Facilities
There are four main laboratory areas for the SESRI, a biochemistry lab, physiology lab, biomechanics lab, and an innovative biomechanics-field lab in the university’s indoor running track.
Biochemistry lab equipment used in theses labs include a spectrophotometer; a DNA microarray scanner; an HPLC adept system; and a microplate reader.
Physiology equipment includes a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), which measures bone compsition; a metabolic analysis and nutritional assessment system; and a number of activity monitors.
Photo: Rory McIlroy at the opening of the new Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Institute laboratories: 19th March 2010
Biomechanics equipment for analysing sports movement includes a series of force platforms; a 12-camera passive motion capture system; and a quadruple movement analysis CODA motion analysis system.
The £1.275 million funding for the project came from the Department for Employment and Learning's research capital investment fund, and has brought some of the most up to date sports analysis equipment to the University, including a Bruker electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometer.
This machine – which is the first of its kind to be used in Ireland and one of only three in the UK – can measure free radicals in the body, which can determine the likelihood of long-term development of chronic disease.
SESRI labs are run by Dr. John Brown, our Chief Technician.
Photo:
Rory McIlroy unveils a plaque at the opening of the SESRI laboratories, with University of Ulster Vice Chancellor Professor Richard Barnett