Professor Woods joined the University of Limerick (UL) in 2016, where she holds a Chair in Physical Activity and Health.  In UL she has successfully integrated into the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences within the Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, and has already contributed to research (income €500,000+ with partners), publications (journal articles), impact (representative on the national physical activity plan implementation group). Catherine still enjoys teaching on the BSc in Physical Education and the BSc in Sport and Exercise Sciences and postgraduate supervision.  Catherine is continuing her work by enhancing her research team in intervention design for children and young people, clinical populations and physical activity policy research.

Research Interests

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Catherine's area of expertise is Physical Activity for Health.  Her research is framed within the social ecological model, and consequently, cross individual, interpersonal, community and policy levels. This multi-level approach is necessary in order to comprehensively understand and influence population levels of physical activity for health; however, it requires an extensive knowledge and an appreciation for inter-disciplinary work.  Her current research priorities are listed below with an example of ongoing work in each priority area. 
 

  1. The promotion of physical activity and healthy lifestyles in clinical populations.
  2. Understanding the determinants of physical activity in children and young people, and evaluating interventions to reduce high levels of inactivity in this cohort.
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