Mandy Hagstrom

Mandy Hagstrom is an exercise scientist and researcher at the School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales. A former Olympic weightlifter and Commonwealth powerlifting medallist, she integrates elite athletic experience with academic research to challenge historical gender biases in exercise science.

Her work centers on sex differences in resistance training physiology and exercise oncology applications. Hagstrom demonstrates that men and women gain comparable relative muscle mass from strength training, advocating for inclusive research to address the historical male focus in the field. She investigates optimizing resistance training for healthy populations while developing exercise protocols for cancer rehabilitation.

Hagstrom's research has been featured by major sports brands including Nike, and she communicates findings through UNSW's "10 Minute Genius" podcast series to bridge academic knowledge and public understanding of evidence-based strength training.