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Staff Profile

Staff Profile

Dr Sam Orange

Lecturer in Exercise Physiology

  • Email: sam.orange@ncl.ac.uk
  • Address: School of Biomedical, Nutritional and Sport Sciences
    Faculty of Medical Sciences
    Dame Margaret Barbour Building, Room 5.23
    Newcastle University
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE2 4DR
Background

I am a Lecturer in Exercise Physiology in the Faculty of Medical Sciences.

I completed my PhD in 2018 at the University of Hull, which involved developing and delivering a home-based physical activity intervention for adults with class III obesity as part of a multidisciplinary weight management service. I then began an NIHR-funded postdoctoral research post at Northumbria University, where I was an exercise physiologist on the PREPARE-ABC trial (Supportive Exercise Programme for Accelerating Recovery After Major Abdominal Cancer Surgery). In May 2020, I made the short trip to Newcastle University where I was as appointed as a Lecturer in Exercise Physiology.

My research focuses on the role of physical activity in the secondary prevention of colorectal cancer, from both a mechanistic and population health perspective. I am also interested in whether physical activity can serve as an adjunct therapy in cancer survivorship by mitigating some of the adverse side effects of cancer and cancer treatment.

Previously I have conducted strength and conditioning research with professional athletes, specifically relating to regulating resistance training load using velocity feedback (termed 'velocity-based training').

I try to make my research as open and transparent as possible by following open science practices. My Open Science Framework page can be found here: osf.io/bju62. 

Research

Biological mechanisms linking physical activity to colorectal cancer risk

Physical activity is thought to reduce colon cancer risk through decreased body fat and associated reductions in insulin resistance and inflammation. However, physical activity is inversely related to colon cancer risk independent of adiposity, suggesting that biological mechanisms other than body fat-associated pathways are involved. We are particularly interested in the cellular and molecular mechanisms linking physical activity to reduced colon cancer risk independent of changes in body fatness. Recent evidence suggests that cytokines and other peptides released into the circulation during exercise may promote endocrine crosstalk between muscle and aberrant cell types to reduce cancer progression. We have recently shown that stimulating a colon cancer cell line with human serum obtained after an acute bout of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise reduced cell growth (unpublished data). This was accompanied by an increase in serum levels of the myokine IL-6, suggesting that the effect may have been mediated by exercise-induced IL-6 signalling. Our subsequent work will use more advanced detection techniques and cell culture models to further explore the molecular signals mediating the effect of acute exercise on colon cancer cell growth.


Physical activity and secondary prevention of colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is the 2nd most common cause of cancer death in the United Kingdom. The NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme was introduced in 2006 to reduce death from colorectal cancer by detecting pre-malignant polyps (adenomas) and localised malignancies earlier. The Bowel Cancer UK Critical Research Gaps in Colorectal Cancer Initiative highlights the need to reflect how screening can be combined with lifestyle change programmes in a multidisciplinary approach to colorectal cancer prevention.  We are particularly interested in exploring whether delivering a brief lifestyle intervention (including physical activity and diet) in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme is feasible and whether it has a meaningful impact on cancer prevention and other risk factor indicators.


Current PhD supervision

  • Rosiered Brownson-Smith (Northumbria University): Exercise as a treatment for chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy in women with breast cancer

Teaching

Undergraduate teaching

  • SES2000 Principles of Strength and Conditioning
  • SES2004 Exercise Physiology
  • SES3004 Physical Activity, Exercise and Disease (module lead)
  • SES3000 Sport and Exercise Science Research Project

Postgraduate teaching

  • SES8001 Exercise Physiology Assessment Skills (module lead)
  • SES8099 Exercise Physiology Dissertation
  • SES8000: Applied Exercise Science


Publications