Think Teaching 2025 from Lt Brain Trust

Keynote Session

Dariel Burdass, Chief Executive - The Physiological Society

Dariel Burdass is Chief Executive of The Physiological Society and an advocate for physiology education and outreach.

Dariel oversees the management and implementation of The Society’s strategy and ensures that The Society is governed effectively. 

Dr Mary McGahon - Queen's University Belfast

As a Lecturer in Physiology in the Centre for Biomedical Sciences Education, Queen’s University Belfast, my teaching expertise focuses on cardiovascular, vision and renal physiology but I have my fingers in many pies. One of my passions is practical teaching and I have led my centres technical upgrade to LT, designing practical sessions from the ground up and tailoring activities to meet the diverse needs of our various degree cohorts. 

Recently, I’ve been focused on enhancing the inclusivity, diversity, and equity of practical materials and activities, ensuring they reflect the evolving profile of our student body while fostering a stronger sense of belonging. While I’ll briefly touch on these initiatives in this seminar, I’ll place greater emphasis on how we’re raising awareness of the connection between Physiology and planetary health, particularly through the lens of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By highlighting the intersection of SDGs with both global health and personal physiology, we aim to bring greater meaning to our teaching and inspire students to actively engage with and contribute to these global goals.

Manasi will present the SPAR (Symmetric Projection Attractor Reconstruction) project - an innovative method for analysing physiological waveforms. Designed to extract meaningful insights without discarding valuable data, SPAR has the potential to transform the interpretation of complex signals in research and clinical settings. 

This session invites educators and researchers to explore its applications, provide feedback, and discuss opportunities for collaboration.

Hannah Campbell is a Lecturer in Applied Physiology at the University of Leeds, specializing in sports and exercise science and clinical exercise physiology. Since relocating from Australia in 2022, she has focused on female health in sport, exercise, and physical activity, exploring how gender, race, and culture influence injury risk, health, and disease across the lifespan.

Her research covers concussion, Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), and exercise participation throughout the life and menstrual cycle. With expertise in quantitative and qualitative research, she is committed to improving evidence-based approaches to female physiology in both research and practice.

Dr. Gordon Cooper is a Senior University Teacher and Examinations Officer in the School of Biosciences at the University of Sheffield. With a background in physiology and molecular biology, his career spans research at Leeds, Yale, and Manchester before joining Sheffield in 2000.

Dr. Cooper is deeply committed to enhancing physiology education through innovative teaching methods and student-focused learning strategies. He leads initiatives that integrate active learning, research-based teaching, and digital tools into physiology curricula, ensuring students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

A strong advocate for student employability, Dr. Cooper has played a key role in developing career-focused programs that bridge the gap between academia and industry. His work supports students in applying their physiological knowledge in real-world contexts, preparing them for careers in biomedical research, healthcare, and beyond.