University of Limerick hosts the Physical Activity for Health (PAfH) research cluster which is funded by the University’s Health Research Institute (HRI). PAfH is a national and international hub for PA research excellence and brings together a multidisciplinary group of physiologists, sports and exercise scientists, physiotherapists, and health, sports and exercise psychologists.

The cluster is led by Prof Catherine Woods and 9 core faculty members. PAfH also has over 40 affiliate postgrad and post-doctoral members with the core members currently supervising nearing 30 PhD students.  

" "

Ireland has a significant public health challenge as few individuals meet the national physical activity (PA) guidelines. This has considerable health, economic, environment and social consequences.

The Physical Activity for Health (PAfH) research centre aims to build an international hub of excellence through multidisciplinary expertise, international renown for research excellence and capacity to meet global and local research, policy and practice challenges in promotion of PA for health.   

PAfH has four complementary and inter-linking foci;

  1. PA Measurement, surveillance and Determinants
  2. Biomedicine of PA
  3. PA and Exercise as Medicine
  4. Policy Impact and Implementation of Effective Interventions.

PAfH research covers multiple settings across the lifespan, and its activities include research, collaboration & networking, and capacity building & training.  

Established in 2019, funded by the Health Research Institute, the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre (PAfH) is now an internationally renowned hub of excellence in PAfH research.​  Below is a brief summary of some of our achievements 2020-2023.

  • PAfH’s 10 core members comprise multiple disciplines, departments, schools and faculties in UL.
  • PAfH employs 9 Research Staff, and are primary supervisors of 30 Postgraduates.
  • PAfH core members are Principal Investigators on 9 international (Horizon, Joint Programme Initiative, Cost Action, Marie Curie ITN/Fellowship) and 10 national (HRB, SFI, IRC, SEAI, HSE) large scale research grants, and collaborators on many more. 
  • PAfH has generated over €5.5 million to UL & the HRI (€10 million total grant income), this is a 24-fold return on HRI investment. A success rate of 35%, 45% and 70% from 2020-2022 respectively.
  • PAfH core members consistently publish >3.6% of all UL peer-reviewed publications (2021 = 84 publications, >2500 citations, 3.6% UL output; 2022 = 61 publications, 3.8% UL output; Ref: Scopus).
  • PAfH hosted 2 international conferences (2022: IADMS 650+ [1]; 2023: ICDAM, 300+ [2]) and will host the International Biochemistry of Exercise Conference in 2024. ​
  • PAfH’s successful international webinar series attracted online registrations from 100-400+ attendees per session, and in-person attendees from multiple disciplines, institutions and areas.
  • PAfH supports Exercise is Medicine® Ireland National Centre & the Irish Physical Activity Research Collaboration.​
  • PAfH was sought by the World Health Organisation to provide ‘technical knowledge and expertise on physical activity’ to Government representatives from 27 EU countries in 2022.​
  • PAfH launched its international summer & winter training schools in autumn 2022.  These fully booked schools attracted junior and experienced researchers from Ireland, Europe and South America.

 

[1] IADMS: Home | International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (iadms.org)

[2] ICDAM: International Conference on Diet and Activity Methods 2020 (icdamportal.org)