Dr Michael Inskip joined the JCU community in 2020 and is a lecturer and clinical educator in Exercise Physiology with a strong research and teaching interest in ageing, frailty, neurology and dementia. He completed his Bachelor of Applied Science (Exercise physiology) at the University of Sydney in 2014 and is registered as an Accredited Exercise Physiologist with almost a decade of experience.  He was awarded his Doctorate at the University of Sydney in 2020, which explored the relationship between physical activity and cognition, and the effects of robust anabolic exercise on this relationship across the cognitive impairment spectrum in populations with Mild Cognitive impairment and Lewy Body dementia. He remains an Honorary Associate Lecturer in the School of Exercise and Sports Science in the Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney.

Michael has been involved in several clinical trials of exercise in at-risk cohorts in coordination, assessment and interventionalist roles, including running the first exercise trial (PRIDE) in robust anabolic exercise for Lewy Body dementia. His interest lies in treating the high prevalence of frailty and sarcopenia in older adults, especially those with cognitive impairment and dementia. Currently, he is a coinvestigator and exercise lead on the first-of-its-kind FRIEND project, a federally and philanthropically-funded translational frailty trial taking place in the Good Shepherd Home aged care facility Townsville, as part of a team of collaborators from James Cook University and the University of Sydney. The project is industry-leading in its evaluation of the use of progressive resistance and challenging balance training, medication optimisation and nutritional support to reduce frailty in aged care residents and train staff and caregivers to adopt this best practice treatment into the future. Additionally, he is the Primary supervisor for a Pharmacy PhD candidate on the FRIEND project investigating the effect of multi-faceted frailty interventions of medication optimisation in residential aged care.

He has spoken about his research nationally and internationally as an emerging expert in the field at multiple conferences including multiple symposia on dementia at the American college of Sports Medicine - Exercise is medicine conferences, as part of the junior faculty at the International Parkinson and Movement Disorders Society SYNERGIES conference, and at the 4th and 5th International Lewy Body Dementia conference. Additionally, Michael lead symposia at the Inaugural JCU Aged Care Symposium in 2022, has authored several chapters on Lewy body dementia in JCU’s first e-book A Long Goodbye: Ed and Mary's Journey with Lewy Body Dementia, a chapter on dementia for Exercise and Sport Science Australia’s Exercise for Older Adults e-bookand his innovative research and expertise on frailty and dementia has been featured in the Townsville Bulletin, The Everything Townsville Health Chats with Dr Sarah podcast and JCU Discover media.

Michael has a passion for teaching Exercise Physiology as a subject coordinate for several units in the Master of Clinical Exercise Physiology course, and was recently awarded a fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, an internationally recognised fellowship for teaching in academia. He aims to broaden the professional scope and assessment capability of exercise physiologists in ageing, frailty, neurology and dementia through the integration of inter-disciplinary allied health and medical knowledge into the curriculum. 

He is currently leading the implementation of a 3-year industry collaboration case study for JCU with The Good Shepherd Home for the National Priorities industry Linkage Fund (NPILF) pilot which aims to produce job-ready graduates for aged care through industry placement, specialist teaching programs, developing a graduate pipeline, and improving resident outcomes in frailty. This program has led to the delivery of over 500 hours of high-quality comprehensive assessment and exercise prescription to residents from TGSH, over 700 hours of industry experience for student placements, and two graduate positions for Accredited Exercise Physiologists in local aged care facilities.

Teaching

• SP3017: Principles of Clinical Exercise Physiology Practice (Level 3; TSV)
• SP4104: Clinical Exercise Physiology 2 (Level 4; TSV)
• SP5200: Professional Communication and Practice for Clinical Exercise Physiologists (Level 5; TSV)
• SP5201: Clinical Exercise Physiology Management of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Conditions (Level 5; TSV)
• SP5202: Clinical Exercise Physiology Management of Chronic Musculoskeletal Conditions (Level 5; TSV)
• SP5203: Clinical Exercise Physiology Management of Metabolic Conditions and Kidney Disease (Level 5; TSV)
• SP5204: Clinical Exercise Physiology Management of Neurological Conditions and Cancer (Level 5; TSV)
• SP5205: Clinical Exercise Physiology Management of Mental Health and Fatigue Disorders (Level 5; TSV)
• SP5206: Clinical Exercise Physiology Research and Practice (Level 5; TSV)

Interests

Research

• Cognitive impairment and dementia; Aged care; Frailty and sarcopenia
• Robust anabolic exercise and exercise physiology
• Movement disorders, Neurodegenerative disorders

Teaching

• Exercise prescription for cognitive impairment, dementia, neurodegenerative disorders, frailty, sarcopenia, and ageing

Experience

• 2020 to present - Honorary Associate Lecturer in School of Exercise and Sports Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney (Sydney, Aus)
• 2016 to 2019 - Post graduate Fellow, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney (Sydney, Aus)

Research Disciplines

• Sports science and exercise (4207)
• Clinical sciences (3202)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Specific population health (2005)
• Clinical health (2001)
• Expanding knowledge (2801)

Fellowships

• 2022 - Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Memberships

• 2022 - Australian Association of Gerontology Student and Early Career group
• 2020 - Australian Association of Gerontology Member
• 2016 - International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society Member
• 2015 - Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA) member
• 2018 to 2020 - committee member - NSW state chapter, Exercise and Sports Science Australia

Other

• 2022 - Australian Representative for the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society Train the Trainer Program - Abu Dhabi UAE
• 2022 to 2024 - Chief Co-Investigator for JCU Chiropractic Research Fund ($135,574) Philanthropic Grant - FRIEND project
• 2020 to 2021 - Associate Investigator on Dementia Centre for Research Collaboration (DCRC) Implementing Research Evidence into Practice Grant ($49,561) - FRIEND project

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Lang T, Daniel K, Inskip M, Mavros Y and Fiatarone Singh M (in press) Caring for Informal Dementia Caregivers and their Loved Ones via the HOMeCARE Exercise and Mindfulness for Health Program (HOMeCARE): A Randomized, Single-blind, Controlled Trial. Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine,
• Inskip M, Mavros Y, Sachdev P, Hausdorff J, Hillel I and Fiatarone Singh M (2022) Promoting independence in Lewy body dementia through exercise: the PRIDE study. BMC Geriatrics, 22.
• Inskip M, Mavros Y, Sachdev P and Fiatarone Singh M (2020) Interrupting the trajectory of frailty in dementia with Lewy bodies with anabolic exercise, dietary intervention and deprescribing of hazardous medications. BMJ Case Reports, 13 (4).
• Radd-Vagenas S, Fiatarone Singh M, Inskip M, Mavros Y, Gates N, Wilson G, Jain N, Meiklejohn J, Brodaty H, Wen W, Singh N, Baune B, Suo C, Baker M, Foroughi N, Sachdev P, Valenzuela M and Flood V (2018) Reliability and validity of a Mediterranean diet and culinary index (MediCul) tool in an older population with mild cognitive impairment. British Journal of Nutrition, 120 (10). pp. 1189-1200
• Inskip M, Mavros Y, Sachdev P and Fiatarone Singh M (2016) Exercise for individuals with Lewy Body Dementia: a systematic review. PLoS ONE, 11 (6).

Other research outputs

• Baldwin A, Anderson S, Inskip M, Johns K, Lindsay D, Mathiesen B and Bodak M (2021) A Long Goodbye: Ed and Mary's Journey with Lewy Body Dementia. James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
• Schlicht J, Inskip M and Fiatarone Singh M (2021) Just what the doctor ordered: a guide to robust assessment and exercise prescription in older adults. ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal, 25 (6). pp. 18-27
• Inskip M, Mavros Y, Sachdev P and Fiatarone Singh M (2019) Promoting independence in Lewy body dementia through exercise (PRIDE) study: protocol for a pilot study. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications, 16.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

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These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• The development and feasibility of a translational multi-component frailty intervention including optimising medication in residential aged care (PhD , Primary Advisor)

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