Steve Cram, MBE is one of the world's most successful middle distance athletes. Since he emerged aged 17 at the 1978 Commonwealth Games and went on to win six Gold Medals at Commonwealth, European and World Championships and an Olympic Silver Medal. In 1985 he broke World Records at 1500m, 2000m, and Mile all within 19 days. The latter record lasted almost 9 years.
Steve's energy is now channelled towards improving sport in the UK at all levels from grass roots and talent identification through to winning medals at major championships. His work with the EIS strengthens his links with a number of organisations and governing bodies of sport across the UK. He is actively involved with a number of charities in particular COCO, which he founded back in 1998 and which works predominantly with children and young people aiming to reduce barriers to education worldwide.
Steve, who was born in Gateshead in 1960, began his broadcasting career in 1995 and is currently a BBC television athletics commentator and presenter.
A proud son of Sunderland Steve also holds the position of Chancellor of Sunderland University, inheriting the role from Lord Puttnam in 2008.
His work with the EIS strengthens his links with a number of organisations and governing bodies of sport across the UK.
Nigel joined the English Institute of Sport in September 2010 having previously been Head of Change and Internal Communications at BBC Wales.
A former international athlete and rugby union player, he represented Great Britain as a high hurdler before switching to rugby, earning 17 international caps for Wales. He has also served as a UK Sport board member from 2006-10, and was Chair of the Major Events Panel and a member of the Audit Committee.
Nigel represented Great Britain as a high hurdler on 30 occasions at all major events, including the World Championships and Olympic Games. He retired from athletics in 1992 to pursue a second sports career as a rugby union player with Cardiff RFC and Wales.
Outside of sport, and prior to the introduction of full-time professional rugby, Nigel was a Development Officer for the Sports Council for Wales where his responsibilities included sports medicine, and a civil servant in the then Welsh Office where he held various administrative and managerial roles.
Following that he then worked in the media, hosting various radio and television programmes while also serving as Player Development Manager and Assistant Team Manager with the Welsh Rugby Union.
Helen qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG in 1995, working as a consultant for several years specialising in sport and leisure projects including the successful funding bids for Commonwealth Games facilities at Sportcity, the redevelopment of Headingley Stadium and the National Shooting Centre at Bisley.
She also enjoyed two twelve month secondments whilst working at KPMG, one to Manchester’s 2000 Olympic bid team and one to help set up the Organising Committee for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, both as Financial Controller.
After leaving KPMG Helen spent three years in industry as Finance Controller of four of the European subsidiaries of a large US company, before joining the EIS in March 2002 to set up the finance and HR departments.
As EIS’s Director of Business and Finance Helen was responsible for finance, HR, legal, corporate governance and risk management, as well as being a member of the board of directors. She has also played a key role in developing EIS’s strategy, including implementing a major change in the organisation’s operating and funding model in 2008-9.
After Conor O’Shea left his position as EIS National Director early in 2010, Helen took on the position of Interim Chief Operating Officer, providing leadership to the organisation in the interim period until Nigel Walker joined the organisation in September 2010.
Alan trained as a Chartered Physiotherapist in the early 1970’s and served as Head of Medicine and Sports Science for The English Football Association for over 20 years.
He has devised and been involved in several high level research projects for Association Football and Sport and has authored or co- authored a number of research papers in this field.
He has served on a significant number of Committees, Boards and Working Groups over his career and runs his own consultancy to Professional Sports and Sports Councils at home and abroad. He is also a visiting Professor at Leeds Metropolitan University.
A former Irish Rugby Union international, Conor served as EIS National Director between 2008 and 2010 before being appointed Director of Rugby at Harlequins.
After starting his playing career in his native Ireland with Terenure College, O’Shea had a spell with Leinster before joining London Irish in 1995. In addition to representing his country at the 1995 and 1999 Rugby World Cups, O’Shea made 127 appearances for The Exiles and was awarded the Zurich Players’ Player of the Year Award in 1999 before an ankle injury prematurely brought an end to his playing career at the age of just 30.
However he remained at London Irish taking on the role of Director of Rugby and enjoyed immediate success with the Irish lifting the Powergen Cup in 2002, an achievement which earned O’Shea the Zurich Rugby Director of the Year Award (joint with Brendan Venter).
He would later take up the role of Managing Director at the club before joining the RFU in 2005. He is also a well respected Rugby analyst for RTÉ television in Ireland.
Former Chief Executive of the Football Association and a former Permanent Secretary, Ian is Chief Operating Officer at the head of the Efficiency and Reform Group.
He spent 24 years in the IT and management consulting industry with Accenture where he was UK Managing Director. He holds a degree in mathematics and management studies from Trinity College, Cambridge.
He is married with four sons and is a lifelong Arsenal supporter. He lives in the North West and watches Altrincham in the Conference when he is not watching his sons playing or refereeing in the Cheshire/South Manchester leagues.
Karen was an outstanding member of the British swimming squad from 1986 to 2005 and has a collection of winning medals that include 8 World Championship medals (4 gold), 14 European Championship medals, 38 National Championship titles, and a Commonwealth Games medal haul of 13 including 4 Gold.
For her services to swimming Karen was awarded an MBE in the 1994 New Years Honours List.
Since her retirement from international swimming in 2005, Karen has become regular member of the BBC Radio 5 Live commentary team and has taken on a number of roles. She is now Chair of the British Athletes Commission, Ambassador for Sport for Ipswich, on the executive boards of both the English Institute of Sport and British Olympic Association and on LOCOG’s Athlete Commission.
Jonathan Doust is a Director and Chair of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences, representing almost 3,000 members in the UK. He has worked with Olympic and Commonwealth medalists and published extensive research into the physiology of peak sporting performance.
He is Professor of Exercise Physiology at the University of Brighton and formerly a director of research and development for Ceredigion NHS trust.
He has worked with many public and charitable organisations designing and monitoring exercise schemes to promote health. He holds degrees from Loughborough University and Nottingham Medical School. He is married with four daughters and lives in Eastbourne, East Sussex.
Nigel joined the English Institute of Sport in September 2010 having previously been Head of Change and Internal Communications at BBC Wales.
A former international athlete and rugby union player, he represented Great Britain as a high hurdler before switching to rugby, earning 17 international caps for Wales. He has also served as a UK Sport board member from 2006-10, and was Chair of the Major Events Panel and a member of the Audit Committee.
Nigel represented Great Britain as a high hurdler on 30 occasions at all major events, including the World Championships and Olympic Games. He retired from athletics in 1992 to pursue a second sports career as a rugby union player with Cardiff RFC and Wales.
Outside of sport, and prior to the introduction of full-time professional rugby, Nigel was a Development Officer for the Sports Council for Wales where his responsibilities included sports medicine, and a civil servant in the then Welsh Office where he held various administrative and managerial roles.
Following that he then worked in the media, hosting various radio and television programmes while also serving as Player Development Manager and Assistant Team Manager with the Welsh Rugby Union.
Helen qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG in 1995, working as a consultant for several years specialising in sport and leisure projects including the successful funding bids for Commonwealth Games facilities at Sportcity, the redevelopment of Headingley Stadium and the National Shooting Centre at Bisley.
She also enjoyed two twelve month secondments whilst working at KPMG, one to Manchester’s 2000 Olympic bid team and one to help set up the Organising Committee for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, both as Financial Controller.
After leaving KPMG Helen spent three years in industry as Finance Controller of four of the European subsidiaries of a large US company, before joining the EIS in March 2002 to set up the finance and HR departments.
As EIS’s Director of Business and Finance Helen was responsible for finance, HR, legal, corporate governance and risk management, as well as being a member of the board of directors. She has also played a key role in developing EIS’s strategy, including implementing a major change in the organisation’s operating and funding model in 2008-9.
After Conor O’Shea left his position as EIS National Director early in 2010, Helen took on the position of Interim Chief Operating Officer, providing leadership to the organisation in the interim period until Nigel Walker joined the organisation in September 2010.
Hester joined the English Institute of Sport in 2005 after a number of years working in communications and sponsorship roles within the corporate sector working on events such as the Whitbread and BT Global Challenge Round the World Yacht Races and Rugby World Cup.
Hester qualified with a BSc in Sports Science in 1991 before spending two years in teaching and sports science research, back in the days when the career options for a post-grad in sports science were pretty much limited to teaching or fitness training. The days also when the impact of sport science support was yet to be believed, so as a researcher wet behind the ears you earned respect by driving the squad mini-bus!
Supported by two team members, she is now responsible for all marketing and communications activity within the EIS including internal communications, media and stakeholder relations, branding and commercial partnerships.
Dr Rod Jaques FFSEM (UK), Dipl Sports Med, FISM, DRCOG, MRCGP, is Director of Medical Services at the English Institute of Sport (EIS).
Dr Jaques did the London Hospital Diploma course in Sports Medicine, qualifying with distinction and the David Ritchie prize in 1990. He also obtained the Society of Apothecaries Diploma in Sports Medicine. He is a Fellow of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine and is their current Vice – President.
He has been involved in Sports Medicine for the last 20 years. From 1989-2007 he was Medical Advisor to the British Triathlon Association and was appointed to the British Olympic Medical Centre in London in 1998-2001, before joining the EIS in 2003. Based at the University of Bath, he also runs the Gloucestershire Sports Injury at the Winfield Hospital in Gloucester and works at the Droitwich Knee Clinic.
Rod attended the Atlanta, Sydney, Athens and Beijing Olympics with Team GB and the Kuala Lumpur and Manchester Commonwealth Games with the England Team.
Based in the South West, Rod coordinates support across the EIS network as well as delivering EIS clinics at the EIS base at the University of Bath.
Steve Ingham has worked full-time as an applied sports physiologist since 1996. His undergraduate degree in Sports Science is from University of Brighton and his PhD from University of Surrey. Steve has worked as for the English Sports Council sports performance centre, and from 1998 as Senior Sports Physiologist at the British Olympic Medical Centre, working with athletics, rowing and bobsleigh.
In 2003 Steve took on the role of Sports Science Manager at the Olympic Medical Institute working towards the Athens Olympics as acclimatization manager.
In 2005 Steve moved to the English Institute of Sport, based at Loughborough University, taking up the position of Regional Lead and furthering his work with athletics. In 2009 he took on the role of Head of Physiology at the English Institute of Sport. Through 5 Olympic cycles Steve has experience of working with over 40 Olympic or World medallists.
He has specific expertise in the domains of modelling the determinants of performance, oxygen uptake, training monitoring and recovery.
Richard joined the English Institute of Sport having worked for UK Sport for 5 years running the Performance Lifestyle programme and, for a short while, the sport science and medicine programmes.
His experience in elite sport also includes one year as a professional rugby player with Wasps RFC which was cut short by injury, followed by many years as a semi-professional player.
Outside of his sporting background, Richard has also had a career in teaching and prior to that he graduated from Loughborough University.
Having seen the EIS grow since it’s inception, Richard was keen to take the opportunity to join the organisation and help it develop even further.
Peter has been involved in elite sport for 28 years through competing, coaching and sports administration. As an athlete he was part of the great Coe, Ovett and Cram era winning medals at Commonwealth, World, European and Olympic level and still holds the British record for 1500m and the indoor mile.
Following a long competitive career in track and field Peter turned to coaching and helped steer the careers of several international athletes and still coaches at grass roots level.
Prior to joining the EIS Peter worked at Nova international Ltd, the sports marketing company owned by Brendan Foster where he was involved in sports promotions, sales and marketing and in addition the recruitment of elite athletes to events such as the Great North Run.
Peter has experienced life outside the sporting arena having served 11 years in industry working for the British Steel Corporation and two years in the private sector.
Peter joined the EIS in Yorkshire in 2004 prior to the Athens Olympics as an Athlete Services Manager and later performed the roles of Regional Manager for Yorkshire in (2007-2009) and Regional Director for the North (2009-2013), before becoming Deputy Director of Operations.
Dr Rod Jaques FFSEM (UK), Dipl Sports Med, FISM, DRCOG, MRCGP, is Director of Medical Services at the English Institute of Sport (EIS).
Dr Jaques did the London Hospital Diploma course in Sports Medicine, qualifying with distinction and the David Ritchie prize in 1990. He also obtained the Society of Apothecaries Diploma in Sports Medicine. He is a Fellow of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine and is their current Vice – President.
He has been involved in Sports Medicine for the last 20 years. From 1989-2007 he was Medical Advisor to the British Triathlon Association and was appointed to the British Olympic Medical Centre in London in 1998-2001, before joining the EIS in 2003. Based at the University of Bath, he also runs the Gloucestershire Sports Injury at the Winfield Hospital in Gloucester and works at the Droitwich Knee Clinic.
Rod attended the Atlanta, Sydney, Athens and Beijing Olympics with Team GB and the Kuala Lumpur and Manchester Commonwealth Games with the England Team.
Based in the South West, Rod coordinates support across the EIS network as well as delivering EIS clinics at the EIS base at the University of Bath.
Chris Price is Head of Physiotherapy at the English Institute of Sport (EIS), leading a team of over 60 (full time or contracted) physiotherapists working across a range of Olympic, Paralympic, English (non Olympic) and professional sports.
After qualifying in 1990 he spent ten years in a variety of positions within the NHS and private practice before moving into sport in 2000 as Head of Physiotherapy at the University of Bath Sport Injuries Clinic, working with sports including Triathlon, Skeleton, Athletics and Modern Pentathlon.
After the EIS was established in 2002 he began working on a contracted basis for the organisation alongside his duties at the Sports Injuries Clinic, before moving full time to the EIS in 2006 as Senior Regional Physiotherapist for the South West.
Three years later he was appointed to a national role as Head of Physiotherapy, where he is currently responsible for driving the organisations strategy on the discipline.
He has experience of supporting athletes from a wide range of sports at major events including the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester (Triathlon), the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Turin and Vancouver (Skeleton) and London 2012 Olympic Games (Sailing).
Raphael joined the EIS in November 2002 as Regional Strength and Conditioning Lead for London.
During his time with the EIS he has worked with a range of sports including women’s Rugby, Canoeing and Triathlon, before going full time with Athletics from 2006.
In June 2009 he assumed the role of National Strength and Conditioning Lead, although he will still works three days a week with Athletics at the Lee Valley Training Centre in London.
In his role as Head of Service he is responsible for leading the development of the Strength and Conditioning network at the EIS in terms of expertise and knowledge that can make an increased impact with sports.
He is also currently in the third year of PhD research funded by the UK Sport 2012 Innovations Project.
Mark has worked at the English Institute of Sport since 2005 and has been Head of Performance Psychology since 2007.
He is currently the sport psychologist working with the England cricket team and has previously worked with sports such as boxing, netball and speed skating during his time at the EIS.
Mark comes from a positive psychology background and has developed a perormance framework within the EIS which is based around working proactively rather than reactively, working with strengths and working closely with coaches.
Mark has extensive experience working in the high performance enviromnent and has been to three Winter Olympic Games and two Paralympic Games.
Outside of his work with the EIS, Mark is also a performance coach working in other high-performance environments such as business, health and education.
Stafford has worked for the English Institute of Sport since 2002 where he has set up the network of performances analysts and coordinated the biomechanics service.
Since joinging the EIS, Stafford has worked on a multitute of sports including squash, where he was the England team manager for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
A former junior British Squash Champion and World No. 1, Stafford completed a sports science degree and a post graduate qualification in research methods, followed by an MSc in Performance Analysis.
He lectured on Notational Analysis and Research Methods for two years at the University of Wales, Cardiff, before working as a consultant to more than fifteen international sports teams including South African Cricket, Welsh Rugby and England Squash as well as and presenting at numerous international sports conferences.
He has published over 40 papers, as well as three book chapters, on both technical and tactical analysis of racket sports in both peer reviewed journals and internationally recognised coaching magazines.
Nik has worked in elite Paralympic sport since 2002, during which time he has held a number of Paralympic roles and directly supported a wide range of Paralympic sports.
He joined the EIS in September 2004 as a Sports Science Intern, following the completion of an MSc in Exercise Physiology. Prior to this he spent 2 years as the sport scientist with the Great Britain Wheelchair Tennis team, who he supported at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens.
In 2005, Nik took the role of EIS Paralympic Performance Profiler working in partnership with the British Paralympic Association. In addition he attended the 2008 Paralympic Games as part of the BPA sports science and sports medicine team that developed and delivered the Beijing 2008 preparation strategy.
From 2009-2011, Nik was the EIS Senior Talent Identification Scientist responsible for the development and delivery of the UK Paralympic talent strategy, which was specifically targeted towards the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Nik is currently the EIS Head of Sports Science and Sports Medicine for Paralympic sports where he has the remit to design and deliver the EIS Paralympic sports science and sports medicine strategy to ensure that EIS service provision is tailored towards the unique needs of Paralympic sports and athletes.
Natalie Dunman, Lead Talent Scientist (currently on maternity leave)
Natalie Dunman is Lead Talent Scientist with the EIS working as part of the UK Talent Team (a collaboration between UK Sport and the EIS) and is responsible for the Technical Frontline Solutions component of the UK Talent Team’s strategy.
She has run several national talent recruitment and development programmes since 2007 including Sporting Giants, Girls4Gold, Tall and Talented and Power2Podium which have supported a number of National Governing Body (NGB) World Class programmes in their talent recruitment, confirmation and development practices including Sprint Canoeing, Rowing and Cycling.
Prior to working in the Talent Team she worked for two years as an Applied Sports Physiologist with the EIS and completed a Masters in Sports Science at Loughborough University, focused on Talent Identification, whilst working with British Swimming.
Nick has worked for the English Institute of Sport since 2004 and has led the Performance Lifestyle service through a significant period of growth and strategic development.
He previously worked for the England and Wales Cricket Board, setting up Performance Analysis as a recognised science discipline in cricket and providing support to the England team for over 50 tests and 100 ODI's.
Having developed an interest in the lifestyle and personal development of elite athletes, Nick joined the EIS to be a part of the emerging discipline of performance lifestyle.
Nick became a National Lead in 2007 and is now responsibe for the strategic management and quality assurance of performance lifestyle in the EIS as well as leading the performance lifestyle support to the Olympic Sailing Programme.
As well as being a UK Sport accredited Performance Lifestyle advisor, Nick has a BSc (Hons) & MSc in Sport & Exercise Science, is an ILM qualified and EMCC accredited management coach/mentor, is a lead tutor on the UK Sport PL Accreditation Programme and teaches on the Post Graduate Certificate in 'Lifestyle Management in High Performance Sport' run through Leeds Met University.
As a learning & development professional and executive coach, Nick plays a key part in development and quality assurance and the continued evolution of the service offering to meet sport and athlete needs.
Dr Currell joined the EIS in 2006 as part of the Practitioner Development Programme having studied Sport Science at Liverpool John Moores University, followed by a masters in Sports Exercise Physiology at Sheffield.
He also has a PhD from the University of Birmingham on the effects of carbohydrate in endurance performance, has the IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition and is a registered nutritionist.
He has worked with the Great Britain Triathlon team for over six years and was part of the support team which helped the athletes achieve the sports first Olympic medals at London 2012.
He also supported the GB Canoe Slalom team throughout the London Olympic cycle and works with the GB Short Track Speed Skating team.
He was appointed Head of Performance Nutrition in February 2013 and oversees a team working across more than 30 Olympic, Paralympic and professional sports.