Dr Belinda Parmenter

A/Prof Belinda Parmenter is a clinical academic, accredited exercise physiologist (AEP), and the Head of UNSW Lifestyle Clinic, located at the School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine & Health. Belinda is a UNSW Medicine and Health Cardiac, Vascular and Metabolic Medicine Steering Committee member.  She is also the co-founder and national co-chair of the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance (ACvA) Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) Working Group. Belinda has over 25 years of clinical experience prescribing and delivering exercise for people at risk of or with cardiovascular disease. Her experience includes specialising in assessing, prescribing, implementing and supervising exercises for this population. Her PhD investigated the use of high-intensity progressive resistance training for patients with intermittent claudication from PAD, for which she was awarded the Exercise and Sports Science Australia (ESSA) Medal for the most outstanding thesis in the field of Exercise and Sports Science. Belinda is an invited member of the NHMRC-funded National Centre for Research Excellence for PAD and continues her research in this field with a primary interest in the effect of cardiovascular disease on aerobic capacity and muscle strength and endurance, as well as the effect of exercise on reducing symptoms from those with and at risk of cardiovascular disease across the lifespan. Some of her current projects include investigating ways to improve regular incidental physical activity and promote continued sports and exercise participation across adolescence and into adulthood. She is working with the Matilda Centre at Sydney University to develop eHealth interventions for adolescents to increase physical activity levels and reduce sedentary behaviour, and she is developing similar programs for adult populations. She continues to investigate optimal exercise prescriptions for the amelioration of cardiovascular risk, as well as for the treatment of peripheral artery disease.