Dr Louisa Beale

Senior lecturer Louisa Beale is the Deputy Course Leader for the BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science degree and a member of the Centre for Sport and Exercise Science and Medicine (SESAME).

Since completing her PhD, ‘High intensity intermittent exercise training in patients with chronic heart failure’ in 2010, Louisa has worked on several collaborative projects with the Cardiology Department at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust. Louisa has also collaborated with charities and with colleagues within the school and university.

Louisa has a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education and is a Senior Lecturer within the School of Sport and Service Management. Louisa teaches exercise physiology, nutrition, exercise referral and exercise and health science, and supervises a broad range of dissertation and applied student projects, on BSc and MSc degree courses.

Louisa also supervises PhDs in the following areas:-

  • Exercise cardiology
  • High intensity interval training
  • Detraining and muscle function
  • Heat sensitivity in breast cancer survivors

Louisa has a strong interest in working with the population of the local community and co-ordinates the university's Cardiac Rehabilitation Programme. Louisa has developed the programme and curriculum so that there is a strong link to undergraduate teaching and learning.

Louisa is a British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) Certified Exercise Practitioner and a British Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (BACPR) Exercise Instructor.

Louisa Beale

How I like to teach

I encourage students to take an interest in what is going on around them - in the local or wider community - and to think about how this links to sport, exercise and health science. Relating a theoretical concept to something that is personally relevant in their lives often helps them to extend their learning beyond the degree course content.

I assist students into voluntary work on exercise referral and falls prevention interventions, and cardiac, stroke and cancer rehabilitation programmes as this enhances their learning, motivates their interest and can improve their employability.

I particularly enjoy this aspect of working with students individually or in small groups on exercise, nutrition and health-related projects in the community.

My research interests

My motivation for research comes from an active interest in how physical activity can prevent disease and illness or improve wellbeing and health outcomes in the real world.

I have a specific interest in disease prevention and my research and practice in this area has focused on cardiac rehabilitation and exercise training for individuals with cardiovascular disease; particularly chronic heart failure.

I enjoy working in collaboration and getting students involved at all levels of research and practice. I have worked with NHS trusts, hospitals and condition- specific charities to research and implement positive outcomes for patients; including exercise for older individuals, women during pregnancy and those being treated for or recovering from cancer.

I am actively seeking to diversify my research activity and have a growing interest in falls prevention in the elderly; this is something I am pursuing alongside enrolled students and colleagues within SESAME. 

Research activity

Current research projects

  • Improving the health and wellbeing of staff and students at the university. Health Improvement Grant from East Sussex County Council. 
  • Combining cardiopulmonary exercise testing and echocardiography for the assessment and management of patients with heart disease
  • The effects of short-term detraining in measures of strength and power
  • Physiological and perceptual responses to high-intensity interval training
  • Heat sensitivity and heat alleviating interventions for breast cancer survivors

Previous research projects

  • Women’s decisions to exercise in pregnancy: negotiating conflicting influences
  • Fitness Fights Falls
  • Cardiac rehabilitation physical activity support pack
  • Eastbourne exercise referral project
  • Effects of low-volume high-intensity interval training on perceived exertion, affective response and fitness
  • Assessment of exercise testing and intensity for patients with heart failure (2011) East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust Research and Development grant with Dr Guy Lloyd, Consultant Cardiologist
  • Investigate into intermittent exercise training in chronic heart failure patients (2006) Peel Medical Research Trust grant to with Dr Guy Lloyd, Consultant Cardiologist
  • Study investigating intermittent exercise training in chronic heart failure patients (2005) East Sussex NHS Trust Research & Development equipment grant for £5,000 with Dr Guy Lloyd, Consultant Cardiologist

Research centres and groups

Social media

Contact me

Dr Louisa Beale
Senior Lecturer in Sport & Exercise Science
Deputy Course Leader for Sport & Exercise Science 
Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine
School of Sport and Service Management
国产探花
Carlisle Road
Eastbourne
BN20 7SR

Tel: +44 (0)1273 643759
Email:  l.beale@brighton.ac.uk

Biography

My long-term interest in family health, exercise and wellbeing prompted me to pursue an undergraduate degree in Exercise Science at the 国产探花, which I completed in 2001.

I remained connected with the university as a demonstrator in the Sport and Exercise Science labs and gradually took on teaching responsibilities which were focused on physiology and nutrition and led to a permanent lecturing position at the university from 2007.

Alongside these responsibilities I completed a PhD in 2010. The focus of my research was ‘High intensity intermittent exercise training in patients with chronic heart failure’. Following completion of my PhD, I became a full-time permanent lecturer.

I have a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, and am Deputy Course Leader for the BSc Sport and Exercise Science course. I am also qualified as a British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) Certified Exercise Practitioner and a British Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (BACPR) Exercise Instructor. My interest in improving health and wellbeing in the community guides my research and teaching.

I have been involved with the university’s cardiac rehabilitation programme since 2008. I have worked hard to link the programme to teaching and the curriculum; specifically the Exercise Referral module of the Sport and Exercise Science course, where students gain work experience on the programme as part of their learning. In addition, I supervise a small group of students who volunteer as cardiac rehabilitation assistants as part of the Personal and Professional Development, Professional Enquiry, Applied and Integrated Studies and Independent study modules, as well as supervising students conducting dissertation or project work on the programme.

A local cancer charity, Cancer United (CU), approached the Community University Partnership Programme (CUPP) in 2015 and I began to work with them on developing their CU Fitter exercise programme for cancer patients through the university’s staff volunteering scheme. This connection has led to a partnership between the university and Cancer United, whereby Cancer United affiliates give lectures, seminars and placement opportunities to students, while staff and student volunteers support and promote the valuable work they do via scientific support and fundraising.

Research output

 

Consultancy

Active Hearts Cardiac Rehabilitation programme

PhD students

 
NameThesis
Rebecca Relf (MPhil/PhD)  Heat sensitivity and heat alleviating interventions for breast cancer survivors 
Hannah Ray (MPhil/PhD) Physiological and perceptual responses to high-intensity interval training 
Marina Garcia Hortal (PhD) The effects of short-term detraining in measures of strength and power
Jet van Zalen (PhD) Combining cardiopulmonary exercise testing and echocardiography for the
assessment and management of patients with heart disease
Jenny Hassall (PhD) 2016 Women’s decisions to exercise in pregnancy: negotiating conflicting influences 

Roles

Coordinator, 国产探花’s Active Hearts Cardiac Rehabilitation Programme

Adviser,

External examiner, University of Chester, MSc Cardiovascular Health and Rehabilitation (2013-2017). Previously, University of Chichester, Foundation Degree in Health and Promotion and Personal Training.

Grant reviewer, British Heart Foundation

Awards

2011: British Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (BACPR) Travel Award (£1,200) for European Society of Cardiology’s Heart Failure Exercise Training workshop (Bern, Switzerland)