Head of School (Acting) Healthcare Practice

I started out as a registered (NMC) nurse specialising in Intensive Care and Cardiothoracics before moving into exercise physiology as an academic and practitioner.

I became an accredited Exercise Physiologist and Laboratory Director at the National Sports Medicine Institute (NSMI) of the UK (London) where I worked in both applied sports and clinical domains. These roles involved me working with elite sports, Olympic athletes as well as on medical research projects (chronic fatigue, ankylosing spondylitis, etc).

I joined the University of Bedfordshire in 2005 to focus on education and research.

Teaching Role

My teaching responsibilities draw from a background in health and applied exercise physiology.

Research Interests

My research interests focus on body composition, health physiology, heart rate variability, fitness testing & monitoring.

My PhD research into obesity involved using MRI technology to measure body composition and investigated the body mass index (BMI). This MRI based work (Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital) work has continued by looking at ethnicity and adiposity in addition to investigating corrective physical activity interventions.

Recent Publications

• Alenaini A, Parkinson JRC, McCarthy JP, Goldstone AP, Wilman HR, Banerjee R, Yaghootkar H, Bell JD and Thomas EL. Ethnic differences in body fat deposition and liver fat content in two UK based cohorts. Obesity 2020 In Press
• L. Thomas, J. Parkinson, G. Frost, A.P. Goldstone, C. Dore, J.P. McCarthy, A.L. Collins, J. Fitzpatrick, G. Durighel, A. P. Goldstone, S.D. Taylor-Robinson, J.D. Bell (2012) The missing risk: MRI and MRS phenotyping of abdominal adiposity and ectopic fat. Obesity. 20 (1): 76-87.
• L. Thomas, A.L. Collins, J.P. McCarthy, J. Fitzpatrick, G. Durighel, A. P. Goldstone, J.D. Bell (2010) Estimation of abdominal fat compartments by bioelectrical impedance: the validity of the Viscan measurement system in comparison with MRI. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 64, 525-533.
• Watson, N. Pride, E.L. Thomas, J. Fitzpatrick, G. Durighel, J. McCarthy, S. Morin. P.W. Ind and J.D. Bell. (2010) Reduction of total lung capacity in obese men: comparison of total intrathoracic and gas volumes. Journal of Applied Physiology. 108: 1605-1612.
• R. Mehta, E.L. Thomas, N. Patel, M.E. Crofton, J. McCarthy, J. Eliahoo, S.X. Morin, J. Fitzpatrick, G. Durighel, A.P. Goldston, D.G. Johnstone, J.D. Bell, S.D. Taylor-Robinson. (2010) Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and ultrasound for hepatic fat quantification. Hepatology Research. 40 (4) 39-406.
• G O'Donovan, E L Thomas, J P McCarthy, J Fitzpatrick, G Durighel, S Mehta, S X Morin, A P Goldstone, and J D Bell (2009) Fat distribution in men of different waist girth, fitness level and exercise habit. International Journal of Obesity (Lond) 33(12): 1356-62. Epub.

A full list of other publications can be provided on request.

Contact Details

T: +44 (0)1234 400 400, Ext. 3420
E: john.mccarthy@beds.ac.uk