Position: Senior Lecturer.

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: (01248) 38 2197

Twitter: @julianowenPhD

Location: George Building, Normal Site

Julian is an Applied Physiologist and the Lead for the Head Sense Cymru network, where he directs a pan-Wales initiative dedicated to concussion safety and neurological welfare in grassroots sport.

Drawing on a foundation in Biochemistry, a PhD in Exercise Physiology, and eight years of experience within professional sport performance pathways (including Rugby Union, Football, and Hockey), Julian has strategically pivoted his expertise toward preventative medicine and population health.

His current research portfolio, supported by the Welsh Government and World Rugby, centers on mitigating injury risk and developing robust concussion management frameworks in grassroots sport. 

As the Sport Injury Research Lead for the Welsh Institute for Performance Science (WIPS, https://www.swansea.ac.uk/sports-science/astem/wips/), Julian serves as a critical link between clinical research, national government policy, and community and elite sport health outcomes. Through his leadership of the Head Sense Cymru network, he facilitates multi-agency collaboration to ensure evidence-based safety standards are integrated into Welsh sport.

Keywords: Applied Physiology, Neurotrauma, Injury Epidemiology, Population Health, Concussion Policy, Brain Health, Safeguarding.

Research

Julian’s research program is centered on Injury Epidemiology and Preventative Medicine, with a specific focus on sport-related brain injury (concussion). His work bridges the gap between laboratory-based physiology and national public health policy, aiming to quantify risk and implement systemic safety frameworks in community and grassroots settings.

Current Externally Funded Programs:

• Concussion & National Policy: Lead for the Head Sense Cymru network, directing the Head Sense and Head Start projects funded by the Welsh Government and the Academy for Health Equity (AHE). This work focuses on the pan-Wales implementation of concussion management protocols.

• Population Health & Youth Sport Safety: Principal Investigator for the Welsh Injury Surveillance in Girls’ Youth Rugby (WISGYR) project, funded by World Rugby, examining injury risk and prevention in underrepresented community cohorts.

• Neurophysiology: Investigating the mechanisms of exercise intolerance and alterations in brain chemistry following sport-related brain trauma. This includes the Tackling Rugby Union’s Headache project, utilising pitch-side diagnostic technologies in collaboration with Head Diagnostics (funded by RWIF).

Editorial & Peer Review Duties

Julian serves as an expert reviewer for national and international funding bodies, including UKRI (Medical Research Council).

Editorial Board Memberships:

• Review Editor: Frontiers in Sports and Active Living (Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation).

• Topic Editor: Frontiers (Multidisciplinary Approaches to Youth Development).

Peer Review: He regularly provides expert peer review for leading medical and physiological journals, including the Annals of Medicine, International Journal of Sports Medicine, Sports Medicine, European Journal of Sport Sciences, and the Journal of Sports Sciences.

Julian supervises research projects for both undergraduate and postgraduate students and teaches applied physiology in the context of physical preparation of athletes and applied practice.

• Advanced Strength & Conditioning (Level 6 BSc)
• Research Project (Level 6 BSc & Level 7 MSc)
• Dissertation (Level 6 BSc & Level 7 MSc)
• The Sport & Exercise Science Practitioner (Level 7 MSc)

Current Research Supervision

Subhan Nazir (PhD, 2025 to present) - Effects of subconcussion, post-concussion exercise intolerance and post-concussion syndrome on brain chemistry. Funding: Bangor University.

Eloise Kirby (PhD, 2023 to present) - Welsh Injury Surveillance in Girls' Youth Rugby (WISGYR Project). Funding: World Rugby.

Steffi Studt (PhD, 2023 to present) - Head Sense: Prevention of sport-related brain trauma in community youth rugby union. Funding: Academy for Health Equity, Prevention and Wellbeing.

Jack Bickley (PhD, 2021 to present) - Development of elite performance in rowing. Funding: Bangor University and Welsh Rowing.

Marco Martin (PhD, 2020 to present) - Efficacy of triaxial accelerometry in soccer. Supported by MAPEI Sports Institute.

Previous research students

George Lowe (PhD, completed 2025) - Optimising Talent Pathways in Rugby Union: A Multidisciplinary, Mixed-Methods Approach to Talent Detection, Identification, Development, and Selection. Funding: ESF Knowledge Exchange Scholarship Scheme (KESS II) with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).

Ersagun Kepir (PhD, completed 2025) - Activations and Structures of the Lower Extremity Muscles: Implications for lower extremity injuries in sports. Funding: Turkish Education Ministry.

Dr Tom Chandy (Masters by Research, completed 2025) - Injury surveillance in female youth rugby union: A pilot study in the community sport setting. Funding: British Association of Sport & Exercise Medicine (BASEM).

Seren Evans (PhD, Completed 2023) - From surveillance to prediction: a multifactorial approach to injury risk in Senior Academy Rugby Union. Funding: Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlathol and Bangor University.

Gokhan Yagiz (PhD, Completed 2023) - Muscle architecture of vastus lateralis and bicep femoris long head: implications for injury. Funding: Turkish Education Ministry.

Jessica Hughes (Masters by Research, Completed 2021) - Psychological and physical determinants of regional age-grade rugby players. Funding: ESF Knowledge Exchange Scholarship Scheme (KESS II) with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).

Davide Mondin (Masters by Research, Completed 2021) - Athlete monitoring in rugby union: inter- and intra-week associations of training markers with load during an entire Rugby Union Season. Funding: ESF Knowledge Exchange Scholarship Scheme (KESS II) with the Rygbi Gogledd Cymru (RGC).

Claire Griffith-McGeever (PhD, completed 2020) - Factors In Obstructive Sleep Apnoea: Chemosensitivity and Perception of Effort Before and After Loading of Respiratory and Locomotor Systems. Funding: Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlathol.

Grant