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Nancy Rehrer image 2021BA(Duke) MSc(Clemson) PhD(Maastricht) FACSM
Tel +64 3 479 9128
Email nancy.rehrer@otago.ac.nz

Background

Nancy Rehrer is an Associate Professor in the School of Physical Education, Sport & Exercise Sciences. She studied Environmental Biology at Duke University as an undergraduate and then completed a Master's in Nutrition at Clemson University and a PhD in Exercise Metabolism/ Nutritional Physiology at Maastricht University.

Dr Rehrer won The Dutch Prize for Sports Medicine in 1991 for her PhD thesis 'Limits to Fluid Availability During Exercise'. She is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine. Dr Rehrer is also a member of The Nutrition Society (British). She has spent research leave time (2001) with colleagues at the Laboratory for Human Environmental Physiology at the Ames Research Ctr./NASA and at The Centre for Nutrition Research in Lyon (2013) and the Knight Lab (2023).  She is on the editorial board of The International Journal of Sports Medicine and Nutrition  and is a reviewer for most of the major journals in Exercise Physiology and Sports Nutrition (eg. J. Appl. Physiol, Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Int. J. Sports Nutr. Exerc. Metab., etc.). She also has been an invited member of the expert panel to develop the consensus statement on exercise associated hyponatraemia 2008 and 2015.

Teaching

Programme Leader – BSc Exercise & Sport Science

Teaching co-ordination:

Teaching contributions:

Research

Dr Rehrer's major interests include understanding how metabolism is altered at rest and during exercise and mechanisms that limit human performance. Some of the research is sport performance based and some is related to health and general knowledge of human function in relation to the environment. Specific areas of recognised expertise include substrate metabolism,  gastrointestinal function, fluid & electrolyte balance and impacts of exercise thereupon.

Recent projects:

  • Dr Rehrer is part of an interdisciplinary team evaluating effects of varying dietary polysaccharides, and sources thereof, on short chain fatty acid production by the gut microbiota.
  • She also has an interest in hormone-nutrient interactions and the effects of and on exercise, particularly in women.
  • Recent work includes effects of protein and exercise on insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1).

Other research projects include:

  • Evaluating effects activities of daily life and different exercise modes on energy and substrate utilisation, and health parameters.
  • Using 13C isotopically labelled glucose and doubly labelled water to assess substrate and energy metabolism during exercise.
  • Evaluating effects of sodium intake on fluid and sodium balance during exercise.
  • Exploring the role of the environment on physical activity.

Publications

Heath, A.-L. M., Haszard, J. J., Galland, B. C., Lawley, B., Rehrer, N. J., Drummond, L. N., … Taylor, R. W., … Taylor, B., & Tannock, G. W. (2020). Association between the faecal short-chain fatty acid propionate and infant sleep [Brief communication]. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 74, 1362-1365. doi: 10.1038/s41430-019-0556-0 Journal - Research Other

Liu, Y., Heath, A.-L., Galland, B., Rehrer, N., Drummond, L., Wu, X.-Y., … Lawley, B., … Tannock, G. W. (2020). Substrate use prioritization by a coculture of five species of gut bacteria fed mixtures of arabinoxylan, xyloglucan, β-glucan, and pectin. Applied & Environmental Microbiology, 86, e01905-19. doi: 10.1128/aem.01905-19 Journal - Research Article

Fenemor, S. P., Homer, A. R., Perry, T. L., Skeaff, C. M., Peddie, M. C., & Rehrer, N. J. (2018). Energy utilization associated with regular activity breaks and continuous physical activity: A randomized crossover trial. Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases, 28(6), 557-564. doi: 10.1016/j.numecd.2018.02.003 Journal - Research Article

Francois, M. E., Graham, M. J., Parr, E. B., Rehrer, N. J., Lucas, S. J. E., Stavrianeas, S., & Cotter, J. D. (2017). Similar metabolic response to lower- versus upper-body interval exercise or endurance exercise. Metabolism, 68, 1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2016.11.009 Journal - Research Article

Koenders, E. E., Franken, C. P. G., Cotter, J. D., Thornton, S. N., & Rehrer, N. J. (2017). Restricting dietary sodium reduces plasma sodium response to exercise in the heat. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 27(11), 1213-1220. doi: 10.1111/sms.12748 Journal - Research Article

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