Dr Samantha Rowland

Samantha holds a BSc (Hons) in Sport and Exercise Science (2016) and an MSc in Exercise Physiology (2017) from Loughborough University. She was also awarded two academic prizes (2016) and the Santander Postgraduate UK/EU scholarship (2017). Samantha remained at Loughborough to undertake a five-year position as a Postgraduate University Teacher in Physiology whilst studying for a PhD in dietary nitrate supplementation, cardiovascular health, and exercise performance. Her PhD was followed in 2022 by a role as a Research Associate in the School, assessing the impact of probiotics on the gut microbiome and physical and biochemical measurements of exercise performance and recovery. In 2024, Samantha was appointed as a Lecturer in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences. 

Samantha is interested in understanding how ovarian hormones influence health, exercise physiology, and sports performance in females across the life span. Key themes: 1. Understanding gastrointestinal discomfort in female athletes; 2. Develop recommendations for training and competing around the menstrual cycle; 3. Understanding how training/exercise stress influences reproductive health in contraceptive users; 4. Explore the efficacy of using nutritional strategies to improve health and performance in females.

Current Projects

• Dietary nitrate supplementation in eumenorrheic women and oral contraceptive users
• Probiotics, gut microbiome, exercise performance and recovery
• Exertional heat stress, gastrointestinal comfort and permeability in female athletes.

Member of The Physiological Society

• Rowland SN, O’Donnell E, James LJ, Da Boit M, Fujii N, Arnold JT, Lloyd AB, Eglin CM, Shepherd AI, Bailey SJ. (2024). Nitrate ingestion blunts the increase in blood pressure during cool air exposure: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover trial. Journal of applied physiology, 136(6), 1364–1375. DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00593.2023
• Rowland SN, James LJ, O’Donnell E, Bailey SJ. (2024). Influence of acute dietary nitrate supplementation timing on nitrate metabolism, central and peripheral blood pressure and exercise tolerance in young men. European journal of applied physiology, 124(5), 1381–1396. DOI: 10.1007/s00421-023-05369-z
• Rowland SN, Heaney LM, Da Boit M, Bailey SJ. (2023). Trimethylamine N-Oxide concentration and blood pressure in young healthy men and women: a replicated crossover study. Metabolites, 13(7), 876. DOI: 10.3390/metabo13070876
• Alsharif, NS, Clifford, T, Alhebshi, A, Rowland SN, Bailey SJ. (2023). Effects of Dietary Nitrate Supplementation on Performance during Single and Repeated bouts of Short-Duration High-intensity Exercise: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials. Antioxidants, 12(6), 1194. DOI: 10.3390/antiox12061194
• Ong MLY, Green CG, Rowland SN, Heaney, LM. (2023). Mass Sportrometry: An Annual Look Back at Applications of Mass Spectrometry in Sport and Exercise Science. Analytical  Science Advances, 4: 60–80. DOI: 10.1002/ansa.202300003
• Rowland SN, Da Boit M, Tan R, Robinson GP, O'Donnell E, James LJ, Bailey SJ. (2022). Dietary nitrate supplementation enhances performance and speeds muscle deoxyhaemoglobin kinetics during an end-sprint after prolonged moderate-intensity exercise. Antioxidants, 12(1), 25. DOI: 10.3390/antiox12010025
• Jones L, Bailey SJ, Rowland SN, Alsharif N, Shannon OM, Clifford T. (2021). The Effect of Nitrate-Rich Beetroot Juice on Markers of Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Human Intervention Trials. Journal of Dietary Supplements, 19(6), 749–771. DOI: 10.1080/19390211.2021.1939472
• Rowland SN, Chessor R, French G, Robinson GP, O'Donnell E, James LJ, Bailey SJ. (2020). Oral nitrate reduction is not impaired after training in chlorinated swimming pool water in elite swimmers. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 46(1): 86-89. DOI: 10.1139/apnm-2020-0357