Prescription and evaluation of exercise training
• Measurement of physical capacity and performance
• Muscle health and function
• Lifestyle effects on health in older age
• Sarcopenia
• Physiology of ageing
• Body composition assessment
• Multimorbidity

• Articles

  • Hurst C, Dismore L, Granic A, Noble JM, Hillman SJ, Witham MD, Sayer AA, Dodds RM, Robinson SM. The feasibility and acceptability of engaging older adults living with multiple long-term conditions, frailty, and a recent deterioration in health in research: Findings from the Lifestyle in Later Life – Older People’s Medicine (LiLL-OPM) study. BMC Geriatrics 2024, 24, 831.
  • Caulfield L, Arnold S, De Biase S, Buckland C, Heslop P, Hurst C, Sayer AA, Skelton D, Witham MD. The Benchmarking Exercise Programme for Older People (BEPOP): design, results and recommendations from the first wave of data collection. Journal of Frailty, Sarcopenia and Falls 2024, 9(3), 169-183.
  • Dismore L, Taylor L, Aujayeb A, Hurst C, Swainston K. Patients with Mesothelioma and their carers experience of diet and appetite: a qualitative insight from the Help-Meso Study. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 2024, 37(3), 717-725.
  • Taylor L, Swainston K, Hurst C, Aujayeb A, Dismore L. Healthcare professionals’ perceptions and experience of nutritional management in mesothelioma: a qualitative insight from the Help Meso Study. Cancer Nursing Practice 2024, epub ahead of print.
  • Dismore L, Taylor L, Hurst C, Aujayeb A, Poulter H, Swainston K. Experiences of Physical Activity in Mesothelioma: A Qualitative Enquiry. Journal of Respiration 2024, 4(4), 188-197.
  • Hayes EJ, Hurst C, Granic A, Sayer AA, Stevenson E. Challenges in Conducting Exercise Recovery Studies in Older Adults and Considerations for Future Research: Findings from a Nutritional Intervention Study. Geriatrics 2024, 9(5), 116.
  • Dismore L, Hurst C, Granic A, Tullo E, Witham MD, Dodds RM, Sayer AA, Robinson SM. Why are older adults living with the complexity of multiple long-term conditions, frailty and a recent deterioration in health under-served by research? A narrative synthesis review of the literature. Journal of Frailty, Sarcopenia and Falls 2023, 8(4), 230-239.
  • Heslop PA, Hurst C, Sayer AA, Witham MD. Remote collection of physical performance measures for older people: a systematic review. Age and Ageing 2023, 52(1), afac327.
  • Hayes EJ, Stevenson E, Sayer AA, Granic A, Hurst C. Recovery from resistance exercise in older adults: a systematic scoping review. Sports Medicine - Open 2023, 9, 51.
  • Hurst C, Dismore L, Granic A, Tullo E, Noble JM, Hillman SJ, Witham MD, Sayer AA, Dodds RM, Robinson SM. Feasibility of engaging older adults living with multiple long-term conditions, frailty, and a recent deterioration in health in a study of lifestyle: protocol for the LiLL-OPM study. Journal of Frailty, Sarcopenia and Falls 2023, 8(2), 127-135.
  • Hurst C, Dismore L, Granic A, Tullo E, Noble JM, Hillman SJ, Witham MD, Sayer AA, Dodds R, Robinson SM. Attitudes and barriers to resistance exercise training for older adults living with multiple long-term conditions, frailty, and a recent deterioration in health: Qualitative findings from the Lifestyle in Later Life – Older People’s Medicine (LiLL-OPM) study. BMC Geriatrics 2023, 23, 771.
  • Granic A, Hurst C, Dismore L, Dodds RM, Witham MD, Robinson SM, Sayer AA. Advanced glycation end products in skeletal muscle health and sarcopenia: A systematic review of observational studies. Mechanisms of Ageing and Development 2023, 209, 111744.
  • Hurst C, Robinson SM, Witham MD, Dodds RM, Granic A, Buckland C, DeBiase S, Finnegan S, Rochester L, Skelton DA, Sayer AA. Resistance exercise as a treatment for sarcopenia: prescription and delivery. Age and Ageing 2022, 51(2), afac003.
  • Hayes EJ, Stevenson E, Sayer AA, Granic A, Hurst C. Recovery from resistance exercise in older adults: a protocol for a scoping review. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine 2022, 8, e001229.
  • Hurst C, Sayer AA. Improving muscle strength and physical function in older people living with sarcopenia and physical frailty: not all exercise is created equal. Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh 2022, 52(2), 166-171.
  • Taylor L, Swainston K, Hurst C, Aujayeb A, Poulter H, Dismore L. Health and Lifestyle of Patients with Mesothelioma: Protocol for the Help-Meso Study. Journal of Respiration 2022, 2(3), 129-138.
  • Dodds RM, Hurst C, Hillman SJ, Davies K, Roberts L, Aspray TJ, Granic A, Sayer AA. Advancing our understanding of skeletal muscle across the lifecourse: Protocol for the MASS_Lifecourse study and characteristics of the first 80 participants. Experimental Gerontology 2022, 166, 111884.
  • Dodds RM, Murray JC, Granic A, Hurst C, Uwimpuhwe G, Richardson S, Brayne C, Matthews FE, Sayer AA, CFAS MRC. Prevalence and factors associated with poor performance in the 5-chair stand test: findings from the Cognitive Function and Ageing Study II (CFAS II) and proposed Newcastle protocol for use in the assessment of sarcopenia. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle 2021, 12(2), 308-318.
  • Hayes EJ, Granic A, Hurst C, Dismore L, Sayer AA, Stevenson E. Older adults' knowledge and perceptions of whole foods as an exercise recovery strategy. Frontiers in Nutrition 2021, 8, 748882.
  • Ni Lochlainn M, Cox NJ, Wilson T, Hayhoe RP, Ramsay SE, Granic A, Isanejad M, Roberts HC, Wilson D, Welch C, Hurst C, Atkins JL, Mendonça N, Horner K, Tuttiett ER, Morgan Y, Heslop P, Williams EA, Steves CJ, Greig C, Draper J, Corish CA, Welch A, Witham MD, Sayer AA, Robinson S. Nutrition and Frailty: Opportunities for Prevention and Treatment. Nutrients 2021, 13(7), 2349.
  • Hurst C, Murray JC, Granic A, Hillman SJ, Cooper R, Sayer AA, Robinson SM, Dodds RM. Long-term conditions, multimorbidity, lifestyle factors and change in grip strength over 9 years of follow-up: findings from 44,315 UK Biobank participants. Age and Ageing 2021, 50(6), 2222-2229.
  • Hayes LD, Elliott BT, Yasar Z, Bampouras TM, Sculthorpe NF, Sanal-Hayes NEM, Hurst C. High intensity interval training (HIIT) as a potential countermeasure for phenotypic characteristics of sarcopenia: A scoping review. Frontiers in Physiology 2021, 12, 715044.
  • Soysal P, Hurst C, Demurtas J, Firth J, Howden R, Yang L, Tully MA, Koyanagi A, Ilie PC, Lopez-Sanchez GF, Schwingshackl L, Veronese N, Smith L. Handgrip Strength and Health Outcomes: Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews with Meta-Analyses of Observational Studies. Journal of Sport and Health Science 2021, 10(3), 290-295.
  • Dismore L, Hurst C, Sayer AA, Stevenson E, Aspray T, Granic A. Study of the older adults’ motivators and barriers engaging in a nutrition and resistance exercise intervention for sarcopenia: An embedded qualitative project in the MIlkMAN pilot study . Gerontology & Geriatric Medicine 2020, 6.
  • Granic A, Dismore L, Hurst C, Robinson SM, Sayer AA. Myoprotective whole foods, muscle health and sarcopenia: a systematic review of observational and intervention studies in older adults. Nutrients 2020, 12(8), 2257.
  • Granic A, Hurst C, Dismore L, Aspray T, Stevenson E, Witham MD, Sayer AA, Robinson S. Milk for skeletal muscle health and sarcopenia in older adults: a narrative review. Clinical Interventions in Aging 2020, 2020(15), 695-714.
  • Granic A, Hurst C, Dismore L, Stevenson E, Sayer AA, Aspray T. Feasibility and acceptability of a milk and resistance exercise intervention to improve muscle function in community-dwelling older adults (MIlkMAN): Pilot study . PLoS ONE 2020, 15(7), e0235952.
  • Hurst C, Weston KL, McLaren SJ, Weston M. The effects of same-session combined exercise training on cardiorespiratory and functional fitness in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research 2019, 31, 1701-1717.
  • Hurst C, Weston KL, Weston M. The effect of 12 weeks of combined upper- and lower-body high-intensity interval training on muscular and cardiorespiratory fitness in older adults. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research 2019, 31, 661-671.
  • Granic A, Hurst C, Dismore L, Davies K, Stevenson E, Sayer AA, Aspray T. Milk and resistance exercise intervention to improve muscle function in community-dwelling older adults at risk of sarcopenia (MIlkMAN): protocol for a pilot study. BMJ Open 2019, 9(10), e031048.
  • Hurst C, Scott JPR, Weston KL, Weston M. High-intensity Interval Training: A Potential Exercise Countermeasure During Human Spaceflight?. Frontiers In Physiology 2019, 10, 581.
  • McLaren SJ, Macpherson TW, Coutts AJ, Hurst C, Spears IR, Weston M. The Relationships Between Internal and External Measures of Training Load and Intensity in Team Sports: A Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine 2018, 48(3), 641-658.
  • Hurst C, Batterham AM, Weston KL, Weston M. Short- and long-term reliability of leg extensor power measurement in middle-aged and older adults. Journal of Sports Sciences 2018, 36(9), 970-977.
  • Wright MD, Hurst C, Taylor JM. Contrasting effects of a mixed-methods high-intensity interval training intervention in girl football players. Journal of Sports Sciences 2016, 34(19), 1808-1815.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Taylor L, Swainston K, Hurst C, Aujayeb A, Dismore L. Healthcare professionals’ experience of nutritional management in mesothelioma: qualitative insights from the Help Meso study. In: Annual British Thoracic Oncology Group Conference 2024. 2024, Belfast.
  • Birkbeck MG, Hillman S, Hurst C, Granic A, Aspray T, Sayer AA, Dodds RM. Assessing changes in physical activity in community dwelling older adults before and after COVID-19 restrictions in the United Kingdom. In: International Sarcopenia Translational Research Conference 2021. 2021, Virtual: Hylonome Publications.