Professor Markos Klonizakis Inaugural Lecture – Breaking down barriers: How an open research approach led to a successful health research programme

How do you start and manage a research programme?  What doors open when you collaborate with people from outside your discipline?  And what happens when one discovery leads to another?  In his inaugural professorial lecture, Markos will describe the process he and his team took to develop a successful series of lifestyle interventions.  These interventions are helping people make positive changes to reduce their risk or provide novel treatment pathways for non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Speaker biography

Markos Klonizakis is a Professor of Vascular and Clinical Physiology at the Department of Nursing and Midwifery.  Markos leads the Lifestyle, Exercise and Nutrition Improvement (LENI) Research Group, which focuses on developing and exploring the effects of lifestyle interventions in clinical and healthy-but-sedentary populations.

Professor Markos’ career has been focused on the development of interventions to improve our lifestyle, and through that prevent and treat non-communicable diseases.  These diseases, including stroke, cancer, diabetes and ischemic heart disease, are collectively responsible for almost 71% of global deaths—over 41 million in total per year.  Among these, 15 million are considered as “premature” deaths, occurring between the ages of 30 and 69 years old and could potentially be avoided.

These diseases are often the result of the combination of genetics, physiological, behavioural and environmental triggers.  Although there is little that can be done about genetics, Markos’ work focuses on the evidence that when we modify our behaviour and our environment, it has a positive effect on our body’s function as well.

Markos currently leads a series of lifestyle modification research programmes, which explore the use of exercise and behavioural support as adjunct therapies for people with Venous Leg Ulceration and Systemic Sclerosis.  He also leads externally-funded research programmes aiming to explore the physiological effects of electronic cigarettes and others that use regional and traditional diets to reduce cardiovascular disease risk.

Event Schedule:

18:00 Arrival

18:30 Professorial Lecture and Q&A

19:30 Drinks reception

20:00 Event close

Part of the SHU Professorial Lecture Series collection