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
  • Comparison of predicted aerobic capacity to measured aerobic capacity in menopausal women: an analysis of three methods, Rattley, C., Felton, M., Ansdell, P., Dewhurst, S., Neal, R. 27 Jun 2025, In: Climacteric
  • Experiences of athletes in a simulation based applied sports science university assessment: Identifying areas for improvement, Jones, T., Ansdell, P. 1 Jun 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. 1 Jun 2025, In: Advanced Exercise and Health Science
  • Submaximal 2‐day cardiopulmonary exercise testing to assess exercise capacity and post‐exertional symptom exacerbation in people with long COVID, Thomas, C., Kudiersky, N., Ansdell, P., Ashton, R., Brown, C., Bewick, T., Carr, J., Hume, E., Spillane, P., Pastorio, E., Owen, R., Maden‐Wilkinson, T., McNeil‐Angopa, E., Parkington, T., Arena, R., Ozemek, C., Formenti, F., Veluswamy, S., Gururaj, R., Faghy, M. 13 Jun 2025, In: Experimental Physiology
  • 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. 1 Jul 2025, In: American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology
  • The effect of the menstrual cycle and oral contraceptive pill on countermovement jump height, perceived recovery and readiness to train following a strength-based exercise session, McNulty, K., Ansdell, P., Goodall, S., Thomas, K., Elliott-Sale, K., Howatson, G., Hicks, K. 9 Jun 2025, In: Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal
  • Ventilation differences in the menstrual cycle: A systematic review and meta-analysis, Rattley, C., Ansdell, P., Burgess, L., Felton, M., Dewhurst, S., Armstrong, M., Neal, R. 30 Jun 2025, In: Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology
  • 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

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

The NUSTEM team: Professor Carol Davenport; Dr Antonio Portas; Annie Padwick; Jonathan Sanderson; Mel Horan and Joe Shimwell.
From l-r: North East Mayor, Kim McGuinness; Claire Malcolm, CEO, New Writing North; Cllr Karen Kilgour, Leader of Newcastle City Council.
Northumbria's Dr Rida Zia-ul-Mustafa, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Free-Space, pictured testing one of the CubeSats.
Honorary Graduates 2025
Image of a hand with stop written on it
More news
More events

Upcoming events

Society of Chemical Industry Electrochemistry Postgraduate Conference 2025
Understanding Clearing and Confirmation
UK Arctic Science Conference 2025
-

Back to top