The Nutrition and Exercise Performance Research Group has an interest in nutrition and exercise physiology. We operate within the Department of Health and Kinesiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In addition to students pursing a degree in Kinesiology, our group also includes students from the Division of Nutritional Sciences.
Our research group follows in the legacy of The Physical Fitness Research Laboratory, which was established by Thomas K. Cureton Jr. Known as the “Father of Physical Fitness,” T.K. Cureton’s research built upon the pioneering efforts of the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory (1927-1947).
Our group continues to strive to conduct research in line with the T.K. Cureton’s mission with an overall goal of developing exercise and nutritional strategies to improve physical performance and metabolic health. We use a variety of methods and our interventions includes both acute metabolic studies and prolonged nutritional/exercise training interventions in controlled laboratory settings. However, we share the similar belief of Cureton that: “the true laboratories [in physical education] are the pools, playfields, gymnasiums, and camps.”
For prospective students, please contact Nicholas Burd for potential opportunities to work within our research group.