Stuart Phillips

Stuart Phillips is Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Skeletal Muscle Health, and Adjunct Professor in the School of Medicine. A Fellow of both the American College of Sports Medicine and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, he has published >400 papers amassing >33,000 citations on how nutrition and exercise regulate human skeletal-muscle protein turnover, hypertrophy and body-composition across the lifespan.

Research interests integrate exercise physiology, clinical nutrition and gerontology to understand molecular drivers of muscle growth and wasting. His work spans acute mechanistic studies of protein synthesis to large community trials of resistance training for sarcopenia and stroke recovery, with funding from CIHR, NSERC, NIH, USDA and CFI.

Recent articles (2025) reveal resistance-exercise-specific signalling pathways, show neutral mortality effects of animal vs plant protein, compare vegan/vegetarian diets on muscle synthesis, and evaluate tele-rehabilitation and community exercise for older adults, underscoring his leadership in translating muscle biology into health-span interventions.

Scientific awards include the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, Distinguished University Professor designation, and fellowship in two major academies.

He currently leads multi-site intervention studies such as EMBOLDEN, aiming to enhance mobility in socio-economically disadvantaged older adults through co-designed nutrition and exercise programs.