DrMichael Wheeler

I am a Lecturer in Physical Activity and Health at Deakin University’s Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition. I investigate how physical activity and sedentary behaviour influence cognitive, vascular and metabolic health, with a particular focus on dementia risk and practical strategies that can be adopted across ageing and chronic disease.

My research combines controlled clinical trials with epidemiology, free-living measurement and digital health. I led the first multi-site trial examining the combined effects of exercise and prolonged sitting on cognition and cardiometabolic function, and my experimental framework has since been adopted by other trials internationally. I am now leading a Dementia Australia-funded study of exercise and intranasal insulin in mild cognitive impairment, a project looking at the impact of workig from home versus workig in the office on dementia risk factors, and a project looking at the impact of loneliness and social isolation on dementia risk.

Across my career, I have published 26 peer-reviewed papers, secured $598,000 as chief or co-investigator ($399,000 as lead), and currently co-supervise four PhD candidates. My publications have been cited in health policy and guidelines in the United States, France and Sweden, including the 2025 AHA/ACC hypertension guideline, French national reviews of sedentary behaviour and nutrition, and Sweden’s national physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidelines. My research has also received extensive international media coverage.

I also specialise in science communication. I hold a Lecturer appointment in Science Communication at the University of Melbourne, co-founded and co-host Let’s Talk SciComm, and co-chair the Asia-Pacific Society for Physical Activity Communications Committee. Through teaching, podcasts, workshops and mentoring, I help researchers and students communicate evidence clearly and translate it into practice. My current work brings these strands together, generating practical evidence to protect brain and cardiometabolic health, and building the partnerships and communication pathways needed for that evidence to be used.