Inaugural Lecture of Professor Giles Warrington

Watch it back: 'Practitioner to Pracademic, Sport and Human Performance Pathways and Evolving Research Agendas' Professor Giles Warrington.

On Thursday, 11 January, the inaugural lecture of Professor Giles Warrington was held amongst an audience of colleagues, family and friends.

Following a welcome by Dr. John Perry and introduction by Professor Kerstin Mey, Giles presented his lecture 'Practitioner to Pracademic, Sport and Human Performance Pathways and Evolving Research Agendas'

In this inaugural Professorial lecture, Giles charted his career from over 30 years working as a Performance Physiologist and Sports Scientist in high performance sport, including 6 Olympic Games, to his transition into academia. The lecture outlined how his applied practitioner experiences have influenced and shaped his teaching approaches and in framing his research agenda as a practical academic or ‘pracademic’. The power of mentoring and coaching, developing applied practitioner skills in graduates and the importance and impact of translating research findings in creating real world solutions with be highlighted.

Bio: Prof Giles Warrington PhD, FACSM

Giles Warrington is a Professor of Human Performance and Innovation in the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences (PESS) and in January 2024 completed a 6 year term as Head of Department. He is Co-Director of the Sport and Human Performance Research Centre (SHPRC), a member of the Health Research Institute (HRI) and founding member and Scientific Coordinator of the Jockey Health, Wellbeing and Performance Research Group. Professor Warrington was previously employed for 10 years as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Health and Human Performance at DCU. Prior to taking up his academic roles, Giles worked for 12 years at the National Coaching and Training Centre (NCTC), based in UL, as Head of Player/Athlete Services where he developed and oversaw the implementation of the International Carding Scheme which provides financial, sports science, medical and other support services to elite and developmental Irish Athletes which is still in place today. Before moving to Ireland in 1993 Giles previously worked at the British Olympic Medical Centre (BOMC) where he was a Performance Physiologist working with British Olympic athletes. His work with the highly successful GB Rowing team was the subject area of his PhD which focused on high altitude training.

Professor Warrington is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and a Sport Ireland Institute accredited Performance Physiologist. His research interests reside in six areas: 1) Factors influencing athletic performance 2) Human performance evaluation 3) Weight regulation and weight category Sports 4) Environmental Physiology 5) Chronobiology and sleep science 6) Training methodology. In total Professor Warrington has published 95 peer reviewed journal publication and over 120 conference abstracts.

Between 2002 -2016, Giles was Head Performance Physiologist and Sports Science Lead to the Olympic Council of Ireland and was a member of the Irish Medical Teams at the Athens, Beijing and London and Rio Olympic Games. He was also Director of the pre-Games training camps for the London and Rio Olympic Games. Over the course of his 34 year career in high performance sport Giles has worked with and advised a wide number of sports, coaches and athletes including over 80 European, World and Olympic and Paralympic Medalists.