Section: Overview
Overview
Key publications
Research funding
Supervising & teaching
Career

Key details

Areas of expertise

  • Exercise physiology
  • Skeletal muscle adaptations to training
  • Hemodynamics
  • Acute & chronic adaptations to exercise in health & disease
  • Exercise and brain health

Available to supervise research students

Available for media queries

About James Broatch

Dr James Broatch is an early-career researcher with a diverse background in applied and mechanistic exercise/muscle physiology, molecular biology, and vascular physiology. A key focus of his current research is to examine how exercise regulates blood flow, and to translate this new knowledge into recommendations for more individualised exercise prescriptions to better improve health and human performance.

After being awarded his PhD in 2016, Dr Broatch has worked on multiple projects, including a 3-month international visiting research fellowship at the French Institute of Sport (INSEP). In 2016, he was recruited as a joint research fellow between Victoria University/Institute for Health and Sport (iHeS) and the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).

Dr Broatch was recently awarded a Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Fellowship (2020 to 2023). As part of this fellowship, and in collaboration with Prof. David Bishop (VU) and Prof. Amy Brodtmann (Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health), Dr Broatch is leading a multi-centre clinical trial investigating the effects of different aerobic exercise training interventions on brain blood flow, brain volume, and cognitive function in middle-aged adults. Read more about the Train Smart Study.

Dr Broatch has collaborated with numerous domestic and international universities and institutes, published research from funded collaborations with industry partners (e.g., 2XU), and given multiple media interviews translating the importance of his research findings to the community (> 20 media outputs in print, radio, and television). In March 2020, his research concerning post-exercise physiological adaptations to extreme temperatures was featured on ABC's 'Sporty' podcast. He is currently a review editor for Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, and a member of the Victoria University Low-Risk Human Ethics Committee.

Qualifications

  • BSc, UNSW, Australia, 2006
  • BAppSc (Hons), Victoria University, Australia, 2010
  • PhD, Victoria University, Australia, 2016
  • Level 1 ISAK Anthropometrist

Key publications

Year Citation
2023 Broatch, J. R., Zarekookandeh, N., Glarin, R., Strik, M., Johnston, L. A., Moffat, B. A., Bird, L. J., Gunningham, K., Churilov, L., & Johns, H. T. (230524). Train Smart Study: Protocol for a randomised trial investigating the role of exercise training dose on markers of brain health in sedentary middle-aged adults. BMJ Open, 13(5),

doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-069413

2021 Broatch, J. R., O'Riordan, S. F., Keske, M. A., Betik, A. C., Bishop, D. J., Halson, S. L., & Parker, L. (210501). Reduced post-exercise muscle microvascular perfusion with compression is offset by increased muscle oxygen extraction: Assessment by contrast-enhanced ultrasound. FASEB Journal, 35(5),

doi: 10.1096/fj.202002205RR

2020 Altarawneh, M. M., Petersen, A. C., Farr, T., Garnham, A., Broatch, J. R., Halson, S., Bishop, D. J., & McKenna, M. J. (200801). Resistance training upregulates skeletal muscle Na+, K+-ATPase content, with elevations in both 1 and 2, but not isoforms. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 120(8), (1777-1785).

doi: 10.1007/s00421-020-04408-3

2020 Broatch, J. R., Brophy-Williams, N. ED., Phillips, E. J., O'Bryan, S. J., Halson, S. L., Barnes, S., & Bishop, D. J. (200301). Compression Garments Reduce Muscle Movement and Activation during Submaximal Running. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 52(3), (685-695).

doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000002182

2019 Fyfe, J. J., Broatch, J. R., Trewin, A. J., Hanson, E. D., Argus, C. K., Garnham, A. P., Halson, S. L., Polman, R. C., Bishop, D. J., & Petersen, A. C. (190101). Cold water immersion attenuates anabolic signaling and skeletal muscle fiber hypertrophy, but not strength gain, following whole-body resistance training. Journal of Applied Physiology, 127(5), (1403-1418).

doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00127.2019

2018 Broatch, J. R., Bishop, D. J., & Halson, S. (180801). Lower limb sports compression garments improve muscle blood flow and exercise performance during repeated-sprint cycling. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 13(7), (882-890).

doi: 10.1123/ijspp.2017-0638

2018 Broatch, J. R., Petersen, A., & Bishop, D. J. (180601). The Influence of Post-Exercise Cold-Water Immersion on Adaptive Responses to Exercise: A Review of the Literature. Sports Medicine, 48(6), (1369-1387).

doi: 10.1007/s40279-018-0910-8

2018 Christiansen, D., Bishop, D. J., Broatch, J. R., Bangsbo, J., McKenna, M. J., & Murphy, R. M. (180101). Cold-water immersion after training sessions: Effects on fiber type-specific adaptations in muscle K transport proteins to sprint-interval training in men. Journal of Applied Physiology, 125(2), (429-444).

doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00259.2018

2017 Broatch, J. R., Petersen, A., & Bishop, D. J. (171001). Cold-water immersion following sprint interval training does not alter endurance signaling pathways or training adaptations in human skeletal muscle. American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 313(4), (R372-R384).

doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00434.2016

2014 Broatch, J. R., Petersen, A., & Bishop, D. J. (141110). Postexercise cold water immersion benefits are not greater than the placebo effect. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 46(11), (2139-2147).

doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000000348

Research funding for the past 5 years

Please note:

  • Funding is ordered by the year the project commenced and may continue over several years.
  • Funding amounts for contact research are not disclosed to maintain commercial confidentiality.
  • The order of investigators is not indicative of the role they played in the research project.

Identification of optimal compression garment characteristics for females
From: DMND Sports Pty Ltd
Other investigators: Dr Aaron Petersen
For period: 2021-2021
Not disclosed

Optimising the Dose of Exercise to Promote Improvements of Cerebrovascular Function and Health in Middle-Aged Adults
From: Medical Research Future Fund
Other investigators: Prof David Bishop
For period: 2020-2023
$847,103

Investigating the effects of sports compression garments on aspects of athletic performance, recovery, and adaptations to exercise training.
From: Australian Institute of Sport
Other investigators: Prof David Bishop
For period: 2017-2021
$15,000

Supervision of research students at VU

Available to supervise research students

Available for media queries

Currently supervised research students at VU

No. of students Study level Role
2 PhD Associate supervisor
1 Master of Research Principal supervisor

Currently supervised research students at VU

Students & level Role
PhD (2) Associate supervisor
Master of Research (1) Principal supervisor

Completed supervision of research students at VU

No. of students Study level Role
1 PhD Principal supervisor

Completed supervision of research students at VU

Students & level Role
PhD (1) Principal supervisor

Other supervision of research students

Completed: 1 x PhD Student - University of Technology Sydney (associate supervisor). Current: 1 x PhD Student - University of South Australia (associate supervisor).

Key academic roles

Dates Role Department / Organisation
Jun 2020 - Present
Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Research Fellow
Victoria University
May 2016 - Jun 2020
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Victoria University
Mar 2011 - May 2016
Sessional Tutor/Lecturer
Victoria University
Oct 2014 - May 2016
Research Assistant
Victoria University
Apr 2015 - Jun 2015
Visiting Research Fellow
French National Institute of Sport (INSEP), Paris, France
Jan 2013 - Feb 2013
Visiting Research Fellow
Australian Institute of Sport
Show more academic roles
Dates Role & Department/Organisation
Jun 2020 -
Present
Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Research Fellow
Victoria University
May 2016 -
Jun 2020
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Victoria University
Mar 2011 -
May 2016
Sessional Tutor/Lecturer
Victoria University
Oct 2014 -
May 2016
Research Assistant
Victoria University
Apr 2015 -
Jun 2015
Visiting Research Fellow
French National Institute of Sport (INSEP), Paris, France
Jan 2013 -
Feb 2013
Visiting Research Fellow
Australian Institute of Sport
Show more academic roles

Key industry, community & government roles

Dates Role Department/Organisation
May 2016 - May 2020
Industry Research Fellow
Australian Institute of Sport and 2XU
Dates Role & Department/Organisation
May 2016 - May 2020
Industry Research Fellow
Australian Institute of Sport and 2XU

Awards

Year Award
2014

Young Investigator Award - ESSA

2010

Most outstanding honors student - Victoria University

2011

Vice Chancellor's Postgraduate Research Scholarship - Victoria University

Professional memberships

  • AES and ASpS1 member, Exercise & Sports Science Australia
  • Academic Member, Australian Physiological Society
  • Researcher membership, Cerebral Autoregulation Research Network

Media appearances

29th February 2020

How cool is this: cryotherapy

ABC 'Sporty' Podcast - Amanda Smith