Dr. Sandra Hunter

Dr. Sandra Hunter is a professor in the Exercise Science Program, in the Department of Physical Therapy and Director of the Athletic and Human Performance Research Center (AHPRC) at Marquette University. She received her Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology (University of Sydney, Australia), and a postdoctoral fellowship (University of Colorado, Boulder, 1999-2003) researching sex and age differences in motor control, muscle fatigue, and strength training.

In April 2020, Dr. Sandra Hunter led the Marquette COVID-19 Research Initiative and served as chair of the steering committee. As director of the AHPRC at Marquette, Dr. Sandra Hunter oversees programs of innovative research on human performance of all ages and abilities that are conducted by Marquette researchers, athletics, and external partners. Dr. Hunter has over 130 peer review papers in impactful journals and she serves as Editor-In-Chief for Exercise and Sport Science Reviews (starting January 2023) and serves as an associate editor for Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise. Dr. Hunter’s most recent NIH R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health with a $3 million grant (2015-2025) examines the fatiguability of limb muscle in old adults and the protective effects of exercise. She regularly receives national and international media attention for her research on sex differences in exercise performance, aging, and COVID-19.

Dr. Hunter has been honored with the several Marquette University awards for teaching and research, within 2020 for Outstanding Researcher in the College of Health Sciences, Marquette University.