Faculdade de Motricidade Humana

Xavier Melo is an Assistant Professor at the Sport Sciences School of Rio Maior – Polytechnic Institute of Santarem, and Technical and Scientific advisor at Ginásio Clube Português. He holds a Master degree in Exercise and Health (2009), and a PhD in Physical Activity and Health (2015) at the Faculty of Human Kinetics – University of Lisbon (FMH-UL). His main research targets pediatric, chronic disease and intellectual disability populations, and is mainly interested in: 1) the central and peripheral cardiovascular adaptations in the acute and chronic models of response to exercise; and 2) the associations between multiple cardiovascular risk factors and surrogate Markers of Cardiovascular Disease. Furthermore, he seeks to design, implement and assess exercise interventions for cardiovascular prevention and treatment. He has been the first author of 8 articles published in international peer-reviewed scientific journals and coauthored plenty others, and over 27 works in the proceedings of international conferences and meetings. Due to his investment in several laboratorial internships with scientific partners at The Integrative Physiology Laboratory – University of Illinois, both at Chicago and Champaign, he has gotten skilled and an expert in: Vascular Imaging, Arterial Stiffness, Endothelial and Autonomic Function, Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing, Energy Expenditure, Objective Measures of Body Composition and Physical Activity. He has been a researcher in several FCT-funded projects: SFRH/BD/85742/2012; SFRH / BD / 70515 / 2010; PTDC/DES/120249/2010; PTDC/DES/119028/2010; PTDC/DES/108372/2008.