Originally a sport scientist specializing in performance physiology, Bruce is currently a lecturer in the Department of Sport & Exercise Science at the SETU Waterford. After starting his career in the fitness industry, Bruce completed a BSc in Sports Science (2003) and an MSc in Applied Exercise Physiology (2004), both at the University of Wales, Bangor. Bruce is currently completing a PhD investigating the cellular mechanisms of angiogenesis in trained vs untrained individuals.
Bruce joined the DSES in 2005 and ran the Human Performance Lab for 13 years. During this time, he gained extensive applied experience in providing practical sport science support to a variety of athletes, the highlight of which was working at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Paralympic Games with the Irish Squad. In 2019, Bruce took an assistant lecturing position in the department and in 2020 he launched the Win Win Podcast as a means of communicating with his students (and anyone with a general interest in performance!) during lockdown. Bruce currently produces and presents the Irish Sport and Exercise Association Podcast. In 2023 Bruce was promoted to lecturer and became the Course Leader for our Sport and Exercise Science degree stream.
Bruce lives in Tramore with his wife Niamh and their two sons, Daniel and Andrew. He played rugby in a past life, was a CrossFit fan for years and now enjoys not being injured and training to maximize his health span!!
Exercise Physiology (2nd year Exercise Science)
Exercise Prescription 2 (2nd year Exercise Science)
Science of Elite Sports Performance (3rd year Exercise Science; 4th year Sports Coaching)
The Paralympic Athlete (3rd year Sports Coaching)
Advanced Sport and Exercise Physiology (4th year Health / Sport / Nutrition Science)
Major Project 1 & 2 supervision
Bruce is currently undertaking a PhD investigating the response of angiogenic lymphocytes & monocytes to exercise in trained vs untranined individuals.
Bruce was awarded Professional Membership (Physiology) of the Irish Institute of Sport in 2008 as recognition of his ongoing work with Ireland's high performance athletes. From 2006 - 2012, Bruce was the lead physiologist to Paralympics Ireland. In this role, he was responsible for the physiological preparation of Ireland's athletes for the Beijing and London Paralympic Games. Since the 2012 Paralympic Games, Bruce has taken a step back from support work involving international duties. Bruce continued to provide sport science support to 4 senior inter-county hurling squads and numerous individual endurance athletes from 2012 through to 2020, however he has since taken a step back from this type of work to focus on his lecturing, course leader and research commitments (and podcasting!).
Bruce is currently the host of the Irish Sport and Exercise Science Association Podcast. The ISESA is the representative body for the sport and exercise sciences community in Ireland and the podcast aims to open up this fascinating world through interviews with practitioners, researchers, athletes and patients. Our aim is to showcase and celebrate the amazing work being done in sport and exercise science in Ireland.
The ISESA Podcast is available on all major podcast platforms. The link below should direct you to your preferred platform.
Bruce first dipped his toe into the world of podcasting in 2020, when he created the Win Win Podcast during lockdown. This was a way to reach out and communicate with his students and anyone with a general interest in sport and performance when face to face contact was limited.
"Win Win is a podcast about performance. In each episode I chat with someone who works behind the scenes in elite sport, helping athletes maximize their performance potential. If my guest is winning, hopefully their athletes are winning too."
Win Win is available on all the major podcast platforms. The link below should direct you to your preferred platform.
