ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE
COURSE LEADER OF MSC SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE

Qualifications

PhD Exercise Science (University of Arkansas, 2008)

MSc Exercise Science (University of Arkansas, 2004)

BSc Kinesiology with Specialization in Physiotherapy (Semmelweis University, 2001)

Graduate Certificate in Educational Statistics and Research (University of Arkansas, 2008)

Fellow of Higher Education Academy (2020) PR181612

Fellow of the European College of Sports Medicine (FECSS)

ACSM Certified Exercise Physiologist (ACSM-EP)

ACSM Certified Cancer Exercise Specialist (ACSM-ACS)

Specialization

Anatomy, Physiology, Biomechanics, Rehabilitation

Employment Track

Assistant Professor in Sport and Exercise Science (2022-now)

Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science, UCLan Cyprus (2014 – 2022)

External Examiner for the University of Bolton (Sports Science and Coaching) (Effective November 2021).

Lecturer at the University of Nicosia, Departments of Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Pre-Medicine and Sports Science (2011 – 2014)

Lecturer at Intercollege – Larnaca (2013 – 2014)

Health and Wellness Program Coordinator, Intern supervisor, University of Arkansas (2004 -2010)

Physical Education Teacher, Springdale Elementary Schools, Arkansas, USA (2002-2003)

Memberships (Academic/Professional)

• Member, European College of Sport Science (ECSS) – Active since 2011
•  Fellow, European College of Sport Science (FECSS) – 2024
• International Member, American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) – Active
• Active Member, Clinical Exercise Physiology Association (CEPA)
• Active Member, Hellenic Society of Biochemistry and Physiology of Exercise
• Member, Scientific Committee of the 13th International Congress of Biochemistry and Physiology of Exercise

Research Interests

The development, implementation, and testing of intervention strategies for 1) injury prevention in different sports modalities, 2) performance enhancement in elite and sub-elite athletes, and 3) health promotion/disease prevention in clinical and healthy populations.

2D:4D ratio and its implications in medicine and sports.

Roles and Responsibilities (including past roles and responsibilities)

Teaching and Course Leadership 

• Course Leader of MSc Sport and Exercise Sciences (2020 – Present)
• Deputy Course Leader of MSc Sport and Exercise Sciences (2018 – 2020)
• Course Leader of BSc Sport and Exercise Science (2014 – 2020)
• Module Leadership/Delivery: Introduction to Biology, Sports Biomechanics, Applied Anatomy for Sport and Exercise Science, Applied Physiology for Sport and Exercise Science, Health and Fitness, Advanced Methods in Performance Assessment and Conditioning, Research Methods for Sports, Exercise and Nutritional Sciences

Administrative Roles

• Representative of the school for the ERASMUS committee

Selected Publications

1. Parpa, K., Michaelides, M. (2025). Anthropometric Characteristics and Fitness Status of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Personnel. Emergency Care and Medicine, 2(4), 50.
2. Parpa, K., & Michaelides, M. (2025). Ventilatory thresholds in professional female soccer players. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 46(2), 97-103.
3. Parpa, K., & Michaelides, M. (2025). Knee Mechanics, Strength and Flexibility: Assessing Injury Risk in Female Adolescent Soccer Players. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 10(1), 77.
4. Parpa, K., Michaelides, M., Paludo, A.C., Govindasamy, K., & Intziegianni, K. (2025). The impact of COVID-19 on the physical performance of soccer players: A systematic review. International Journal of Sports Medicine. Online first. ISSN 0172-462.
5. Parpa, K., Paludo, A.C., Govindasami, K., Badicu, G., & Michaelides, M. (2025). Heart rate variability in female soccer players, before, during, and after a COVID-19 positive test. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 24675.
6. Valappil, K., Parpa, K., Noufal, I., Govindasamy, K., Katanic, B., Clark, C. C., Elayaraja, M., … & Geantă, V. A. (2025). The Effects of Complex Training on Performance Variables in Basketball Players: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 7, 1669334.
7. Parpa, K., Manning, J.T., Kobus, M., Mason, L., & Michaelides, M. (2024). The associations between digit ratio (2D:4D and right – left 2D:4D), maximal oxygen consumption and ventilatory thresholds in professional male football players. American Journal of Human Biology, e24047.
8. Parpa, K., Katanic, B., & Michaelides, M. (2024) Seasonal Variation and the Effect of the Transition Period on Physical Fitness Parameters in Youth Female Soccer Players. Sports, 12(3), 84.
9. Manning, J. T., Parpa, K., Kobus, M., Mason, L., & Michaelides, M. (2024). Is digit ratio (2D:4D) a biomarker for lactate? Evidence from a cardiopulmonary test on professional male footballers? Early Human Development, 192. Joint first authors.
10.  Parpa, K., & Michaelides, M. (2024). Ventilatory thresholds in professional female soccer players. International Journal of Sports Medicine, doi:10.1055/a-2421-9272, ahead of print.
11. Parpa, K., & Michaelides, M. A. (2022). Maximal aerobic power using the modified heck protocol: Prediction models. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 37.
12. Parpa, K., & Michaelides, M. (2022). Age-related differences in the anthropometric and physical fitness characteristics of young soccer players: A cross-sectional study. Children, 9(5), 650.
13. Parpa, K., & Michaelides, M. (2022). Aerobic capacity of professional soccer players before and after COVID-19 infection. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 11850.
14. Parpa, K., & Michaelides, M. (2022). Anterior-Posterior and Inter-Limb Lower Body Strength Asymmetry in Soccer, Basketball, Futsal, and Volleyball Players. Medicina, 58(8), 1080.
15. Parpa, K., Michaelides, M., Petrov, D., Kyrillou, C., & Paludo, A. C. (2022). Relationship between Physical Performance, Anthropometric Measurements and Stroke Velocity in Youth Tennis Players. Sports, 11(1), 7.

Selected Conference and Seminar Presentations

1. Parpa, K., Paludo, C.A., Michaelides, M. Isokinetic Evaluation of Professional Soccer Players Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction (ACLR). E-poster presentation, ECSS 2024, Glasgow, Scotland.
2. Michaelides, M., Parpa, K. Lactate Thresholds as an Indicator of Physical Fitness Readiness in Soccer. E-poster presentation, ECSS 2024, Glasgow, Scotland.
3. Vencurik, T., Bokuvka, D., Petru, J., Michaelides, M., Parpa, K., Paludo C. A. Reactive agility of U19 female basketball players and its relationship with speed and power. 10^th International Scientific Conference on Kinesiology. Current trends and innovations in kinesiology research, proceedings. 2024, Croatia.
4. Parpa, K., Paludo, C.A., Michaelides, M. Heart rate variability and its association with training and match load in female soccer players. ECSS 2023, Paris, France.
5. Parpa, K., Giannou, E., Michaelides, M. Bilateral and ipsilateral asymmetries in lower body strength: A comparison of professional and Under-17 female soccer players. ECSS 2022, Sevilla, Spain.
6. Parpa, K., Michaelides, M. The effect of transition period on the anthropometric and performance parameters in elite female soccer players. ECSS 2019, Prague.
7. Parpa, K., Michaelides, M., Nikolaou, S., Zacharia, A. Differences in performance parameters between Cypriot and foreign players participating in first division in Cyprus. ECSS 2018, Dublin.
8. Parpa, K, Michaelides, M, Ioannou, Christopher. Peak torques of quadriceps and hamstring muscles of soccer players participating in different levels in Cyprus and detection of lower limb asymmetries. ECSS 2017, MetropolisRuhr, Germany.
9. Parpa, K., Michaelides, M Peak torques and hamstring to quadriceps ratio in professional soccer, futsal and basketball players, ECSS, Vienna, Austria, 2016.
10. Parpa, K., Michaelides, M Age-related differences in Countermovement Vertical Jump in basketball players 13-18 Years Old: comparison with elite basketball players ECSS, Malmo, Sweden, 2015.

Book Chapter

Karmakar, D.; Das, A.; Karuppasamy, G.; Parpa, K. Immune support for athletes: Nanotech approaches. Nanofuel: The Future of Sports Nutrition: Boosting Performance with Nanotech Nutrients; Springer, Singapore, pp. 353-367. ISBN. 978-981-96-5470-3, Nature: 2025.

Selective Research Funding/ Grant Capture

• G.R.E.E.N Erasmus+ project (400.000 euros)-Work packages leader and main contact
• WOMEN Kick Erasmus + project (400.000 euros)-Work packages leader
• Team member of a two-year, €1.2 million funded project which aimed to deliver training to 645 students and 132 academic and service staff through leadership development programmes, tailored mentoring, network building, and online training. Part of a European-wide project, ‘Higher Education Innovation Growth and Training (HEIght)’, led by UCLan and funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Higher Education Institutions (HEI), 2022
• Personal grant from the Ministry of Energy, Commerce Industry and Tourism (34.000 Euro) to support the development of a Physiotherapy and Ergophysiology Center in Larnaca, Cyprus, 2013

Consultancy and CPD Training

• July 2025: Chaired oral ECSS presentations on sports management topics.
• July 2024: Chaired oral ECSS presentations, including those evaluated for the Young Investigators Awards.
• July 2023: Chaired oral ECSS presentations on various sport science topics.
• August 2022: Chaired academic presentations on the relative age effect, COVID-19 and its effects on sports and physical function, and sessions on warm-up and recovery.
• July 2022: Participated in board meetings as an external examiner (University of Bolton).
• October 2022: Served as School Representative on the ERASMUS Committee.
• 2021–present: Reviewer and editorial board member for 20+ peer-reviewed journals.

Supervision of Projects/PhDs

• 2022-2025-1 PhD student-second supervisor
• July–August 2022 – Supervision of a Ph.D. Research Specialist, Incubator of Kinanthropology Research, Faculty of Sports Studies, Masaryk University.
  Supported by the Operational Programme Research, Development and Education – Project Postdoc2MUNI (No. CZ.02.2.69/0.0/0.0/18_053/0016952).
• June–September 2022 – Scientific support for InterDOC-STARt – Interdisciplinary Doctoral Studies, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Łódź.
• June–August 2022 – Supervision of a two-month summer internship in the Sports Science Laboratory at UCLan Cyprus, as part of BSc degree requirements at Eastern Illinois University.
  September 2023–January 2024 – Supervision of Erasmus students from Masaryk University.
• June–August 2024 – Supervision of Erasmus students from the University of Réunion Island.

Other Scholarly and Outreach Activities

• ACSM Physical Activity and Public Health Specialist (PAPHS) – 2025
• ACSM Certified Exercise Physiologist (ACSM-EP) – 2024
• ACSM Certified Cancer Exercise Specialist (ACSM-ACS) – 2024
• Research Degree Tutor (RTD), School of Sciences – 2024–present
• Cyprus representative in the management committee of COST Action TD 1304, 2017