Rate My Professor Katherine Black

Professor Katherine Black is a Professor in the Department of Human Nutrition at the University of Otago, Health Sciences, specializing in Sport and Exercise Nutrition. She also serves as Associate Dean (Postgraduate) for the Division of Sciences. Originally from Leeds in the United Kingdom, she obtained her BSc (Hons) in Exercise and Health Sciences from the University of Salford, an MSc in Sport and Exercise Nutrition from Loughborough University investigating blood-brain barrier permeability, hydration, and exercise in the heat, and a PhD from Loughborough University on fluid and electrolyte balance in special populations including Paralympic athletes and kidney transplant recipients.

After relocating to New Zealand, Professor Black worked with elite athletes from Super Rugby, National Rugby League, and rugby sevens teams to enhance nutritional practices for optimal performance. Her research focuses on elite sporting performance, nutrition, and health, particularly the health of female athletes, both high-performance and recreational, assessing the impact of inappropriate energy intakes on reproductive and bone health, and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). She oversees the Sport and Exercise Nutrition papers and programmes, coordinating HUNT445 Applications in Sport and Exercise Nutrition and NUTN 407 Advanced Sports Nutrition / SPME 703 Sports Nutrition. Promoted to Professor in 2025, she presented her Inaugural Professorial Lecture, 'How far can we push performance before an athlete breaks?', in 2026. In 2012, she received the OUSA New Supervisor of the Year award. Key publications include 'The barriers and facilitators of improving energy availability amongst females clinically diagnosed with Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs)' (2025), 'RED-S: A review of the screening, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery' (2024), 'The impact of protein in post-menopausal women on muscle mass and strength: A narrative review' (2024), and 'International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Probiotics' (2019). Her work has garnered over 2,000 citations, influencing sports nutrition practices.