Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences
A world-leading research institute
The Research Institute for the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences is the home of broad-based, multidisciplinary, fundamental and applied research.
RISES carries out multidisciplinary research ranging from children’s health and obesity to elite sport performance and athlete heart health.
Its work spans from understanding how the body responds to exercise at a biological level to improving health and performance across communities and professional sport.
Research highlights
Health, lifestyle and community interventions
- Adapting play areas and schools in order to tackle unhealthy lifestyles and obesity in children.
- Modifying older adult community residential properties to improve stair safety and reduce risks of falls.
Sport, exercise and athlete health
- Working in partnership with Premiership football clubs and international football associations for performance analysis and injury prevention strategies.
- Providing cardiac screening and investigating the cardiovascular health of athletes.
- Studying nutritional support for elite athletes, stem cell biology in ageing and muscle wasting.
- Investigating the psychological readiness and impact of sports performance and performance decompression processes.
- Use of first-rate triple-quad mass spectrometer system for novel metabolomic and lipidomic analysis.
Neurodevelopment and motor control
- Investigating learning via imitation in autism.
- Examining muscle control in cerebral palsy via interactive video games.
- Research on visuo-motor integration in autism, investigating motor skill learning, physical activity, and mental health.
Our research groups
In 2025 and 2026, RISES undertook a strategic reset to bring its work into line with the Liverpool John Moores University Strategy 2030.
This led to a move away from its previous structure and the creation of two new leadership strands:
- Health, led by Helen Jones
- Performance, led by James Morton
Both groups draw on support from seven subject-focused research teams.
