Alice Thackray

Dr Alice Thackray is a Senior Research Fellow in Exercise Metabolism at Loughborough University, affiliated with the Leicester Biomedical Research Centre and the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine. She holds a BSc (2010), MSc (2011), and PhD (2014) in Sport and Exercise Science from Loughborough University, focusing her doctoral research on postprandial metabolism in young people. Her work examines how physical activity and dietary interventions influence metabolic health, appetite regulation, and cardiometabolic risk factors. Key research themes include exercise effects on postprandial lipemia, interindividual variability in metabolic responses, and lifestyle interventions targeting obesity and cardiovascular health.

Dr Thackray has contributed to large-scale studies such as the Leicester-Loughborough Diet, Lifestyle, and Physical Activity Biomedical Research Unit. Her research spans diverse populations, including comparisons between South Asian and European adults, adolescents, and overweight/obese individuals. She has pioneered work on sleep extension interventions for metabolic improvement and investigated the acute effects of exercise on appetite hormones like ghrelin and leptin. Her studies often employ crossover trial designs to assess treatment response heterogeneity.

Notable projects include examining neural responses to food cues using fMRI, analyzing the metabolic consequences of cigarette smoking, and evaluating the efficacy of exerkines (exercise-induced biomarkers) in health. Her findings highlight the importance of personalized approaches in exercise and nutrition science, emphasizing that individual responses to interventions vary significantly.

Dr Thackray collaborates across disciplines, integrating clinical and basic science methodologies. Her grants include contributions to the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre’s lifestyle theme. She has no listed scientific awards but maintains an active research portfolio with over 50 peer-reviewed articles, focusing on translational applications of exercise and dietary strategies to improve public health outcomes.