 They're three times a week by our exercise physiologist to supervise their exercise training and that runs from about 14 weeks of pregnancy through to 28 weeks of pregnancy and that's about the time when women have their tests to see if they have pregnancy diabetes or not. Okay. Is there any connection? Do they have, have they had diabetes beforehand or has this just become with pregnancy? Yeah. So it's a diabetes specific to pregnancy. So basically up into that point of history. Yeah. And why is this research so important? I know you've given us the reasons and it sounds like it can be pretty serious. Yeah, certainly. You know, given those potential health implications for both mother and baby, if we can find a way of preventing the condition from happening, yeah, it can have such, such great, great benefits and it's, I guess, potentially could impact future generations as well because if those children are potentially at increased risk of obesity and diabetes later in life, then then themselves will have increased risk of, you know, having pregnancy, diabetes and so on. So it's sort of like a recurrent cycle of life. Yeah. With the like that goes data into their homes, what's the reaction like? Are they, are they fine? They're enjoying it? Is it? Yeah. Look, I mean, most women volunteer for the study because they're kind of hoping that they get the exercise program, but at the same time I have to admit there are some women that are a bit horrified at the thought of this fight being delivered and they have to exercise three times a week, but look on the whole, the women, the women really enjoy it because they have had pregnancy, diabetes and a previous pregnancy, they all have at least one child already and any mum will tell you finding time for exercise is really difficult. So this program aims to sort of take away all those barriers so it's in the comfort of your own home. You don't have to go anywhere. You don't have to worry about, yeah, transportation, childcare because kids can be, you know, at home around you and the fact that the trainer comes to the home as well. You've got the supervision aspect for any woman that's concerned about safety. How long are they on the bike for each session? It's individual, so some women come into the study with a reasonable level of fitness. Some don't have any exercise experience, so it's all tailored to each woman's individual levels. Okay, sure. So the study is ongoing. Are there any results from previous research that you've been able to sort of see the direct implications of? Yeah, so you're right, the cycle study is ongoing, so we don't yet know the answer to the question of whether our program will prevent pregnancy, diabetes, but last year we completed a study focusing on women that already had pregnancy, diabetes. So one of my PhD students ran and hold, she led this particular study and she was looking at women diagnosed with GDM, could implementing a regular home-based exercise program at that time help manage the condition. So rather than prevention, we're looking at management and she found some really positive results. So women that completed her exercise program had lower daily sugar levels, better glucose control and it's high sugar levels, that's the whole problem with the pregnancy diabetes and she also found her program only ran for six weeks but within that six weeks she was able to change women's sort of intentions and attitudes towards exercise as well as increase fitness. So that's pretty important to know that within six weeks only you can improve women's fitness during probably the phase of pregnancy where things are starting to get a bit harder, they're getting bitter and so on. So what's been one of the highlights of your career? I don't think I necessarily could name a specific highlight. I think some of the things I've been really appreciative, some of the amazing people that I've been able to work with and that includes both people that I would consider I suppose mentors that have helped me along the way as well as some of my PhD students are just really great and that's probably one of the aspects of my job that I enjoy quite a bit. Other than the people probably the opportunities that I've had to travel have been really lucky in being able to attend conferences. Most recently I was lucky enough to travel to Beijing China to talk about our cycle study over in China exercise isn't the done thing during pregnancy so we were sort of myself and Professor John Newnham who's leading the cycle study. We went over to talk about our research and hopefully spread the word of some of the potential benefits of exercise. So if it's a place where it's not really the norm how did they react to it? We think very positively actually. We were surprised. We thought that we'd sort of presented our work and that it wasn't necessarily filtered through anywhere but we were really impressed to learn through different sources and avenues that things actually were filtering through and things were starting to take effect. They now have in one of the rooms in their hospital a little room set up with a couple of bikes and women actually come into the hospital and do exercise during pregnancy which is really encouraging. Yeah great. If a student is interested in this field of work what major would they start with from the Bachelor of Science? Yeah so in the Bachelor of Science you'd be looking at two majors. You'd be looking at a major in sports science and a major in exercise and health. The major structure is important because those two majors are required in order to get accreditation from our governing body which is called Exercise and Sports Science Australia so there are two majors that you'd be looking at. Okay. You're also in a teaching role. What's the learning environment like for UWA students? I can only comment on the School of Sports Science, Exercise and Health and it's a really great environment. I think because in our particular school we have the lecture setting, we have laboratory classes, tutorials and so on but we also have a lot of practical classes where students are actually interacting in the physical sense whether it's through a sporting game or whatever and I think that really helps to build the experience and so on in addition to just learning the material you make friends and that sort of thing which I think makes a really big difference. Yeah absolutely. Okay. Does the School of Sports Science, Exercise and Health offer students any other experiences outside of the classroom? Yeah we actually have an award winning I have to say practical program. It's been running for many years now essentially in the third year of the Bachelor of Science if you're doing the sports science and exercise and health majors. You complete 140 hours of practical experience or work experience if you like and there's a number of different potential routes that you can go for that experience but students find that great to actually be out in the workforce seeing what it's like doing what it is they think they might want to do in the future. Yeah absolutely. You've mentioned your PhD students so are there any are you looking after supervising a couple or was it just that one? Yeah well Rihanna that I mentioned previously she's now finished her PhD which is great she she graduated earlier this year but I have a number of other PhD students some also working on exercise and pregnancy and then I have others that are working on sort of another research focus which is the effects of exercise on appetite so in terms of you know maintaining a healthy weight it's all about what you take in through food and drink and how you balance that with the energy you expend through exercise but what people often don't think about is how exercise itself might affect what you eat your preferences or cravings for different foods so that's that's another sort of research interest and I have a three PhD students sort of focus in that area at the moment. Sounds like there's some really good opportunities available for students through UWA and thank you so much for taking the time to come and speak to us and tell us a bit more about what's happening at schools for exercise and health. Thanks Kim. Thanks Eliza.