Exercise Science and Sports Medicine

The Department of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine is part of the School of Therapeutic Sciences in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It is a department-level academic unit within the school, alongside the other departments that make up the school's teaching and research programme.

Its research centres on physical activity, clinical exercise science and population health, with a strong applied emphasis on non-communicable disease prevention and cardiovascular health. Publications also address cancer outcomes and inflammation-related conditions, and examine how socioeconomic and inflammatory pathways shape cardiovascular risk.

Further work covers sedentary behaviour in workplace settings, community health worker training, women's health, and special populations including firefighters and dancers. The research is focused on South African communities and on translating evidence into community and clinical practice, including scalable community screening models aimed at reducing health disparities.