Our people

Dr Evelyn Parr

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Exercise and Nutrition Research Program

Areas of expertise: exercise; diet; nutrition; obesity; type 2 diabetes; glycemic control; body composition

HDR Supervisor accreditation status: Not accredited

ORCID ID:0000-0003-1710-6381

Phone: (03) 9230 8278

Email:Evelyn.Parr@acu.edu.au 

Dr Evelyn Parr is a postdoctoral research fellow with research interests in reducing obesity through changes in body composition and the management of blood glucose in response to exercise and nutritional interventions. Evelyn’s current research portfolio in the Exercise and Nutrition Research Program involves work regarding manipulating the timing and composition of nutritional intake and exercise on the development of type 2 diabetes in conjunction with overweight/obesity. Evelyn completed her undergraduate Physical Education and Science degrees at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. She then completed a research masters in Exercise Metabolism investigating the effects of exercising in the cold on metabolism in female cyclists. A move to Australia to work with Prof Hawley, originally at RMIT and then at ACU, enabled Evelyn to run a large-scale weight loss exercise and diet intervention, aimed at preventing the loss of skeletal muscle mass in older adults, as a part of her PhD studies. Evelyn was awarded her PhD in May of 2016, titled “Exercise and nutrient interactions: Effects on skeletal muscle and body fat mass”. As a keen cyclist, Evelyn’s research interests centre around optimizing and enabling the best prescription of exercise to individuals with a previous history of not exercising. Evelyn’s major projects, in collaboration with Prof Hawley, Dr Brooke Devlin (La Trobe) and A/Prof Leah Brennan (La Trobe) are investigating the effects of time restricted eating in the management of glycaemic control for individuals with type 2 diabetes. In a larger, multi-centre trial with the University of Adelaide, the team are also investigating the effects of time restricted eating to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Select publications

• Moholdt, T., Parr, E.B., Devlin, B.L., Debik, J., Giskeodegard, G., Hawley, J.A. (2021) The effect of morning vs evening exercise training on glycaemic control and serum metabolites in overweight/obese men: a randomised trial. Diabetologia. DOI: 10.1007/s00125-021-05477-5.
• Lundell, L.S.*, Parr, E.B.*, Devlin, B.L., Ingerslev, L.R., Altintas, A. Sato, S., Sassone-Corsi, P., Barres, R., Zierath, J., & Hawley, J.A. (2020) Time-restricted feeding alters lipid and amino acid metabolite rhythmicity without perturbing clock gene expression. Nature Communications, 11(1), 4643. *Joint first author. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18412-w.
• Parr, E.B., Devlin, B.L, Lim, K.H.C., Moresi, L.N.Z., Geils, C., Brennan, L., Hawley, J.A. (2020) Time-restricted eating as a nutrition strategy for individuals with type 2 diabetes: A feasibility study. Nutrients, 12(11), 2338. DOI: 10.3390/nu12113228.
• Parr, E. B., Devlin, B. L., Radford, B. E., & Hawley, J. A. (2020). A delayed morning and earlier evening time-restricted feeding protocol for improving glycemic control and dietary adherence in men with overweight/obesity: a randomized controlled trial. Nutrients, 12(2), 505. DOI: 10.3390/nu12020505.
• Parr, E.B., Heilbronn, L.K., Hawley, J.A. (2020) A time to eat and a time to exercise. Exercise and Sports Sciences Reviews, 48(1), 4-10. DOI: 10.1249/JES.0000000000000207. *Awarded best paper of 2020 for the journal ESSR.
• Devlin, B.L., Parr, E.B., Radford, B.E., Hawley, J.A. (2020) Lower nocturnal blood glucose response to a potato-based mixed evening meal compared to rice in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Clinical Nutrition, 40(4), P2200-220p. DOI: 10.1016/j.clnu.2020.09.049.
• Parr, E.B., Devlin, B.L., Pinto, S.K., Dunstan, D.W., & Hawley, J.A. (2018). Impact of first meal size during prolonged sitting on postprandial glucose responses in adults with prediabetes: a randomised, crossover study. Nutrients, 10(6), 733. DOI:10.3390/nu10060733.
• Leckey, J.J., Hoffman, N.J., Parr, E.B., Devlin, B.L., Trewin, A.J., Stepto, N.K., Morton, J.P., Burke, L.M., & Hawley, J.A. (2017). High dietary fat intake increases fat oxidation and reduces skeletal muscle mitochondrial respiration in trained humans. The FASEB Journal, 32(6), 2979-2991. DOI: 10.1096/fj.201700993R.
• Parr, E.B., Devlin, B.L., Callahan, M., Radford, B.E., Blankenship, J.M., Dunstan, D.W., Hawley, J.A. (2018). Effects of providing high-fat versus high-carbohydrate meals on daily and postprandial physical activity and glucose patterns: A randomized controlled trial. Nutrients, 10(5): 557. DOI: 10.3390/nu10050557.
• Sato, S., Parr, E.B., Devlin, B.L., Hawley, J.A. & Sassone-Corsi, P. (2018). Human metabolomics reveal daily variations under nutritional challenges specific to serum and skeletal muscle. Molecular Metabolism, 16, 1-11. DOI: 10.1016/j.molmet.2018.06.008.
• Parr, E.B., Camera, D.M., Burke, L.M., Phillips, S.M., Coffey, V.G., Hawley, J.A. (2016) Circulating microRNA responses between ‘High’ and ‘Low’ responders to a 16-wk diet and exercise weight loss intervention, PLoS One, 11(4): e0152545. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0152545.
• Parr, E.B., Coffey, V.G., Cato, L.E., Phillips, S.M., Burke, L.M., Hawley, J.A. (2016) A randomized trial of high-dairy-protein, variable-carbohydrate diets and exercise on body composition in adults with obesity, Obesity (Silver Spring), 24(5): 1035-45. DOI: 10.1002/oby.21451.

Projects

• 2020-2024, NHMRC Medical Research Future Fund, Preventive and Public Health: Heilbronn, L., Hawley, J.A., Hutchison, A., Devlin, B.D., Parr, E.B., Time-Restricted EATing to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (TREAT). $1,067,000
• 2019-2020, Diabetes Australia Research Program Grant: Parr, E.B., Hawley, J.A., Devlin, B.L., Kouw, I.K., Brennan, L. Improving glycaemic control in individuals with type 2 diabetes through time-restricted eating: a 6-month RCT. $60,000
• 2019, Alliance of Potato Research and Education Grant: Camera, D.M., Parr, E.B., Devlin, B.D., Burniston, J., Hawley, J.A., A short-term potato enriched diet to support muscle accretion and promote substrate metabolism adaptations in recreationally active individuals. $200,000
• 2018-2019, European Society for Clinical Nutrition (ESPEN) Early Career Fellowship: Parr, E.B., A time for food: The effects of time-restricted feeding on glycaemic control and gut microbiome in individuals with type 2 diabetes. $79,000

 Accolades and awards

• Exercise and Sports Science Reviews, Best paper of 2020, awarded in 2021
• European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Conference, International Travel Award, 2019
• Australian Postgraduate Award Scholarship at Australian Catholic University, 2014-2015
• Best student presentation at SESNZ conference, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2014

 Appointments and affiliations 

• Post-Doctoral Research Fellow (November 2016 – present), Exercise and Nutrition Research Program, Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, 2016-
• Research Officer (November 2015 – October 2016), Centre for Exercise and Nutrition, Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, 2015-2016
• Exercise and Sports Science Australia (ESSA) Accredited Exercise Scientist and member
• Member of European Society for Clinical Metabolism (ESPEN)
• Member of The Obesity Society (US)
• Member of Australia and New Zealand Obesity Society (ANZOS)
• Member of European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD)

Editoral Roles

• Topic Editor for Nutrients

International journal review panel 

Journal reviewer (selection):

• Nutrients
• Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases
• Obesity (Silver Spring)
• Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (MSSE)
• Obesity Reviews
• Diabetologia
• Exercise and Sports Science Reviews
• Scandinavian Sports Medicine Reviews

Grant agency review panel

• Diabetes Australia peer reviewer
• NHMRC Project grant peer reviewer