Alex McAuley

Alex is originally from Northern Ireland and has been involved in sport and exercise for over 10 years.

He has worked in a variety of roles including: strength and conditioning coach, personal trainer, and performance analyst. Additionally, he has also coached a wide range of sports at youth level, but has predominately been involved in football and rugby union.

Alex is an Assistant Lecturer and PhD Researcher at BCU, teaching across a range of subjects in both the Sport & Exercise and Life Science departments.

The purpose of his PhD research is to "conduct a multi-disciplinary investigation, utilising a range of genomic approaches to identify novel genotype/phenotype associations in football, enhance understanding of the biological mechanisms underpinning football performance, and facilitate greater individualised athlete development".

Alex is currently collaborating with multiple professional football clubs and organisations to generate a large database containing the genetic information of each player, alongside a range of environmental, psychological, sociological, physiological, technical, and tactical attributes.

By examining a wide range of relevant performance-related attributes, Alex anticipates that his project will identify genetic associations to support greater individualised and novel coaching in the talent development process in professional football, enabling training optimisation and reduce risk of injury.

Alex is a very passionate researcher, who within the first eight months of his PhD has already published research in an internationally recognised journal and is expected to substantially contribute towards BCU's growing research portfolio.