Antony is an education and research focused academic within the UTS School of Human Performance, Rehabilitation & Population Health. He is also a member of the Human Performance Research Centre and INSIGHT Climate Change & Health Research Collaborative. His research interests are primarily within exercise and thermal physiology, investigating exercise and environmental stressors for their independent and interactive effects on human health and performance to improve adaptation and resilience to physiological stress.

Antony completed his PhD at the University of Technology Sydney, in collaboration with the New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS), in which he investigated the determinants of track cycling performance using a quantitative and qualitative (mixed methods) approach. During this time, he was the Sport Scientist/Physiologist for the NSWIS Cycling programme, where he supported elite state and national athletes in their training and development, including several Olympic, Paralympic, and World Championship medalists. His PhD work has been published in several high-ranking journals and has received awards at multiple conferences. Antony completed his undergraduate and Master's degrees at the University of Otago School of Physical Education, Sport & Exercise Sciences (Dunedin, New Zealand). His Master's thesis investigated the effects of local muscle heating on strength and hypertrophy outcomes of resistance training.

Antony leads athlete testing and training within the HPRC Sport Science Lab, including lab-based fitness testing (VO2, lactate profile), heat acclimation training in the MP01 Climate Chamber, and DXA bone and body composition assessments.

I currently work across academia and industry as a Senior Research Fellow at the Human Performance Research Centre (University of Technology Sydney) with industry collaborations with Rugby Australia's Analytics Team and High Performance Department, the Office of Naval Research Global, and the Australian Defence Science and Technology Group.

For the last 10+ years I've been conducting research and analytics projects across several areas including human performance, high performance sport, and community sports/participation. This includes project initiation and development, data collection, analysis, visualisation, and interpretation via evidence-based research, rigorous statistical analysis and effective visualisation and BI tools e.g. Tableau, R, SQL, AWS, Smartabase and Excel.

My research mainly investigates human performance in various domains such as sports, esports, and military settings. This includes physical, technical, tactical and decision-making performance at the individual level, as well as exploring how the individuals within teams cooperate effectively to ultimately achieve successful collective outcomes.

I obtained my PhD at the University of Newcastle and have published >60 peer reviewed scientific papers, as well as delivering many projects to industry partners. I also hold accreditation as a Level 2 sports scientist (ASpS2) and exercise scientist (AES) through ESSA. I coordinate the subject "Performance analysis and data science" in the Masters of high performance sport degree, and teach in Data Management for Sport and Exercise.

Additional experience included a previous employment at Australian sports technology company Fusion Sport, working with their Smartabase athlete management platform. I've developed numerous pieces of software for Web, PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Android - usually via Unity3D or R (Shiny). I worked for 10 years as a bicycle mechanic and trained with Specialized Bicycles as a bicycle fitting specialist, servicing >200 clients. This involved applying principles of anatomy and physiology to minimise injury and improve comfort from beginners to elite cyclists.

Cristina M. Caperchione (BHK Hons., MHK, PhD) is a Professor in the School or Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation within the Faculty of Health. Her research program is focused on using mix-methodologies aimed at understanding socio-cultural mechanisms to design, implement and evaluate community level health promotion interventions. This research is particularly focused on physical activity and lifestyle behaviours in populations at highest risk of developing chronic disease and most vulnerable to overall poor health. 

She has led a number of multi-year, multi-institutional research projects and currently leads 1) TIDDA Talk, a co-designed/co-delivered physical activity and social and emotional health program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls, (funded by Department of Health-Australia), 2) The HATTRICK program, a physical activity, healthy eating and mental fitness community intervention for men in Australia (funded by Commonwealth Government of Australia), and 3) Cancer Care Workforce Project, examining the cancer workforce’s capacity to implement exercise counselling and an exercise referral pathway in Sydney, NSW (funded by the Translational Cancer Research Network-NSW Cancer Council). In addition to her community based projects, she also works with athletes, coaches, and high performance support staff in devising practical strategies for empowering coaches to identify and support athlete mental health (funded by Australian Institute of Sport).

A large component of her work involves building strong community relationships with industry partners and local community members for greater program dissemination and sustainability. Professor Caperchione collaborates extensively with International and National colleagues specific to research concerning physical activity and exercise for the prevention, management and reduction of chronic disease.

Dr Francesco Bettariga is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Exercise Oncology at the INSIGHT Research Institute at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Exercise Medicine Research Institute (EMRI) at Edith Cowan University (ECU), and an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Molise (Italy). His research focuses on understanding the biological and clinical mechanisms through which exercise influences cancer progression and survivorship outcomes. His work integrates clinical exercise trials with translational approaches to examine how exercise may modulate tumour biology, the tumour microenvironment, and anti-tumour immune responses. A central focus of his research is the development of precise exercise prescription for people living with cancer. By combining mechanistic insights with clinical trials, his work aims to optimise exercise prescription as a therapeutic strategy to improve treatment tolerance, physical function, disease progression, and survival outcomes in people living with cancer.

Dr Bettariga has secured >$401,900 AUD in competitive research funding as a Chief Investigator, including >$109,500 AUD as Chief Investigator-A, across national and international grants focused on exercise oncology and cancer progression. This includes support from organisations such as the Cancer Council Western Australia, the Movember Foundation, the World Cancer Research Fund, and national funding bodies in Europe. He is currently appointed as Chief Investigator A (CI-A) on two clinical trials investigating the cancer-suppressive effects of exercise in people living with cancer. He also contributes as a Co-Investigator on several national and international grants examining the impact of exercise on disease progression and survival outcomes.

Dr Bettariga has authored and co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications in leading international journals in exercise oncology and exercise science, an output achieved within a short period following the completion of his PhD (>600 citations, H-index 13, FWCI 4.11). He has published as first author in several top-ranked journals, including the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Journal of Sport and Health Science, Sports Medicine, and Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, which are currently ranked among the top three journals globally in the Exercise and Rehabilitation category. He has also published as first author in leading oncology journals such as the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, and Journal of Cancer Survivorship. His PhD thesis comprised an extensive body of original research with 12 first-author publications, representing a record number of first-author studies within the doctoral program. He is currently Associate Editor for the Journal of Clinical Exercise Physiology, a member of the Early Career Committee of the International Society of Exercise Oncology (ISEO), and a Scientific Committee Member for the 2027 ESLO Summit. He also holds roles across international organisations in exercise oncology, including as a Mentor within the Global Mentorship Program of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) and a Committee Member of the Cancer Special Interest Group within the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). In addition, he serves as a grant reviewer for both the UTS Seed Funding Scheme and the Dutch Cancer Society.

Dr Bettariga is actively involved in international scientific dissemination and delivers lectures at undergraduate and postgraduate level at university. He regularly delivers national and international workshops, professional training programs, and invited lectures on exercise oncology across academic, clinical, and professional settings, with over 30 invited presentations delivered to date. These include educational programs organised

by Exercise and Sports Science Australia (ESSA), the European School of Lifestyle Oncology (ESLO), TrustMe-Ed, and the International Maitland Teachers Association (IMTA) as well as workshops delivered within hospitals, private clinics, and professional development courses aimed at improving the implementation of exercise medicine for people living with cancer. He has presented his research at more than 10 international conferences as an invited and keynote speaker and has delivered Lectio Magistralis at international universities on the role of exercise medicine in cancer care. He also contributes to university teaching through undergraduate and postgraduate lectures and training activities. He is actively involved in national and international supervision and mentoring of postgraduate students, including PhD candidates, supporting the development of research skills in clinical trials, translational research, and exercise prescription in oncology populations.

Dr Bettariga’s work has been recognised through multiple prestigious national and international academic awards, including the Exercise and Sports Science Australia (ESSA) Medal, PhD Academy Award, Edith Cowan University Media Award, and recognition as the best postgraduate and doctoral student (Vice Chancellor Top 100 Student, Edith Cowan University).

Dr Bettariga’s work has achieved substantial global visibility and translational reach. His research has generated over 500 media mentions worldwide, including coverage in outlets such as The Washington Post, Daily Mail, Fox News, The West Australian, and ABC Perth. He has also been interviewed by 9News, where his research was featured on national television. This coverage has contributed to an estimated audience reach exceeding 2.3 billion and an earned media value greater than USD $22 million (ECU media analytics).

In addition to research dissemination, Dr Bettariga’s impact extends to clinical and community settings through professional education, stakeholder engagement, and knowledge translation activities. He has established and led a Breast Cancer Consumer Advisory Group, bringing together patients, caregivers, and nursing professionals to directly incorporate lived experience and clinical perspectives into research and knowledge translation activities. He also contributes to the development and delivery of exercise medicine services, supporting the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based exercise interventions for patients and healthcare professionals. By working with healthcare professionals, patient groups, and professional organisations, he contributes to improving the implementation of exercise medicine in real-world cancer care, with the potential to reduce healthcare burden and improve patient outcomes.

Professor Nicolas H. Hart, PhD AES CSCS FESSA is an NHMRC Research Fellow in Cancer Survivorship; Chief Investigator and NSW Lead of an NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Cancer Survivorship (MAXIMISE-CRE); Cancer Theme Lead of the Human Performance Research Centre; and Head of Discipline for Clinical Exercise Physiology within the Faculty of Health at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). His clinical research focuses on improving outcomes for people affected by cancer (i.e., cancer survivors and caregivers), with a sub-specialty in advanced or metastatic cancers, canvassing (1) survivorship and supportive care issues (including exercise, nutrition, psychosocial, and toxicity management), (2) cancer-specific outcomes (including disease biology, disease progression, and overall survival), and (3) model of care development and evaluation (including health services research and implementation science) to inform policy and practice. Recognising his standing in the field, he was named the 2024 NSW Premiers' Outstanding Mid-Career Cancer Researcher, 2024 Vice Chancellors' Award for Research Excellence in Leadership and Development, 2025 Deans' Award for Research Excellence (Research Leader), and independently ranked as a World Top 2% Scientist by Elsevier and Standford. He is the Editor-in-Chief for the Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology, and holds Professorial titles at Flinders University, Edith Cowan University, Queensland University of Technology, and University of Notre Dame Australia.

Professor Hart has received >$26 million AUD research income as chief investigator to undertake research improving outcomes for people with advanced or metastatic cancer. This includes two prestigious fellowships from the National Health and Medical Research Council (2023-2027) to improve outcomes for people with bone metastases; and the Cancer Council of Western Australia (2018-2020) to investigate approaches to delay disease progression and extend overall survival in advanced cancer patients through exercise medicine; chief investigator (CIH) for 1 NHMRC project grant, CID and CIE for 4 x MRFF grants; and chief investigator (Co-PI) for several national and international multicentre randomised controlled trials. He has published >240 peer-reviewed research articles (including as senior author in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians - top ranked journal in oncology) and 4 book chapters (including European Society of Medical Oncology Handbook of Supportive and Palliative Care), and presented >150 items of work at national and international conferences. Professor Hart has supervised 23 PhD students (13 completed; 10 ongoing), 1 MSc by Research (1 completed), and 2 Honours (2 completed; 1 with 1st Class Honours) students. He has also mentored or supervised 14 postdoctoral fellows (8 previous; 6 current; including 1 Chancellors' Research Fellow) across exercise medicine; cancer survivorship; and health services research fields; and a further 13 international fellowship holders (5 previous; 8 current).

Professor Hart was an inaugural Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) Survivorship Fellow who led the development of international (MASCC-ASCO) survivorship care standards, practice recommendations, and research priorities for people affected by advanced or metastatic cancer. He is a MASCC Board of Director; MASCC Founding Chair of Exercise Oncology; MASCC Founding Vice-Chair of Lifestyle and Integrative Medicine; and former MASCC Chair of Fatigue. He sits on several national committees within Exercise and Sport Science Australia including the Standards Council; Chair of the Survivorship Executive Committee of Clinical Oncology Society of Australia; Scientific Committee of the Primary Care Collaborative Cancer Clinical (PC4) Trials Group; former Co-Chair of PC4 Survivorship; former Chair of Fatigue for the Cancer Symptom Trials (CST) group; and currently sits on international committees including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)'s Survivorship Guidelines Advisory Group and MASCC Disparities Committee. He is the only Australian member of the international Survivorship Research in Prostate Cancer (SuRECaP) group; 1 of 3 Australian members of the International Bone Metastases and Exercise Working Group (IBMEWG) who developed the worlds’ first clinical exercise guidelines for people with bone metastases; 1 of 2 Australian members on the World Health Organisation (WHO) Cancer Development Group, who created a Package of Interventions for Rehabilitation in Cancer Survivors worldwide. He currently sits on another two WHO Technical Working Groups to establish (1) WHO Quality Standards for Rehabilitation; and (2) WHO Costing Tools for Breast Cancer Rehabilitation for global implementation to the Health Ministries of all WHO Member States. He is a member of Cancer Australia's Supportive Care in Cancer Expert Panel; and Co-Chair of the Expert Working Group establishing an Optimal Care Pathway for LGBTIQA+ People with Cancer. 

Dr Libby Pickering Rodriguez is a Lecturer in Sport and Exercise in the Facuty of Health. She has experience with the biomechanical assessment of athletes and has interests in applied sport science in a variety of sports.

Libby has previously conducted research in the area of muscle stiffness and how it relates to performance and injury risk in athletes. She is currently conducting research using 3D motion capture and force platforms to analyse movement and technique, and has worked with athletes from a variety of sports including Australian rules football, netball and cricket.

Libby teaches and co-ordinates subjects in the discipline of Biomechanics within the Sport and Exercise Science and Sport and Exercise Management degrees.

Dr Rob Bower is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health at UTS, with a PhD in Sports Engineering and a Bachelor of Education majoring in Physical Education and Mathematics. He also has a Master of Applied Science (Exercise and Sports Science).

Rob’s main areas of research include the design and performance of sporting equipment and in particular, tennis rackets and cricket bats. He is the  Deputy Head of School (Teaching and Learning) for the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation, located at the Moore Park precinct in Sydney. 

In 2010, Rob received a UTS Teaching Award and in 2011, he received a National Teaching Award (Australian Learning and Teaching Council).

Sam is a lecturer within the UTS School of Sport, Exercise & Rehabilitation. He is a passionate teacher in the areas of exercise physiology, sport and exercise medicine, exercise prescription, and lifespan development. He focuses on high-quality, high-impact research, with a particular interest in the effects of exercise on cardiometabolic and mental health in inactive populations. Sam has founded and managed an allied health business and bridges the gap between research and practice through his work as an Accredited Exercise Scientist.

Aaron is the Head of the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation at UTS and directs the Human Performance Research Centre. His PhD research focused on developing methods to monitor athletes and their training to mitigate overtraining risks. Over the past 25 years, he has expanded this research to focus on creating an evidence basis that informs methods to optimise the training, health, and performance of athletes. Much of his research has been conducted in partnership with industry to ensure practical application and impact. 

Aaron’s experience in multidisciplinary teams has shaped his problem-solving approach. He has supervised over 65 research students, published more than 280 articles and 23 book chapters. He has also served on editorial boards for top international journals. 

In addition to his research, Aaron is an accredited sport scientist who has consulted to many professional sports across Australia and several global sports organisations. He has been an advisor to the Nike Sport Research Laboratory and the National Basketball Association.  He also served as a board member for a decade at Exercise and Sports Science Australia (ESSA) from 2014-2024.

Within the university, Aaron has taught in both undergraduate and postgraduate programs, focusing on developing students with a strong theoretical understanding, critical thinking, and practical skills. His contributions to teaching and learning have been acknowledged with university and national awards.

Dr Madeleine English (BHmSc, BSES (Hons), PhD) is a Lecturer within the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation with a research focus on the role of physical activity and sport in promoting health equity and positive youth development. Her work is grounded in community-based, participatory approaches, exploring how physical activity and sport can serve as a catalyst for holisitic health, particularly among underrepresented populations. Madeleine's current research centres on the design and evaluation of culturally safe health promotion programs. She is a co-designer of Tidda Talk, a physical activity and social and emotional wellbeing intervention supporting young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

Hugh is a Professor at Reykjavik University in Iceland. His research interests are focused on evidence-based methods to improve performance and reduce injury in team sport and industry (armed forces, firefighters), with a specific focus on better understanding the relationship between fatigue, recovery (most notably sleep), injury and training load. Hugh has applied experience working with collegiate and professional athletes in Europe, Asia and North America, where he has previously worked for the Oakland Raiders (NFL), University of Oregon (NCAA American Football) and during his doctoral studies (PhD in Sports Medicine) at a FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence and German Olympic Training Centre (University of Saarland, Germany). Following full-time employment from 2018-2023 with UTS, he now presently acts as an Adjunct Fellow where he collaborates with the HPRC team and is available to co-supervise students interested in post-graduate research.

Dr. Lee Wallace holds the positions of Senior Lecturer and Undergraduate Course Director for Sport and Exercise at the University of Technology Sydney. His research interests include examining the effects of varying training stimulus on athletic performance and understanding the relationship between training load and injury in athletes. Dr. Wallace's strong governance background is highlighted by his numerous board roles in public and proprietary companies.

Orcid identifier: 0000-0002-0321-5723
Senior Lecturer, School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation 
Oscar.Lederman@uts.edu.au

Dr Oscar Lederman is a Senior Lecturer at UTS in the Masters of Clinical Exercise Physiology and Mental Health Research Lead in the Human Performance Research Centre, School of Human Performance, Rehabilitation and Population Health, Faculty of Health.

Oscar is also Research Fellow at the University of New South Wales, Sydney in the Discipline of Psychiatry & Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW Medicine

Oscar has previously held roles including;
- Senior Accredited Exercise physiologist at UNSW's Addi Moves program (Addison Road Community Centre). (2023)
- Clinical Lead and Senior Accredited Exercise Physiologist at the Keeping the Body in Mind program, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (NSW Health). (2014-2023)
- Wellbeing Ambassador at SESLHD Mental Health Services (part time secondment - 2022-2023)

Background
Oscar’s has 10 years experience delivering and overseeing health programs within the mental health field. His research and advocacy has been key in defining the role and scope of practice of exercise professionals in mental health and supporting the integration of physical activity as part of routine mental health care. Oscar regularly provides education and training for students and professionals regarding the role of exercise in mental healthcare. Oscar is a qualified Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) instructor and regularly delivers workshops to community groups, health professionals and students.

I am a sport data scientist, biomechanics researcher, and educator working at the intersection of applied analytics, movement science, and meta-research. My work focuses on translating cutting-edge data science—especially functional data analysis (FDA)—into real-world applications across high-performance sport, health, and defence. I currently lecture in sports data science at the University of Technology Sydney and serve as a research lead on several national initiatives, including the CSIRO Sports AI Consortium.

My academic contributions include over 40 peer-reviewed publications and the co-authorship of the first accessible book on FDA in biomechanics. I supervise a range of PhD students working on projects that range from AI-driven skill acquisition to biomechanics-informed performance optimisation. I've led capability-building programs in data science for Defence, co-designed national research infrastructure, and continue to consult to and engage with the sport industry elite sport, for practical, problem centred research.

Whether developing curriculum, co-leading national grants, or mentoring the next generation of sport data scientists, my goal is to help shape a future where evidence-based decision-making is embedded, accessible, and impactful, within sport and beyond.

Job Fransen is an Adjunct Fellow in motor control and skill acquisition at the University of Technology Sydney. He is particularly interested in how expertise in human movement emerges as a result of individual and environmental factors. His work has investigated the importance of talent identification and development programs in youth sport, the importance of perceptual and cognitive skills and abilities in the development of sporting expertise, and the assessment and development of collective behaviour.

Job is an executive board member of the Australasian Skill Acquisition Network and an associate editor for Science and Medicine in Football.

Job also has experience coaching in a wide range of disciplines, including soccer, rugby union, rugby sevens, field hockey, among many more. Between 2016-2020, Job was employed as the skill acquisition specialist for the Sydney Swans Football Club, where he used contemporary skill acquisition methods to help coaches design more effective training sessions focused on developing individual and collective skilled behaviour.

Dr. Anthony Nasser is a research and teaching academic in physiotherapy at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), specialising in the assessment and management of musculoskeletal conditions, with a particular focus on complex hip and buttock pain conditions such as proximal hamstring tendinopathy, gluteal tendinopathy and ischiofemoral impingement. With over 15 years of clinical experience, Anthony brings a strong practitioner’s perspective to his research and teaching. He is a titled Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist with the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA), a recognition of his expertise in the field.

Anthony transitioned to academia following a diverse career in musculoskeletal and sports physiotherapy. His research program is dedicated to improving diagnosis, management, and rehabilitation outcomes for musculoskeletal conditions affecting the hip and buttock region. He is passionate about translating cutting-edge scientific evidence into practical, patient-centred strategies that enhance clinical decision-making and improve health outcomes

Anthony leads curriculum initiatives at UTS, integrating evidence-based practice, clinical authenticity, and emerging digital technologies to prepare future physiotherapists for a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape. In 2023, Anthony won a university wide award from the Australian Awards for University Teaching. The award recognised his long-standing contributions to student learning. Anthony has been involved in teaching physiotherapy at several leading universities across Australia, and has worked at UTS since 2017. 

"I am passionate about physiotherapy and try to share with students just how rewarding this career can be," Anthony said.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science (physiotherapy) from the University of Sydney and a Clinical Master of physiotherapy, in the field of sports, from the University of Queensland. Anthony completed his PhD through La Trobe University.

Anthony is a reviewer for a number of specialist journals in Sports Medicine including the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, The Scandinavian Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, Clinical Rehabilitation,  Musculoskeletal Science and Practice, BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy in Sport.

Dr James Murray is a Lecturer in Clinical Exercise Physiology in the School of Human Performance, Rehabilitation and Population Health, Faculty of Health. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), and an Accredited Exercise Physiologist, with his clinical experience spanning private, community, and research settings, commonly working with people from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and people with living cancer and cardiovascular diseases. James completed his PhD in 2023, with his research exploring the protective role of exercise on cardiovascular health and function in women impacted by cancer and cardiovascular diseases, and ways exercise participation can be enhanced during chemotherapy for breast cancer. James' current research explores the role of exercise as part of survivorship care in cancer, with a focus on culturally and linguistically diverse populations and alternative exercise modalities (blood flow restriction training). James also has an interest in exercise-based prehabilitation in oncology settings, including its cardioprotective role prior to the commencement of anti-cancer therapies. As an early career researcher, James has authored several peer-reviewed publications (with >220 citations), obtained $50 000 AUD in grant funding, and presented his research both nationally and internationally. James has supervised three honours students (2 completed, 1 ongoing), and one PhD student (ongoing).