2012 Vice-Chancellor’s Lecture Series: Exercise is Medicine 
(Lectures)
31 July 2012 to 9 August 2012
7pm - 8pm
Venue: Fisher and Paykel Appliances Auditorium, Owen G Glenn Building, 12 Grafton Road
Host: Department of Sport and Exercise Science
Cost: Admission is free and all are welcome. No booking required. Evening parking available for $6 in lower levels of Owen G Glenn Building
Contact info: For further information phone (09) 923 3258
Four lectures on 31 July and 2, 7 and 9 August, hosted by the Department of Sport and Exercise Science.
Physical inactivity is one of the greatest health problems of the 21st century. Although research indicates benefits from exercise in disease prevention and treatment, compliance is poor. These lectures by scientists, an epidemiologist, and physicians will enlighten and engage the issues that confront physical inactivity when “Exercise is Medicine”.
Lecture 1, Tuesday 31 July: Take a Walk: Exercise, Aging, and Cognition
Professor Arthur Kramer, University of Illinois
Over the past several decades our society has become increasingly sedentary. Whether this change is due, in part, to the rapid technological development, economic challenges to our society, or a host of other factors, decreases in physical activity have been associated with diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis and a number of different cancers. In my presentation I will cover what we currently know about physical activity and exercise and their influence on healthy minds and brains. I’ll briefly cover research which has elucidated the molecular and cellular mechanisms that relate physical activity to brain function and cognition. My main focus will be on human exercise research across the lifespan, covering both epidemiological and intervention studies. Finally, I will conclude with a discussion of our knowledge gaps and how we might fill them with future research.
Professor Art Kramer is Director of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology and the Swanlund Chair and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Illinois. He holds appointments in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience program, and the Beckman Institute. Professor Kramer’s research projects include topics in Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Aging, and Human Factors.
Lecture 2, Thursday 2 August: Nutrition and Exercise: Protein for Power vs. Carbohydrate for Performance
Professor David Cameron-Smith, Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, and
Dr Nicholas Gant, Department of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Auckland
Exercise is medicine but this “medicine” requires nutrition to make it palatable. “Brain food” can improve physical performance and health through modulation of energy supplies to the brain. Understanding the brain’s role in controlling metabolism and its influence on fatigue is one of the big-picture questions in exercise science. Fatigue may also be associated with muscle loss, the processes and pathways of which are linked to cellular mechanisms involving the signalling by amino acids to increase protein synthesis.
Professor David Cameron-Smith is Chair in Nutrition, Liggins Institute at the University of Auckland.
Dr Nicholas Gant is Director of the Exercise Nutrition and Metabolism Laboratory and Academic Director of the Health and Performance Training Centre, University of Auckland Clinics at The University of Auckland.
Lecture 3, Tuesday 7 August: Exercise as Life-long Medicine
Associate Professor Paul Hofman, Liggins Institute and Starship Children’s Hospital, University of Auckland and
Professor Elwyn Firth, Department of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Auckland
Physical activity generally has not reached its full potential as a determinant of health and disease. Early-life exercise may prove to be an environmental factor which affects the risks of health and disease in later adult life. Increasing evidence shows that maternal exercise modulates nutritional partitioning, leading to reduced growth and smaller babies. In turn these infants appear to be more resistant to obesity post-natally, and remain leaner than children whose mothers did not exercise. It is proposed that physical movement post-natally changes the offspring’s health and disease risks in adulthood by affecting the epigenetic pathways which control gene expression. In these two lectures, examples will illustrate how exercise imposed during pregnancy or early postnatal life can improve health and reduce disease risk through life and across generations.
Associate Professor Paul Hofman is a Paediatric Endocrinologist and clinical researcher working at the Liggins Institute, University of Auckland.
Professor Elwyn Firth is a Professor in the Department of Sport and Exercise Science and a principal investigator in the National Research Centre for Growth and Development at the Liggins Institute, University of Auckland.
Lecture 4, Thursday 9 August: Exercise is Medicine: What is the Evidence Supporting this Initiative?
Professor Steven N. Blair, University of South Carolina
In this lecture I will review the epidemiological and clinical trial evidence supporting the importance of physical activity for preserving health and function in adult women and men. According to the World Health Organization, physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of deaths in the world, and it deserves greater attention as a public health problem. Integrating physical activity counselling into medical practice is a crucial need.
Professor Steven N. Blair is a Professor in Exercise Science and Epidemiology & Biostatistics in the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina.
Full audio and selected video of lectures is available below:
• Lecture 1: 31 July: Take a walk: Exercise, aging, and cognition
• Lecture 2: 2 August: Nutrition and exercise: Protein for power versus carbohydrate for performance
• Lecture 3: 7 August: Exercise as life-long medicine
• Lecture 4: 9 August: Exercise is medicine: What is the evidence supporting this initiative?
