Paul Morgan

Paul is on the society’s board of trustees.

Tell us a bit about your career development
My name is Dr Paul Morgan, and I am currently a Senior Lecturer in Nutrition and Metabolism at Manchester Metropolitan University in Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences (Institute of Sport). Briefly, my research career started during a BSc and MSc program at the University of Exeter. My PhD thesis, also completed at the University of Exeter, was supervised under the guidance of Professor Andrew Jones and Dr Stephen Bailey in an internationally recognized lab of exercise performance. I then completed a research associate position, funded by industry, followed by teaching fellow positions at the University of Exeter and the University of Birmingham. My most recent post as a research fellow was funded by Dunhill Medical Trust, under the guidance of Dr Leigh Breen and formed by a collaborative partnership between the University of Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham Clinical Research Facility as well as many notable world-leading collaborators in fields of protein and lipid metabolism, neuromuscular function, and exercise capacity. This project combined basic physiological testing, with sophisticated molecular and metabolic analysis of skeletal muscle tissue to provide novel insights into the mechanisms underpinning changes to skeletal muscle in older age when combined with excess fat mass.

Why is your area of research important in our understanding of the biology of ageing?
My current primary interests are in exercise physiology, nutrition and metabolism and studying the integration of exercise and diet in-vivo across the lifespan. As a researcher, my current aim is to improve our understanding of factors that regulate skeletal muscle in older age, and to identify how exercise and nutrition can be used to optimize health and functional performance. The mechanisms underpinning these responses remain to be fully elucidated and this is having a meaningful impact on the development of therapeutic interventions to improve patient treatment and outcome in attenuating skeletal muscle atrophy and impairments in muscle metabolism.

What is your role at the BSRA and what does it involve?
My current role within the BSRA is multi-faceted and primarily involves working with a team of leaders in the field of the biology of ageing to promote research into the causes, effects and treatments of the ageing process. More specifically, as a BSRA trustee, I am currently assisting with a number of roles including acting as Deputy Secretary alongside Dr Cathy Slack.

Why did you join the BSRA?
I joined the BSRA for a number of reasons. Primarily, I joined the BSRA to raise awareness of the causes and effects of chronological and biological ageing and to increase representation of early career researchers within the field. In addition, I joined the BSRA to increase the awareness of the Society/Charity to have a real impact on societal changes associated with the ageing process.

Has the being a BSRA trustee been valuable for your professional development?
I have only been a BSRA trustee for ~1 year but have already undergone significant professional development, not only from being part of an ageing-based charity and developing different types of skills to those more traditionally developed via a career path such as mine, but also from being immersed in an environment of researchers studying ageing from all different perspectives. It highlights the size of the task in tackling the challenges associated with ageing but equally highlights the promise we have with the wide range of expertise from different fields of ageing to extend the health span and improve overall quality of life.

Is there anything interesting you’d like to share about yourself?
My favourite things to do are running, going for coffee and cake and watching West Ham FC (for my sins). I have previously run the London Marathon as well as cycled the Ride London 100-mile challenge, so I’m now looking for my next challenge, possibly taking on an Ironman or the Serpentine Swim to complete the London Classics!