Centre for Health and Applied Sport and Exercise Research (CHASER)
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About
Performing well in challenging environments
The Centre for Health and Applied Sport and Exercise Research (CHASER) brings together a large and interdisciplinary cohort of researchers at the University of Chichester, working across seven distinct yet overlapping research groups.
Our work focusses on issues and strategies related to developing and maintaining wellbeing, performing well in challenging environments, and discovering more about who we are in the process. We also work on a range of urgent issues related to representation and equality in sport.
CHASER researchers have worked with a wide range of external partners, including the Football Association, Ministry of Defence and Royal National Lifeboat Institution, attracting prestigious, long-term contracts worth more than £6m since 2015.
CHASER groups
Contact us
We welcome approaches from potential partner organisations and postgraduate researchers who would like to work with us.
Please contact Professor Mike Lauder (m.lauder@chi.ac.uk) for Centre-level enquiries.
People
Dr Julia Potter
Matt Berry
Ed Christian
David Eldridge
Dr Suzanne Everley
Tanya Goosen
Dr Sarah Edmunds
Dr Phil Birch
Dr Melissa Mantle
Jon Mills
Ian Perkins
Jamie Sims
Projects
A proven track record of delivering ground-breaking insights
CHASER has a proven track record of delivering ground-breaking insights and impacts in health and applied sport and exercise research.
Our strong ties with local and international partner organisations ensure that this work stands the test of time, whilst also providing a foundation for further, ongoing research.
See our CHASER research group pages for more on the projects listed below, and the wider range of initiatives we’re working on.
Past projects
Our research to develop Physical Employment Standards (PES) provides organisations with a framework of physical tests or assessments, which are based on the demands of their job role(s).
The process for developing PES typically involves four phases of research: (1) Identifying the most critical physically demanding tasks performed in a job role; (2) quantifying the physical demands of these tasks; (3) developing physical tests based on the demands of the job which can be used in-service to assess serving personnel on a regular basis; and (4) developing pre-employment tests to select potential applicants which are empirically linked to the in-service tests and standards.
See CHASER’s Occupational Performance Research Group to find out more.
The Clem Burke Drumming Project was founded in 2008 by the Blondie drummer Dr Clem Burke, Professor Steve Draper (Hartpury University) and Professor Marcus Smith (University of Chichester).
What initially set out to examine the physiological demands of playing ‘live’ during one-off and multiple gigs has grown into a long-term project exploring the physical, mental and health benefits of drumming.
The findings from our pioneering work, using the latest magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology, are showing the transformative potential of drumming.
You can find out more about the Clem Burke Drumming Project on their website.
Building on prior research in epidemiology, which evidenced various health benefits of anthocyanin-rich foods, CHASER researchers have provided novel and robust evidence for the benefits of anthocyanin-rich blackcurrant (and blackcurrant supplementation) in athletic and non-athletic populations.
The first study in this programme of research examined whether blackcurrant affected common exercise physiology parameters. It provided an essential observation: taking anthocyanin-rich blackcurrant powder for seven days can lower exercise intensity-related blood lactate during intermittent incremental exercise.
This effect on substrate metabolism is known to occur by biological adaptations after long-term endurance exercise training, so our research indicates the incredible potential for anthocyanin-rich supplementation to affect human physiology.
Another industry-funded study demonstrated that taking anthocyanin-rich blackcurrant extract had a meaningful endurance-enhancing effect on a cycling time trial, and further exercise performance studies have shown an enhancing effect for a variety of exercise modalities (intermittent high-intensity running, sprint running, and sports climbing), indicating the broad application of anthocyanin-rich supplementation in sports.
See CHASER’s Nutritional Supplementation Research Group to find out more.
Sexual Health In the over ForTy-fives (SHIFT) was part of the Interreg VA 2Seas programme, running from March 2019 to September 2022.
The University was awarded funding for the project from the European Regional Development Fund of over €4m. SHIFT was a cross-disciplinary project, involving Chichester researchers from the CHASER centre, as well as colleagues with expertise in psychology in the University’s POWER Centre. It also involved partners from the UK, the Netherlands, France and Belgium.
See our SHIFT page to learn more about this project.
Publications
Our members publish regularly with leading journals and academic publishers.
The quality of our work was recognised clearly in the University of Chichester’s Sport and Exercise Sciences, Leisure and Tourism submission in the REF 2021 research assessment exercise, with 65% of our outputs judged to be of either 3* (internationally excellent) or 4* (world leading) quality, in terms of originality, significance and rigour.
Browse our recent publications on our ChiPrints page.
Impact
How we're helping create change
CHASER research has made meaningful change in a wide range of ways – particularly in the areas of physical education, women’s leadership in sport, integrated caring science, the sports nutrition industry and occupational performance.
This impact is clearly reflected in the University of Chichester’s Sport and Exercise Science, Leisure and Tourism impact submission in the REF 2021 assessment, 83% of which was judged to be either of 3* (very considerable) or 4* (outstanding) in terms of reach and significance.
Injury and impaired physical performance are key concerns in sport, leisure and workplace settings, resulting in significant personal and financial costs to individuals and organisations.
Our researchers have informed the development of evidence-based strategies to mitigate injury risk and optimise physical performance in elite sport, physically demanding occupations (including in the UK Armed Forces, NATO and the RLNI) and marine leisure activities.
The impact of this research has been felt in a range of sectors. It has influenced the professional practice and guidance of government agencies, organisations and employers across the globe; it has influenced equipment procurement policies within certain industries, providing competitive advantages; and it has supported technical and process innovations in a number of relevant commercial organisations.
The University's Occupational Performance Research Group (OPRG) has conducted human performance research for various armed forces and emergency services organisations.
Through this, it has helped develop new Physical Employment Standards for the UK Ministry of Defence, new policy for the recruitment and retention of National Ambulance Unit personnel, and new NATO guidelines for implementing and managing physical employment standards.
This research has informed policy and practice for government organisations at an international level.
 See CHASER’s Occupational Performance Research Group to find out more.
Research by CHASER members on the effects of anthocyanin-rich blackcurrant on human physiology, exercise performance, exercise metabolism and health has contributed towards substantial benefits in the international sport nutrition industry.
These have included an increased consumer awareness of blackcurrant supplementation, changes to the guidance of national high-performance sporting organisations, enhanced product demand across a range of sports organisations (and among the general public), and the development of new products.
See CHASER’s Nutritional Supplementation Research Group to find out more.
The Step-by-Step initiative secured more than €2.6m of EU funding in its €4.3 million cross-border partnership, as part of the EU Interreg 2 Seas Programme 2014-2020 (co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund) over a four-year period, from 2017-2021. It involved ten organisations from the UK, the Netherlands, France and Belgium.
Step-by-Step aimed to empower men to move on from poor health and/or isolation and into healthy social participation or active engagement in the labour market, bringing their talents and abilities back into the light and making a positive change to society at large.
Events and News
Our 2023/24 programme of events is coming soon.