Georgina Stebbings

Dr. Georgina Stebbings is the Head of the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences and currently serves as an Associate Professor (Reader equivalent) at Manchester Metropolitan University. She holds a PhD in Sport and Exercise Genomics from the same institution (2015). Her roles include Programme Leader for BSc Sport & Exercise Science (Distance Learning), Department Education Lead, and former Physical Performance Coach with The FA for elite female athletes with visual and hearing impairments on the Para pathway. She is also a BASES-accredited sport scientist and Convenor of the Molecular Exercise Physiology Special Interest Group.

Georgina’s research focuses on genetic factors influencing sports performance and injury risk in elite athletes, optimizing training for female athletes, and testosterone suppression effects in trans women. She has contributed to high-profile discussions on sex eligibility in sport, including co-authoring expert statements and a widely viewed article critiquing IOC policies. Her work has been featured in mainstream media like The Independent and The Times, and she frequently engages in public discourse, such as BBC radio discussions on marathon runner genetics.

As an educator, Georgina has extensive experience teaching physiology, genetics, and applied sport science across undergraduate and postgraduate programs. She pioneered asynchronous digital education and synchronous webinars in distance learning since 2015 and has served as an external examiner and validator for UK sport-related BSc programs. She actively supervises and examines PhD and MSc students, with a focus on topics like skeletal muscle characteristics, taekwondo performance analysis, and women’s football health.

Georgina’s professional history includes roles at Stoke City FC Academy (2011-2013) and progression through academic ranks at Manchester Met: Lecturer (2013-2017), Senior Lecturer (2017-2022), and Reader (2022–present). She balances administrative leadership with applied research and consultancy in elite women’s football and rugby injury studies.