Tom Yates

Biography

Professor Yates completed a PhD at Loughborough University in 2008 and moved to the Leicester Diabetes Centre the same year, from where he has helped build physical activity and aligned 24-hour physical behaviours (including sleep) into an area of strength and depth within the University of Leicester. 

Through leadership positions within the Leicester Lifestyle and Health Research Group (LLHRG) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), Professor Yates oversees a diverse portfolio of translational research aiming to better understand how movement and lifestyle behaviours can be used to promote health throughout the life course in multi-ethnic groups living with or at risk of long-term conditions, such as type 2 diabetes. 

His research demonstrating the power of walking and walking pace to human health has also made headlines internationally and has been translated into a suite of face-to-face interventions and digital tools, including Walking Away from Diabetes and Steps4Health. These programmes have generated over 500,000 referrals to date, supporting the promotion of physical activity within routine clinical prevention. Ongoing research examines how lifestyle behaviours can be combined with weight loss medications to maximise whole body health.

Professor Yates led the University of Leicester's first submission to Unit of Assessment 24 (Sports Science) within the Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF2021) where the quality of the research outputs, impact, and environment were all rated as world-leading or internationally excellent. This high ranking supported £14 million in new funding from Research England through the Expanding Excellence in England scheme.