Dr Sarah Allison

Assistant Professor

School: Sport Exercise and Rehabilitation

Dr Sarah Allison is an Assistant Professor and the DXA Lead at Northumbria University. She also has an Honorary appointment in the School of Biosciences at the University of Surrey. She is a Scientific Member of the Research and Innovation Grant Assessment Panel for the Royal Osteoporosis Society and has served as Committee Member of the Bone Research Society (2019-2022), Chair of the Bone Research Society’s Muscle and Bone Working Group (2019-2023) and Conference Organising Committee (2021). She has received New Investigator Awards from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, Royal Osteoporosis Society and the Bone Research Society. Her research has been funded by the MRC as PI, EU Horizon 2020 and Dunhill Medical Trust.

Sarah completed her BSc in Sport Science at Northumbria University and received the English Institute of Sport Highest Academic Achievement Award and Newcastle Falcons Best Research Dissertation Award. She completed her postgraduate degrees in Exercise Physiology (MSc) and Human Biology (PhD) at Loughborough University. Her PhD work investigated the effects of a 12-month high impact exercise programme on bone strength and neuromuscular function in community-dwelling older men funded by an MRC Interdisciplinary Bridging Award and Loughborough University Scholarship. She then worked as a Royal Osteoporosis Society sponsored Research Associate with the University of Cambridge to evaluate effects of these exercises on cortical and trabecular bone and its 3D distribution across the proximal femur, using clinical CT.

She teaches and leads modules across the department, most notably on the MSc Clinical Exercise Physiology programme including Ageing, Musculoskeletal & Metabolic Conditions and Critical Appraisal of Evidence in Clinical Exercise Physiology.

She is Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has previously held academic appointments as Lecturer in Health and Exercise Science at the University of Surrey and as Senior Lecturer in Physiology at Teesside University in the Department of Allied Health Professionals.

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Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Assessing post-operative dietary intake in older adult hip fracture patients: An observational study protocol, Lloyd, H., Burn, N., Allison, S., Jones, C., Franklin, J. 1 Sep 2025, In: Nutrition and Health
Daily Pain Severity but Not Vertebral Fractures Is Associated With Lower Physical Activity in Postmenopausal Women With Back Pain, Montgomery, G., Tobias, J., Paskins, Z., Khera, T., Huggins, C., Allison, S., Abasolo, D., Clark, E., Ireland, A. 1 Jun 2024, In: Journal of Aging and Physical Activity
“Go on, get out, you've got this”: a qualitative study exploring engagement with a nature conservation intervention for older adults, O'Brien, C., Smith, K., Allison, S., Gatersleben, B. 1 Dec 2024, In: Wellbeing, Space and Society
Digital Transformation of Cancer Care in the Era of Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Data-Driven Interventions: Navigating the Field, Papachristou, N., Kotronoulas, G., Dikaios, N., Allison, S., Eleftherochorinou, H., Rai, T., Kunz, H., Barnaghi, P., Miaskowski, C., Bamidis, P. 1 Jun 2023, In: Seminars in Oncology Nursing
"It has activated my mind, it has given me a purpose, I feel more aware and more alive!”: A nature conservation intervention to support wellbeing in older adults, O'Brien, C., Smith, K., Allison, S., Gatersleben, B. 5 Jul 2023, BSG Annual Conference 2023
Response to letter by Lo et al.: Investigating seasonal association between vitamin D concentration, muscle mass and strength in postmenopausal women: A critical analysis, Welford, A., Darling, A., Allison, S., Lanham-New, S., Greig, C. 2023, In: Journal of Nutritional Science
Lack of significant seasonal association between serum 25(OH)D concentration, muscle mass and strength in postmenopausal women from the D-FINES longitudinal study, Welford, A., Darling, A., Allison, S., Lanham-New, S., Greig, C. 2022, In: Journal of Nutritional Science
Machine Learning Models for Weight-Bearing Activity Type Recognition Based on Accelerometry in Postmenopausal Women, Huggins, C., Clarke, R., Abasolo, D., Gil-Rey, E., Tobias, J., Deere, K., Allison, S. 25 Nov 2022, In: Sensors
Acute Response of Sclerostin to Whole-body Vibration with Blood Flow Restriction, Gapper, K., Stevens, S., Antoni, R., Hunt, J., Allison, S. 1 Dec 2021, In: International Journal of Sports Medicine
Integrating a simple and brief home-based exercise programme within a UK stop smoking service: a mixed method feasibility study, Allison, S., Wilson-Barnes, S., Cropley, M., Britton, J., Bains, M. Nov 2021, In: The Lancet