Myra Nimmo BSc PhD
Head of School & Professor of Exercise Physiology
Contact details
Room: JB.1.07
Phone: +44 (0)1509 226311
Fax: +44 (0)1509 226301
Email: HoS-ssehs@lboro.ac.uk
Internal Staff: type ‘Nimmo’ into the Staff Email Directory for Professor Nimmo’s direct email address
Background
Professor Myra Nimmo graduated in Physiology from the University of Glasgow and then completed a PhD on the effects of anabolic steroids on Thoroughbred racehorses at the University's Veterinary School. She then won a Wellcome Research Fellowship to investigate the contribution of heredity to skeletal muscle fibre types. On gaining a lectureship at Queens College, Glasgow it was possible to translate these skills to humans. Working with physiotherapists and dieticians, research projects were mainly targeted on older people and their metabolic response to exercise and also on skeletal muscle metabolic responses in athletes. This work involved developing quantitative histochemical techniques allowing single fibre analysis. A few years were then spent in educational management as an Assistant Director, SCOTVEC and then as Assistant Principal, Jordanhill College. Following merger with the University of Strathclyde it was then possible to combine management with research. Posts such as Director of the Scottish Institute for Sports Medicine and Sports Science drove research towards investigating environmental stress and the metabolic response to both hot and cold. In 1993, Myra was awarded a personal Chair at Strathclyde. Research work continued with colleagues in science, investigating the mechanisms behind the metabolic changes associated with stress and this has led her research into an investigation of heat shock proteins and cytokines involved in the inflammatory process. Myra moved to Loughborough University in October 2007 as Professor of Exercise Physiology and Head of School of Sport and Exercise Sciences. She is a track and field Olympian (1976) and still enjoys a few reps on the athletics track.
Research Interests
Myra's recent research has focussed on the effects of stressors, particularly exercise, on heat shock proteins and inflammatory proteins. This has involved investigating exercise/heat tolerance and the point at which exercise/heat stress becomes a negative rather than a positive response. In recent years her research has been supported by Unilever Research, ME Research UK, and NHS Health Scotland.
- 2005-2008 Health Scotland: Scottish Physical Activity Research Collaboration. (£450,000)
- 2005-2006 MEResearch UK: The response of IL-6 and its receptors to a standardised aerobic exercise challenge in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (£16,250)
- 2002-2005 Scottish Sports Bodies: Delivery and development of Sport Science. Studies include; Optimisation of acclimation strategies, temperature and energy utilisation during high intensity exercise. (£105,000)
- 2000-2003 Unilever Research: The genomic effect of elevated endogenous aldosterone levels on sweat composition. (£114,000)
Selected Publications
- Robson-Ansley P, Cockburn E, Walshe I, Stevenson E, and Nimmo MA. (2010) The effect of exercise on plasma soluble IL-6 receptor concentration: a dichotomous response. Exercise Immunology Reviews: 16:56-76
- Robinson, M., Gray, S. R., Watson, M. S., Kennedy, G., Hill, A., Belch, J. J. F. and Nimmo M. A. (2010) Response of plasma IL-6, its soluble receptors and F2-isoprostanes to exercise in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sport 20(2):282-90
- Leggate M, Nowell MA, Jones SA and Nimmo, MA ( 2010) The response of interleukin-6 and soluble interleukin-6 receptor isoforms following intermittent high intensity and continuous moderate intensity cycling. Cell stress & Chaperones DOI 10.1007/s12192-010-0192-z
- Gray, S.R. Ratkevicius, A., Wackerhage, H., Coats, P. and Nimmo, M.A. (2009) The effect of interleukin-6 and the interleukin-6 receptor on glucose transport in mouse muscle. Experimental Physiology 94 899-905.
- Gray, S.R., Clifford, M., Lancaster, R., Leggate, M., Davies, M., Nimmo, M.A. (2009) The response of circulating levels of the interleukin-6/interleukin-6 receptor complex to exercise in young men. Cytokine 47 98-102.
- Gray, S. R., Robinson, M. and Nimmo, M. A. (2008) Response of IL-6 and its soluble receptors during submaximal exercise to fatigue in sedentary middle aged men. Cell Stress & Chaperones 13 :247-251 DOI- 10.1007/s12192-008-0019-3
- Claire Fitzsimons, Graham Baker, Annemarie Wright, Myra Nimmo, Catharine Ward Thompson, Ruth Lowry, Catherine Millington, Rebecca Shaw, Elisabeth Fenwick, David Ogilvie, Joanna Inchley, Charlie Foster, Fiona Bull, Nanette Mutrie on behalf of the SPARColl collaboration.(2008) The 'Walking for Wellbeing in the West' study, a randomised controlled trial of physical activity consultation, using a pedometer as a motivational aid: rationale and study design. BMC Public Health 8 259 DOI:10.1186/1471-2458-8-259.
- G. Baker, S. Gray, A. Wright, C Fitzsimons, M. Nimmo, R Lowry and N. Mutrie, on behalf of the Scottish Physical Activity Research Collaboration (SPARColl) (2008).The effect of a pedometer-based community walking intervention on physical activity levels and health outcomes: a 12-week randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 5 44
- Stuart R Gray, Graham Baker, Annemarie Wright, Claire F Fitzsimons, Nanette Mutrie and Myra A Nimmo, Scottish Physical Activity Research Collaboration. (2008) The effect of a 12 week walking intervention on markers of insulin resistance and systemic inflammation in adults not meeting the current recommendations for physical activity: a pragmatic randomised control trial. Preventive medicine 48 39-44.
You can view a fuller publications list on the University Publications Database.
External Activities
- Nimmo, M. A. (2004) Performance in the Cold (Invited review). J. Sports Sciences 22 898-916.
- Nimmo, M. A. (2006) Application of research to athletic performance in the cold. (Invited review) International SportMed Journal 6 (4) 224-235.
- Nimmo, M. A. (2006) Il-6 and exercise. Invited paper at "Colloquium on ME/CFS Biomedical Research" Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow.
- Nimmo, M.A. (2007) Fatigue and Illness in athletes. Invited paper and presentation to the International Amateur Athletic Federation. Monaco, France