Dr Alice Thackray

BSc, MSc, PhD, AFHEA

Pronouns: She/her
  • Senior Research Associate in Exercise Metabolism

Research groups and centres

Publications
ORCiD Google Scholar
Alice Thackray

Alice graduated from Loughborough University in 2010 with a BSc in Sport and Exercise Science, and then remained at Loughborough to complete an MSc in Exercise Physiology a year later. Alice continued to study in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University where she completed her PhD in 2014, investigating the effect of acute exercise and diet manipulations on postprandial metabolism in young people.

Alice commenced a Post-doctoral Research Associate position at Loughborough in March 2015 as part of the Leicester – Loughborough Diet, Lifestyle and Physical Activity Biomedical Research Unit. In April 2017, Alice continued her role as a Research Associate, and since April 2020 as a Senior Research Associate, contributing to projects aligned to the lifestyle theme of the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre.

Alice’s research is broadly focused on developing understanding of physical activity interactions in health and disease. She is particularly interested in the interaction of exercise with appetite control, energy balance, metabolic health, and cardiovascular disease risk.

Alice is currently undertaking research in:

  • Exercise, appetite control and energy balance
  • Exercise, postprandial metabolism and cardiovascular disease risk
  • Individual variability in appetite and postprandial responses to exercise.

Invited reviewer

  • Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
  • Appetite
  • British Journal of Nutrition
  • Nutrients

Invited speaker

  • Acute effects of exercise and diet on appetite regulation: implications for weight management. 2017 International Symposium on exercise and appetite regulation: from obesity prevention to post-exercise recovery, Waseda University, Japan. (18 October 2017).

Featured publications

  • Thackray AE, Willis SA, Sherry AP, Clayton DJ, Broom DR, Demashkieh M, Sargeant JA, James LJ, Finlayson G, Stensel DJ, King JA (2020) An acute bout of swimming increases post-exercise energy intake in young healthy men and women. Appetite 154: article 104785. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2020.104785.
  • Willis SA, Sargeant JA, Yates T, Takamura T, Takayama H, Gupta V, Brittain E, Crawford J, Parry SA, Thackray AE, Varela-Mato V, Stensel DJ, Woods RM, Hulston CJ, Aithal GP, King JA (2020) Acute hyperenergetic, high-fat feeding increases circulating FGF21, LECT2, and fetuin-A in healthy men. The Journal of Nutrition 150(5): 1076–1085. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxz333.
  • Goltz FR, Thackray AE, Varela-Mato V, King JA, Dorling JL, Dowejko M, Mastana S, Thompson J, Atkinson G, Stensel DJ (2019) Exploration of associations between the FTO rs9939609 genotype, fasting and postprandial appetite-related hormones and perceived appetite in healthy men and women. Appetite 142: article 104368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2019.104368.
  • Dorling JL, Clayton DJ, Jones J, Carter WG, Thackray AE, King JA, Pucci A, Batterham RL, Stensel DJ (2019) A randomized crossover trial assessing the effects of acute exercise on appetite, circulating ghrelin concentrations, and butyrylcholinesterase activity in normal-weight males with variants of the obesity-linked FTO rs9939609 polymorphism. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 110(5): 1055–1066. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqz188.
  • Goltz FR, Thackray AE, Atkinson G, Lolli L, King JA, Dorling JL, Dowejko M, Mastana S, Stensel DJ (2019) True interindividual variability exists in postprandial appetite responses in healthy men but is not moderated by the FTO genotype. The Journal of Nutrition 149(7): 1159–1169. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxz062.
  • Dorling J, Broom DR, Burns SF, Clayton DJ, Deighton K, James LJ, King JA, Miyashita M, Thackray AE, Batterham RL, Stensel DJ (2018) Acute and chronic effects of exercise on appetite, energy intake and appetite-related hormones: the modulating effect of adiposity, sex, and habitual physical activity. Nutrients 10(9): 1140. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10091140.
  • Goltz FR, Thackray AE, King JA, Dorling JL, Atkinson G, Stensel DJ (2018) Interindividual responses of appetite to acute exercise: a replicated crossover study. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 50(4): 758–768. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000001504.
  • Douglas JA, King JA, Clayton DJ, Jackson AP, Sargeant JA, Thackray AE, Davies MJ, Stensel DJ (2017) Acute effects of exercise on appetite, ad libitum energy intake and appetite-regulatory hormones in lean and overweight/obese men and women. International Journal of Obesity 41(12): 1737–1744. https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2017.181.
  • King JA, Deighton K, Broom DR, Wasse LK, Douglas JA, Burns SF, Cordery PA, Petherick ES, Batterham RL, Goltz FR, Thackray AE, Yates T, Stensel DJ (2017) Individual variation in hunger, energy intake, and ghrelin responses to acute exercise. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 49(6): 1219–1228. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000001220.
  • Broom DR, Miyashita M, Wasse LK, Pulsford R, King JA, Thackray AE, Stensel DJ (2017) Acute effect of exercise intensity and duration on acylated ghrelin and hunger in men. Journal of Endocrinology 232(3): 411–422. https://doi.org/10.1530/JOE-16-0561.
  • Thackray AE,Deighton K, King JA, Stensel DJ (2016) Exercise, appetite and weight control: are there differences between men and women? Nutrients 8(9): 583. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8090583.
  • Thackray AE, Barrett LA, Tolfrey K (2016) Energy replacement diminishes the effect of exercise on postprandial lipemia in boys. Metabolism 65(4): 496–506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2015.12.001.
  • Thackray AE, Barrett LA, Tolfrey K (2016) High-intensity running and energy restriction reduce postprandial lipemia in girls. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 48(3): 402–411. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000788.
  • Arjunan SP, Deighton K, Bishop NC, King J, Reischak-Oliveira A, Rogan A, Sedgwick M, Thackray AE, Webb D, Stensel DJ (2015) The effect of prior walking on coronary heart disease risk markers in South Asian and European men. European Journal of Applied Physiology 115(12): 2641–2651. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3269-7.
  • Thackray AE, Barrett LA, Tolfrey K (2013) Acute high-intensity interval running reduces postprandial lipemia in boys. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 45(7): 1277–1284. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e31828452c1.