Fritz Duras Lecture: 'Relations between physical education and preventative medicine'

HPE teachers are invited to attend the next free Melbourne Fritz Duras lecture Presented by Professor Mark Hargreaves on 8 December as part of Melbourne Graduate School of Education (MGSE)’s Dean's Lecture Series.

In 1937, Dr. Fritz Duras joined the University of Melbourne to establish a physical education program “inspired by the knowledge of the important relations between physical education and preventive medicine.”

This lecture will initially review insights on the health benefits of regular physical activity/exercise from ancient times to the 20th century and then focus on more contemporary insights. The classic studies of Morris and Paffenbarger provided the epidemiological evidence in support of such an association.

Cardiorespiratory fitness, often measured by maximal oxygen uptake, and habitual physical activity levels are inversely related to mortality. Thus, studies exploring the biological bases of the health benefits of exercise have largely focused on the oxygen transport system and skeletal muscle (mass and metabolism), although there is increasing evidence that multiple tissues and organ systems are influenced by regular exercise.

The application of molecular biology techniques to questions in exercise biology over the last few decades has opened new lines of investigation to better understand the beneficial effects of exercise and, in so doing, informed the optimisation of exercise regimens and the identification of novel therapeutic strategies to enhance health and well-being.

These new insights have emphasised the relations between physical education and preventive medicine.

Date: Thursday 8 December 2022

Time: 5.30pm Refreshments + Registration | 6.00pm Lecture

Venue: Theatre Q230, Level 2, Kwong Lee Dow Building, 234 Queensberry Street, University of Melbourne

Register here

The Melbourne Fritz Duras Lecture is hosted by the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences.

Proudly supported by ACHPER Victoria.