Matthew completed his PhD in 2020 at Loughborough University under the supervision of Professor David Stensel, Dr James King, and Professor David Webb. His thesis focused on the effect of exercise on blood vessel function and cardiovascular disease risk markers in South Asians.

Since January 2020, Matthew has worked as a Research Associate at Loughborough University, working with Professor Lettie Bishop as part of the Lifestyle Theme of the NIHR-funded Leicester Biomedical Research Centre.

Matthew’s research interests span the effects of exercise on immunity, inflammation, and infection in the general population and those with specific long-term conditions. Matthew has recently been conducting studies in people living with long-covid and a form of chronic inflammatory arthritis: Axial Spondyloarthritis.

Matthew has expertise in exercise physiology, metabolic health, and immune function. His research focuses on the interaction between obesity, ethnicity, physical activity, inflammation, immune function, and chronic disease. Matthew is active in research, having been involved in over 15 peer-reviewed journal articles since 2020. He has also been an invited reviewer for Obesity (2023 & 2022), Therapeutic Advances in Musculoskeletal Disease (2023), Journal of Sport Sciences (2023), International Journal of Obesity (2023 & 2022 & 2021), American Journal of Preventive Medicine (2022), and Exercise Immunology Reviews (2021).

Current research projects include:

  • Exercise as an anti-inflammatory management in people living with Axial Spondyloarthritis.
  • Ageing of the immune system in people living with Axial Spondyloarthritis.
  • The effect of sleep quality and stress on the immune system and inflammatory profiles.
  • Mechanisms driving higher risk of cardiovascular disease in ethnic minorities.
  • Functional assays investigating the movement of immune cells into metabolically active tissues.

Matthew also has experience in leading and managing NHS clinical trials through his work with people living with Axial Spondyloarthritis.

Matthew is a member of the Endocrinology Society and the Midlands Innovation Flow Cytometry group. He has served as a peer reviewer for Obesity, Therapeutic Advances in Musculoskeletal Disease, Journal of Sport Sciences, International Journal of Obesity, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, and Exercise Immunology Reviews.

Matthew regularly disseminates his research at national and international conferences such as the British Rheumatology Society, British Society for Spondyloarthritis, Midlands Rheumatology Society, and European Congress on Obesity. Matthew has recently won awards for his presentations from The British Society for Spondyloarthritis (2022) and the Midlands Rheumatology Society (2023).

Matthew has also given the following internal and external invited guest lectures:

  • Exercise as an anti-inflammatory management for people living with AxSpA (Birmingham University Special Interest Group, 2024).
  • Exercise as an anti-inflammatory management for chronic disease (Loughborough University, 2024).
  • My chronic back pain is Axy-what? (Loughborough University Public Lecture Series, 2023).
  • Exercise and cardiovascular health in South Asian and White European populations (Loughborough University Public Lecture series, 2019)

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