Skip navigation

Dr Paul Ansdell

Assistant Professor

Department: Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation

I am currently an Assistant Professor in Exercise Physiology having completed my Ph.D at Northumbria University in 2020. Before moving to Northumbria, I completed my undergraduate and masters degrees at the University of Brighton.

My research focuses on how age, sex, and hormonal status interact to determine physiological function in health and disease, and our group is currently made up of postgraduate students, Ph.D candidates, and postdoctoral resarchers.

I primarily teach on the BSc Sport and Exercise Science and MSc Strength and Conditioning degrees on modules such as Fundamentals of Human Physiology and Physiology of Strength and Conditioning.

Paul Ansdell

My research focuses on how age, sex, and hormonal status interact to determine physiological function in health and disease.

Examples of our work include studies of how the menstrual cycle and menopause influence central nervous system function in healthy females, as well as females with multiple sclerosis; as well as studies of how the physiological responses to exercise differ between males and females.

Currently my work is funded by research councils (BBSRC), charities (MS Society) and industry, and our group is made up of postgraduate students, Ph.D candidates, and postdoctoral researchers. 

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Experiences of athletes in a simulation based applied sports science university assessment: Identifying areas for improvement, Jones, T., Ansdell, P. 9 Jan 2025, In: Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education
  • Female Brain and Endocrinological Research Veteran (FemBER-Vet) Study: A study protocol for identifying endocrinological, lifestyle and psychosocial determinants of brain health outcomes in female veterans for future intervention success, Watermeyer, T., Atkinson, E., Howatson, G., McGill, G., Dodds, C., Ansdell, P., Udeh-Momoh, C. 22 Jan 2025, In: PLoS One
  • Reticulospinal function can be measured in the tibialis anterior using the StartReact method, Hayman, O., Atkinson, E., Ansdell, P., Angius, L., Thomas, K., Howatson, G., Kidgell, D., Skarabot, J., Goodall, S. 10 Apr 2025, In: Advanced Exercise and Health Science
  • The effect of sex on the cardiopulmonary and neuromuscular response to high-intensity interval exercise, Wilson, H., Bernert, L., Spillane, P., Squires, E., Crawford, L., Piasecki, J., Julian, R., Wilhelm, E., Hicks, K., Ansdell, P. 19 May 2025, In: American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology
  • Anodal tDCS improves neuromuscular adaptations to short-term resistance training of the knee extensors in healthy individuals, Angius, L., Ansdell, P., Škarabot, J., Goodall, S., Thomas, K., Cowper, G., Santarnecchi, E., Kidgell, D., Howatson, G. 1 Dec 2024, In: Journal of Neurophysiology
  • Changes in motor unit behaviour across repeated bouts of eccentric exercise, Hayman, O., Ansdell, P., Angius, L., Thomas, K., Horsbrough, L., Howatson, G., Kidgell, D., Škarabot, J., Goodall, S. 1 Nov 2024, In: Experimental Physiology
  • Contraction intensity modulates spinal excitability during transcranial magnetic stimulation-evoked silent period in rectus femoris muscle, Guerrero, G., Ansdell, P., Howatson, G., Avela, J., Walker, S. 1 May 2024, In: European Journal of Applied Physiology
  • Influence of Oestradiol Fluctuations in the Menstrual Cycle on Respiratory Exchange Ratio at Different Exercise Intensities: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis and Pooled-Data Analysis, Rattley, C., Ansdell, P., Burgess, L., Felton, M., Dewhurst, S., Neal, R. 16 Dec 2024, In: Physiologia
  • Motor unit discharge rate modulation during isometric contractions to failure is intensity‐ and modality‐dependent, Valenčič, T., Ansdell, P., Brownstein, C., Spillane, P., Holobar, A., Škarabot, J. 15 May 2024, In: The Journal of Physiology
  • No sex differences in oxygen uptake or extraction kinetics in the moderate or heavy exercise intensity domains, Solleiro Pons, M., Bernert, L., Hume, E., Hughes, L., Williams, Z., Burnley, M., Ansdell, P. 1 Mar 2024, In: Journal of Applied Physiology

Padraig Spillane Neurophysiology and plasticity across the female lifespan Start Date: 01/10/2022

I am a co-lead of the Women's Sport and Wellbeing Interdisciplinary Research Theme.

I am also the Theme Lead for Human, Environmental, and Exercise Physiology within the Physiological Society. 


Latest News and Features

Harriette Moore and Tim Ingleby from Northumbria University have been awarded Venice Fellowships by the British Council.
a student looking at a painting
Left to right: Joshua Sisskin, First Secretary of the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Berlin and Dr Ulugbek Azimov of Northumbria University.
Richard Lamb, Head of KTP Programme, Innovate UK and John Clayton, Knowledge Transfer Adviser, Innovate UK KTN, met with the project team for the Northumbria University and Space Architects KTP.
Ed Cottam
Members of staff from the Department of Architecture and Built Environment at Northumbria University celebrate the Surveying programmes retaining RICS accreditation.
More news

Back to top