The 2019 International Saltin Symposium

Bente Klarlund Pedersen
Professor, Director, Centre for Physical Activity Research (CFAS), Rigshospitalet and University of Copenhagen, Denmark

At CFAS we conduct translational research with the aim of developing exercise as medicine for people with e.g. diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The research group has identified skeletal muscle as an endocrine organ that produces and releases signal peptides, which we have named “myokines”.

Erik A. Richter
Professor, Dept. of Exercise and Sport Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Erik A. Richter, MD, DMSci, is professor of Human Physiology and Exercise Physiology at the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports at University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He has a strong focus on human experimental physiology related to molecular signalling involved in regulation of fuel metabolism during and after exercise. Having made the original discovery that a single bout of exercise increases insulin sensitivity, he also examines the molecular basis for this phenomenon including the role of the microcirculation. His experimental expertise allows performance of invasive human studies while also performing research in genetically altered rodents and cells. He has published >330 papers accruing >21,000 citations. His H-index is 83 (Web of knowledge).

Jens Brüning
Professor, Dr., Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research, Germany

Jens Bruening’s research focusses on elucidating the CNS-dependent regulation of energy and glucose metabolism. These studies revealed a previously unappreciated role for insulin action in the central nervous system (CNS) to control organismal glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivty. His group has defined distinct Agouti-related peptide (AgRP)-expressing neurons in the hypothalamus as critical mediators of insulin's metabolic actions, revealed the molecular mechanisms of insulin action in these neurons as well as their alterations in obesity. More recently, through the use of neurocircuitry mapping techniques his group defined the projections of these AgRP-neurons within the CNS, which govern insulin-dependent control of systemic insulin sensitivty via the regulation of autonomic innervation.

Julie Gehl
Professor, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Julie Gehl is a Professor of Clinical Oncology at the University of Copenhagen and Chief Consultant at the Department of Oncology. Professor Gehl has carried out preclinical and clinical studies investigating the relationship between physical exercise and cancer growth inhibition. A forward focus is to help elucidate the mechanisms of action leading to cancer growth inhibition, to better understand the importance of type of exercise, as well as to facilitate integration of physical exercise in  cancer treatment both at a conceptual and practical level.

Mary-Ellen Harper
Professor, Dept. of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, University of
Ottawa, Canada

Dr. Harper’s research focuses on mechanisms that impact the efficiency of energy conversion pathways in mitochondria.  Changes in the efficiency of energy conversion can affect the development of diseases and metabolic dysfunction, and her research probes mechanisms in the context of obesity, diabetes, heart failure and cancer. Experimental approaches span from molecular in vitro studies, to mouse models, and to integrative studies in patient populations.  Research has been funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Heart and Stroke Foundation, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute.  Dr. Harper holds a University Research Chair; is Director of the NSERC-funded Metabolomics Advanced Training and International Exchange (MATRIX) training program, based at Universities of Ottawa, McGill and Montréal; and is Interim Director of the Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology.

Michael J. Joyner
Professor, The Human and Integrative Physiology and Clinical Pharmacology laboratories, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA

Michael J. Joyner, M.D., is the Caywood Professor of Anesthesiology at Mayo Clinic where he was named Distinguished Investigator in 2010. His research focuses on exercise physiology, human performance, blood pressure regulation, metabolism, and transfusion practices.  He is also interested in the limits of scientific reductionism and the de-hyping of biomedical communications.  The latter interest has led to a number of thought provoking and critical essays on the so-called Precision Medicine narrative in the popular press and key scientific journals.  Professor Joyner attended the University of Arizona where he graduated with a B.S. in 1981 and an M.D. in 1987.  After leaving Arizona he completed his residency training in anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic in 1993 and then developed an independent research laboratory that has been funded by NIH since that time.  His former fellows have established research programs at leading institutions throughout the world and he has held leadership positions at Mayo, in the extramural research community, and with leading journals.

Michael Kjær
Professor, Institute of Sports Medicine Copenhagen, Bispebjerg Hospital and
University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Michal Kjaer is an MD specialized in Rheumatology by training and a clinician researcher in physiology by choice. He is a Professor of Sports Medicine at Univ of Copenhagen and performs research in skeletal muscle and connective tissue adaptation to exercise in healthy and diseased individuals, with a focus on physiological and pathophysiological tissue adaptation to injury and aging.

Stephen Harridge
Professor, Centre for Human & Applied Physiological Sciences, King’s College London, United Kingdom

Stephen Harridge obtained his PhD from the University of Birmingham.  He undertook 3 years of post-doctoral research at the Karolinska Institute and the Copenhagen Muscle Research Centre, and then held academic appointments at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine and University College London.  Since 2005 he has been Professor of Human & Applied Physiology at King’s College London, where he is currently Director of the Centre for Human & Applied Physiological Sciences within the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine. His research is multi-disciplinary, using cell biology through to exercise physiology approaches with the aim of increasing understanding of the physiology of human ageing, particularly in regard to skeletal muscle. He is especially interested in disentangling the effects of the ageing process from those related to physical inactivity on physiological function.  He is currently Editor in Chief of the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports.

Ylva Hellsten
Professor, Dept. of Exercise and Sport Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

My main research area is within human physiology with a focus on cardiovascular function, skeletal muscle blood flow regulation and microvascular growth in skeletal muscle in health, life style related disease and aging. We have a strong focus on adaptations of the vascular system to exercise training. Our research and methods encompass both human integrative cardiovascular regulation and detailed cellular and molecular mechanisms.