Professor Stacy Clemes

Professor Stacy Clemes has an undergraduate degree and PhD in Human Biology from 含羞草视频. Following the completion of her PhD in 2004, Professor Clemes was employed as a Research Associate in the Department of Human Sciences at 含羞草视频. It was during this time that she began to lead research examining pedometer-determined activity levels and patterns in adults. She was employed as a Lecturer in Human Biology at 含羞草视频 in 2007, and moved to the new School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences in 2009. Dr Clemes was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2013, Reader in 2017, and Professor in 2022.

In 2007 Professor Clemes completed a Post-Doctoral training course in the US on Physical Activity and Public Health Research, jointly organised and hosted by the University of South Carolina and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Professor Clemes’ research interests focus on physical activity and sedentary behaviour surveillance and measurement, and in intervention research promoting reductions in sedentary time and increases in physical activity in both the school and workplace environments. She is currently leading two NIHR Public Health Research funded studies, one examining the impact of sit-to-stand desks in primary school classrooms (Stand Out in Class), and the other examining the impact of a multicomponent lifestyle health behaviour intervention in long distance heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers (The SHIFT Study). Her other current research includes studies examining the impact of sit-to-stand desks on office workers' sedentary time during and outside of working hours (e.g. SMArT Work & Life).

For details of currently funded NIHR projects, please see for the following websites:

• Stand Out in Class
• Structured Health Intervention for Truckers (SHIFT)
• SMArT Work & Life

Professor Clemes is currently on the Lifestyle for Health and Wellbeing Research Theme leadership team, and is the Deputy Director of Doctoral Programmes for PhD students within this theme. Regarding teaching, Professor Clemes contributes to modules on Anatomy and Physiology, Physical Activity and Health, and leads a module on Lifestyle and Disease.

Follow this link to see a video of Professor Clemes talking to the BBC about her research: Sitting while working can increase risk of diabetes

Professor Clemes’ research interests focus on physical activity and sedentary behaviour surveillance and measurement, and in intervention research promoting reductions in sedentary time and increases in physical activity in both the school and workplace environments. In addition, Professor Clemes is part of the NIHR Leicester-Lifestyle Biomedical Research Unit where she contributes to laboratory-based studies investigating the impacts of breaking up prolonged sitting with physical activity.

Current funded projects are listed below:

Co-Investigator - A three arm cluster randomised controlled trial to test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the SMArT Work & Life intervention for reducing daily sitting time in office workers. NIHR Public Health Research Programme (reference: 16/41/04), 2018 – 2021, £905,133 (https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/phr/164104/#/)

Principle Investigator - A cluster randomised controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a Structured Health Intervention For Truckers (The SHIFT Study). NIHR Public Health Research Programme (reference: 15/190/42), 2017 – 2020, £706,197 (https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/phr/1519042/#/)

Co-Investigator - Building for Work, Health and Well-being. Funded by the Financial Conduct Authority, 2017 – 2018, £90,000

Principle Investigator - Stand Out in Class: Restructuring the classroom environment to reduce sedentary behaviour – a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial. NIHR Public Health Research Programme (reference: 14/231/20), 2016 – 2018, £413,040 (https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/phr/1423120/#/)

Co-Investigator - Move to Teach, Move to Learn: A collaborative school based programme to decrease sedentary time of students in schools. NIHR CLAHRC East Midlands, 2014 – 2017, £253,468.

Research is conducted in collaboration with colleagues from the following institutions:

• Bradford Institute for Health Research
• Diabetes Research Centre, University of Leicester
• University of Nottingham
• University of Ulster
• Derby Hospital
• Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia
• Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia
• Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
• Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Professor Clemes is currently a member of the Sedentary Behaviour Expert Working Group for the 2018 UK Physical Activity Guidelines review that has been commissioned by The Chief Medical Officers of the four countries.

Journal, conference abstract and grant reviews

• Reviewer for a number of journals, including Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Preventive Medicine, Journal of Physical Activity and Health, Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, BMC Public Health, Annals of Human Biology, Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, Public Health Nutrition, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism.
• Abstract reviewer for the International Society of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity’s (ISBNPA) annual meeting (2008 - present) and the International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health meetings (2016 - present).
• Grant reviewer for the NIHRs Public Health Research programme board; the MRC; Health Research Board, Ireland; Diabetes UK; The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).
• Member of the international Scientific Evaluation Committee for the EU Joint Programming Initiative "A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life" (JPI HDHL) funding call: "Effectiveness of existing policies for lifestyle interventions – Policy Evaluation Network (PEN)” (March – May, 2017). 

Editorial board membership

Guest Editor: Physiological Measurement, ICAMPAM 2013 Focus Issue (November 2013 – June 2014)

Associate Editor: BMC Public Health (June 2013 – August 2017)

International Committees

Member of the American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) Research Awards Committee (May 2011 – May 2014)

External Examining

PhD/MRes external examiner at Durham University, Sheffield Hallam University, Curtin University (Australia), University of Ulster, Murdoch University (Australia), Nottingham University, University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), University of Bedfordshire, Manchester Metropolitan University.

Invited talks – International Conferences/Scientific meetings

• June 2016                     ‘Sedentary behaviour in working life’, invited symposium presentation at The Obesity Summit 2016, Gothenburg.
• January 2016                ‘How Much Sitting time is Acceptable? and How Much is Too Much?’, invited keynote speaker at the Active Working Summit 2016, London.
• November 2015             ‘The impact of changing the learning environment to improve health and learning’, invited speaker at the ‘Innovation in children’s inactivity and obesity conference’, Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health, London.
• September 2015            ‘Baby-sitters: Are infants, children and parents sitting for too long?’, invited speaker at the 5^th Born in Bradford Scientific Conference, Bradford.
• January 2015                ‘Setting the scene – How much time do we sit? Changing patterns of Sedentary Behaviour’, invited keynote speaker at the Active Working Summit 2015, London.
• September 2014            ‘Sedentary behaviour research in adults and children’, invited speaker at the Physical Activity for Health Network Meeting – ‘Tackling Sedentary Behaviour’, Public Health England, London.
• July 2014                      ‘Sitting in the workplace; an occupational health hazard?’, invited speaker at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Occupational Medicine, East Midlands conference centre.
• November 2012             ‘Measuring physical activity in pre-schoolers’, invited speaker at the Researching Youth Sport Conference 2012, 含羞草视频.
• December 2011             ‘Pedometers: Physical Activity Monitors or Motivators?’ invited speaker at the 'Symposium: Ambulatory Assessment - Current Status and Future Prospects', held at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany.
• June 2011                     ‘Patterns of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour in Working Adults’, invited Tutorial Lecture at ACSMs 2011 annual meeting (Denver, CO), with Prof Wendy Brown (University of Queensland).
• January 2008                ‘Physical inactivity in the workplace’, invited speaker at the meeting of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) Trent Valley Branch, Nottingham.

• Varela-Mato V, Caddick N, King JA, Johnson V, Edwardson C, Yates TE, Stensel DJ, Daly H, Nimmo MA, Clemes SA, (2018), The impact of a novel Structured Health Intervention for Truckers (SHIFT) on physical activity and cardio-metabolic risk factors. J Occup Environ Med, in press.
• Rowlands AV, Mirkes EM, Yates T, Clemes SA, Davies M, Khunti K, Edwardson C, (2018), Accelerometer-assessed Physical Activity in Epidemiology: Are Monitors Equivalent? Med Sci Sports Exerc. 50(2):257-265.
• Varela-Mato V, Caddick N, King JA, Nimmo MA, Yates TE, Stensel DJ, Clemes SA, (2018), A Structured Health Intervention for Truckers (SHIFT): A process evaluation of a pilot health intervention in a transport company. J Occup Environ Med, in press, doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000001258
• Varela-Mato V, Yates T, Stensel D, Biddle SJ and Clemes SA, (2017), Concurrent validity of ActiGraph-determined sedentary time against the activPAL under free-living conditions in a sample of bus drivers. Meas Phys Educ Exerc Sci. 21(4):212-22.
• Routen A, Biddle S, Harrington D, Cale L, Clemes SA, Edwardson CL, Glazebrook C; Khunti K, Pearson N, Salmon J, Sherar L, (2017), Study design and protocol for a mixed methods evaluation of an intervention to reduce and break up sitting time in primary school classrooms in the UK: The CLASS PAL (Physically Active Learning) Programme. BMJ Open. 7(11):e019428.
• Varela-Mato V, O'Shea O, King JA, Yates TE, Stensel DJ, Biddle SJH, Nimmo MA, Clemes SA, (2017), Cross-sectional surveillance study to phenotype lorry drivers’ sedentary behaviours, physical activity and cardio-metabolic health. BMJ Open. 7(6):e013162.
• Bullock V, Griffiths P, Sherar LB, Clemes SA, (2017), Sitting time and obesity in a sample of adults from Europe and the USA. Ann Hum Biol, 44(3):230-236.
• Bingham DD, Costa S, Hinkley T, Shire KA, Clemes SA, Barber SE, (2016), Physical activity during the early years: a systematic review of correlates and determinants, Am J Prev Med, 51(3):384-402.
• Hamer M, Yates T, Sherar L, Clemes SA and Shankar A, (2016), Association of after school sedentary behaviour in adolescence with mental wellbeing in adulthood. Prev Med, 87:6-10.
• Bingham DD, Costa S, Clemes SA, Routen AC, Moore H and Barber SE, (2016), Accelerometer data requirements for reliable estimation of habitual physical activity and sedentary time of children during the early years - a worked example following a stepped approach. J Sports Sci, 26:1-6.
• Hinckson E, Salmon J, Benden M, Clemes SA, Sudholz B, Barber S, Aminian S, Ridgers ND. (2016), Standing Classrooms: Research and lessons learned from around the world. Sports Med, 46(7):977-87.
• Sherry AP, Pearson N, Clemes SA, (2016), The effects of standing desks within the school classroom: a systematic review, Prev Med Rep, 3:338–347.
• Mansoubi M, Pearson N, Biddle SJH, Clemes SA. (2016), Using sit-to-stand workstations in offices: is there a compensation effect? Med Sci Sports Exerc, 48(4):720-5.
• Clemes SA, Barber SE, Bingham D, Ridgers N, Fletcher E, Pearson N, Salmon J, Dunstan DW (2016), Reducing children’s classroom sitting time using sit-to-stand desks: Findings from pilot studies in UK and Australian primary schools. J Public Health, 38(3):526-533.
• Clemes SA, Houdmont J, Munir F, Wilson K, Kerr R, Addley K. (2016), Descriptive epidemiology of domain-specific sitting in working adults: The Stormont Study. J Public Health. 38(1):53-60.
• Varela-Mato V, Yates T, Stensel D, Biddle SJ and Clemes SA, (2015), Time spent sitting during and outside working hours in bus drivers: a pilot study. Prev Med Rep, 3:36-9.
• Costa S, Barber S, Cameron N and Clemes SA. (2015), The objective measurement of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in 2-3 year olds and their parents: a cross-sectional feasibility study in the bi-ethnic Born in Bradford cohort. BMC Public Health, 15(1):1109.
• Mansoubi M, Pearson N, Clemes SA, Biddle SJH, Bodicoat DH, Tolfrey K, Edwardson CL and Yates T. (2015), Energy expenditure during common sitting and standing tasks: examining the 1.5 MET definition of sedentary behaviour. BMC Public Health, 15:516.
• Munir F, Houdmont J, Clemes SA, Wilson K, Kerr R, Addley K. (2015), Work engagement and its association with occupational sitting time: results from the Stormont study. BMC Public Health, 15:30.
• Mansoubi M, Pearson N, Biddle SJH, Clemes SA. (2014), The Relationship between Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity in Adults: A Systematic Review. Prev Med, 69:28-35.
• Kazi A, Duncan M, Clemes SA, Haslam C. (2014), A survey of sitting time among UK employees. Occup Med (Lond), 64(7):497-502.
• Clemes SA, O’Connell S, Edwardson CL. (2014), Office workers objectively measured sedentary behaviour and physical activity during and outside working hours. J Occup Environ Med, 56(3): 298-303.
• Clemes SA, Patel R, Mahon C, Griffiths PL. (2014), Sitting time and step counts in office workers. Occup Med (Lond), 64(3): 188-92.
• O'Connell S, Griffiths P, Clemes SA. (2014), Seasonal Variation in Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, Sleep and Diet in a Sample of UK Adults. Ann Hum Biol, 41(1): 1-8.
• Freak-Poli RLA, Cumpston M, Peeters A, Clemes SA. (2013), Workplace pedometer interventions for increasing physical activity. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2013 Apr 30;4:CD009209.
• Atkin AJ, Gorely T, Clemes SA, Yates T, Edwardson C, Brage S, Salmon J, Marshall S, Biddle SJH, (2012), Methods of Measurement in epidemiology: Sedentary Behaviour. Int J Epidemiol, 41, 1460–1471