IMHS ‘Kick-off Core MoveLab’

Interdisciplinary Medical and Health Seminars - Kick-off Core MoveLab

As part of the Core MoveLab kick-off, the IMHS of January 2025 is co-organized by the Department of Movement and Sports Sciences and the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences. This event will mark the official launch of the Core MoveLab, a recognized core facility of Ghent University. The Core MoveLab offers specialized expertise in both laboratory-based and ambulatory evaluations of exercise capacity, sports performance, locomotion, gross motor skills, and movement behavior. 

At the kick-off event, two keynote speakers will deliver lectures on the interplay between lifestyle factors, physical activity, and health risks, including obesity, morbidity, and mortality. Professor Ruth Loos is Vice Executive Director at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research in Copenhagen and a globally recognized leader in the field of genetic epidemiology. She has dedicated her career to unraveling the complex interplay between genetic factors and lifestyle, such as physical activity, in the development of obesity. Professor Ulf Ekelund is a world-wide leading scholar in the field of physical activity research. His highly cited research includes assessment and population trends of physical activity and sedentary time and their role in preventing chronic diseases. As a prominent expert he has been consulted by the World Health Organisation and the International Olympic Committee for developing guidelines. 

2:30 pm   Welcome - Prof. dr. Hans Van Vlierberghe

2:40 pm   Presentation of the Core MoveLab - Frédéric Clement, prof. dr. Wim Derave and prof. dr. Erik Witvrouw

3:10 pm   Keynote lecture I - ‘Interactions between lifestyle and genetic susceptibility to obesity’ - Prof. dr. Ruth Loos - University of Copenhagen

Professor Ruth Loos is a globally recognized leader in the field of genetic epidemiology. After studying Movement Sciences at the KULeuven, she has held prestigious research positions at the University of Cambridge, Pennington Biomedical Research Center and Icahn School of Medicine in New York. She is now Vice Executive Director at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research in Copenhagen. She has dedicated her career to unraveling the complex interplay between genetic factors and lifestyle, such as physical activity, in the development of obesity. Professor Loos will discuss the latest advances in this dynamic area, shedding light on how lifestyle interventions can combat obesity more effectively.

4:00 pm   Active break

4:10 pm   Keynote lecture II - ‘Dose-response associations between physical activity, sedentary time and risk for morbidity and mortality’ - Prof. dr. Ulf Ekelund - Norwegian School of Sport Sciences

Professor Ulf Ekelund is a world-wide leading scholar in the field of physical activity research. He was trained in Exercise Science and Preventive Medicine in Sweden (Örebro and Karolinska Institutet) and was a principal investigator in Cambridge and now in Oslo. His highly cited research (>100.000 citations) includes assessment and population trends of physical activity and sedentary time and their role in preventing chronic diseases. He is a prominent expert, consulted by the World Health Organization and the International Olympic Committee for developing guidelines. In his talk, he will present his cutting-edge epidemiological evidence into the dose-response relationship of physical activity for health.

5:00 pm   Networking reception

Interested? The lectures can be attended in person or via MS Teams Livestream and is free of charge.

Please register via this link.