Dr Ozcan Esen

Assistant Professor

School: Sport Exercise and Rehabilitation

Following a 15 years as International level athlete and coach in swimming and underwater sport, Ozcan moved to Higher Education by completing master and doctoral degrees in Sports Nutrition in UK. Oz lectured at University of Chester and Manchester Metropolitan University before arriving at Northumbria in 2022, where he is now Assistant Professor in Sport and Exercise Nutrition. His research is focusing on the effect of nutritional interventions and dietary supplements on muscle function, human performance, recovery and health. Oz is also International Olympic Committee Certified and Registered Sport Nutritionist (SENr) and work with a number of professional sport teams, and Olympic, World and European Champions and Medalists in various sports (i.e., Boxing, Gymnastics, Archery, Swimming, Modern Penthatlon, fencing, football, basketball, voleyball). Oz is Nutrition Lead & Consutant in Turkish Olympic Committee & TeamTurkiye for Paris Olympics 2024.

Beside his academic and practitioner experience, he has been a national athlete (swimming and under water sports) for 15 years and competed finals in both European (4 times) and World (5 times) championships. In 2015, he won a silver medal in the Finswimming category at the 1^st Mediterranean Beach Games (equivalent to the Commonwealth Games). Additionally, he has worked as a head coach of the Turkish Junior National Team at the Turkish Underwater Sports Federation in both 2014 European and the World Junior Championships in 2015.

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Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Development and validation of sport nutrition knowledge test for pre-service dieticians, Özer, Ö., Toktaş, N., Bilgiç, M., Uğurlu, A., Devrilmez, E., Uyhan, O., Tabak, E., Esen, O. 20 Mar 2026, In: BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation
How many trials are enough? Familiarization requirements in the Loughborough Soccer Passing Test, Yaşlı, B., Karayiğit, R., Önlü, A., Esen, O., Mareș, G., Alexe, D., Lupu, G., Alexe, C. 17 Feb 2026, In: BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation
Soccer pass performance following caffeine intake with deliberate or maintenance practice, Yaşlı, B., Esen, O., Önlü, A., Tuncel, O., Sertkaya, M., Muñoz, A., Karayiğit, R. 21 Apr 2026, In: Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition
Effects of Acute and Chronic Swimming Exercise on Executive Functions in Male Preadolescents, Özdemir, E., Şahan, A., Toktaş, N., Esen, O. 26 Dec 2025, In: Pamukkale Journal of Sport Sciences
Sex differences in energy intake, sweat rate, and electrolyte loss among world-class archers during competition, Esen, O., Goodall, S. 31 Dec 2025, In: Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition
The effect of a short recipe book intervention on nutrition confidence and sports nutrition knowledge of women football players, Peart, D., Walshe, I., Briggs, M., McIver, V., Esen, O., Spurr, T., Rumbold, P. 27 Jun 2025, In: Performance Nutrition
Acute Beetroot Juice Supplementation Has No Effect on Upper- and Lower-Body Maximal Isokinetic Strength and Muscular Endurance in International-Level Male Gymnasts, Esen, O., Fox, J., Karayigit, R., Walshe, I. 1 May 2024, In: International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism
Energy intake, Hydration Status, and Sleep of World-Class Male Archers During Competition, Esen, O., Walshe, I., Goodall, S. 31 Dec 2024, In: Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition
Influence of nitrate supplementation on motor unit activity during recovery following a sustained ischemic contraction in recreationally active young males, Esen, O., Bailey, S., Stashuk, D., Howatson, G., Goodall, S. 1 Sep 2024, In: European Journal of Nutrition
POST-ACTIVATION PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT EFFECT OF TWO TUCK-JUMP PROTOCOLS WITH DIFFERENT VOLUMES ON 15-S VERTICAL JUMP PERFORMANCE, Sari, C., Aytac, T., Koc, H., Buzdagli, Y., Esen, O., Karayigit, R. 29 Jul 2024, In: Kinesiologia Slovenica: scientific journal on sport