Carolyn Greig

Professor Carolyn Greig is a leading academic in musculoskeletal ageing and health at the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Birmingham. She holds the title of Professor and co-leads the Interventions theme at the MRC-Versus Arthritis Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research. Internationally, she collaborates on healthy ageing projects in Brazil, Rwanda, Pakistan, and Burkina Faso and contributes to national policy as a member of the UK Chief Medical Officer’s Physical Activity Guidelines for Older Adults Working Group.

• BSc (Physiology), University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1981
• MSc (Human and Applied Physiology), King's College London, 1982
• PhD (Force Generating Capacity of Human Muscle), CNAA, 1988

Her research centers on sarcopenia, frailty, and muscle health in older adults, with a focus on combined physical activity and nutritional interventions. She investigates muscle responsiveness, biomarker discovery, physical activity monitoring, and sedentariness. Her work bridges basic science and translational applications to improve functional and cognitive performance in ageing populations.

The 15 most recent publications reveal a strong interdisciplinary and global focus, spanning muscle physiology, geriatrics, global health, and intervention design. Key themes include the impact of nutrition and exercise on muscle function, frailty progression in diverse populations, and the development of biomarkers and predictive models for sarcopenia. Many studies employ mixed methods and are conducted in low- and middle-income countries, reflecting her commitment to equitable ageing research.

• Research Fellowship from Research into Ageing (AgeUK), 2003

Carolyn has supervised 5 doctoral students to completion and currently mentors 10 doctoral and multiple MSc/MRes students. She contributes to BSc and MSci teaching and serves as an External Examiner at Loughborough University. Her grant-funded projects include MRC-Versus Arthritis and NIHR Birmingham BRC initiatives. She holds leadership roles in research ethics as Co-Chair of the STEM Research Ethics Committee and Director of Research Integrity for the College of Life and Environmental Sciences.

She is actively involved in research labs and teams including the MRC-Versus Arthritis Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research and the Institute for Global Innovation’s Ageing, Frailty and Resilience theme. Her work integrates physiological, nutritional, and behavioural sciences to develop real-world interventions for healthy ageing.