GREX Young consists of trainees and early career researchers and clinicians committed to supporting the goals of GREX. Its aim is to organize webinars, share engaging information and to showcase and support early career researchers, students, and health care professionals in the field.
Matthew Clarkson
Dr Matthew Clarkson has a Masters in Clinical Exercise Physiology and a PhD from Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. Matthew’s PhD explored the efficacy of a novel form of exercise (cycling with blood flow restriction) performed intradialytically for improving strength and physical function among dialysis patients. Currently, he is a senior lecturer and course chair of the Master of Clinical Exercise Science and Rehabilitation at Victoria University, Melbourne. He maintains research interests in both blood flow restriction exercise and in exercise for patients with CKD, alongside diverse collaborations researching broader clinical exercise prescription.
Eliott Arroyo
Dr. Eliott Arroyo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science at Wake Forest University. He received his BS degree in Sport and Exercise Science and MS degree in Applied Exercise Physiology from the University of Central Florida. He then completed his PhD in Exercise Physiology at Kent State University and was an NIH T32 Postdoctoral Fellow in the Division of Nephrology & Hypertension at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Arroyo is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and an American College of Sports Medicine Certified Exercise Physiologist (ACSM-EP). He is a clinical investigator with a special interest in physical function decline in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). His research focuses on elucidating the underlying mechanisms of cardiovascular disease and skeletal muscle dysfunction in CKD, and the development of novel exercise interventions to improve physical function and quality of life in patients with CKD.
Marvery Duarte
Marvery Duarte has a master’s degree in Physical Education at the University of Brasilia. Currently, he is a Ph.D. student at the University of Brasilia. His research interest is on the role of physical exercise on musculoskeletal health (osteoporosis and sarcopenia) in chronic kidney disease patients and the relationship between muscle-bone crosstalk.
Alexis King
Alexis King graduated from the University of the Pacific, California in 2017 with a master’s degree in exercise science. She is a PhD student at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in Dr. Ken Wilund’s Renal and Cardiovascular Disease lab. Her research examines the effects of physical activity on health behaviors and quality of life in individuals undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. Alexis serves on Global Renal Exercise (GREX-Young) knowledge translation committee and on the International Society of Renal Nutrition and Metabolism (ISRNM) education committee.
Courtney Lightfoot
Courtney Lightfoot is a Research Associate from the University of Leicester, UK. She joined the Leicester Kidney Lifestyle Team (LKLT) as a mixed-methods researcher in early 2019, following the completion of her PhD at the University of Nottingham, UK. As part of her current role, Courtney oversees the day-to-day running of the LKLT’s various portfolio of studies, and supervision of other team members and students (intercalating medical students and PhD). She has led on the development of an online self-management programme for people with kidney disease (My Kidneys & Me), and is now leading on the evaluation (SMILE-K study) and implementation of My Kidneys & Me. Courtney is a member of the UK Kidney Association (UKKA), ARC East Midlands Faculty, and NIHR Leicester BRC. She is also a member of the UK Kidney Research Consortium ‘Exercise and Lifestyle’ clinical study steering group (supported by Kidney Research UK) and the UKKA ‘Living Well with Kidney Disease’ special interest group, chairing the patient workstream. Courtney’s research interest includes patient activation, self-management, health and lifestyle behaviour change, patient education, remote healthcare, and experiences of living with kidney disease including symptom burden and quality of life.
Ashley Morgan
Ashley Morgan is currently a master’s student at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in Dr. Ken Wilund’s Renal and Cardiovascular Disease Research lab. She graduated from Indiana State University with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science with a minor in nutrition. Within her master’s studies, her research interests focus on the impact of physical activity and diet, and the effect they have on quality of life in patients with chronic kidney disease.
Heitor Ribeiro
Heitor Ribeiro holds a BSc of Physical Education and Sport and a MSc in Exercise Science. Currently, he is a PhD candidate at the University of Brasília, Faculty of Exercise Science. He is a Lecturer at the University of Maia, Porto, Portugal, and a Researcher at the Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development (CIDESD), Portugal. His research interests include intradialytic exercise programs and the association between sarcopenia and osteoporosis with CKD. Also, Heitor is the GREX student representative at the organizing committee.
Brett Tarca
Brett is an Exercise Physiologist at the University of South Australia with over 10 years’ experience in the health industry. He has been responsible for the delivery of key clinical content into the Clinical Exercise Physiology program through his undergraduate and postgraduate career in addition to the supervision of students in the UniSA Exercise Physiology and High-Performance Clinic. Brett’s research focus surrounds exploring the relationships between physical activity, physical function, fatigue, mood, adverse events for people receiving peritoneal dialysis. His aim is to understand these underlying relationships to tailor and develop movement-based interventions to improve the lives for people receiving peritoneal dialysis.