Theodore Angelopoulos, Ph.D., was awarded an honorary doctorate by The Department of Physical Education and Sports Science of the University of Thessaly in Karyes, Trikala, on Wednesday, May 17.
Dr. Angelopoulos is a leader with more than three decades of experience and a distinguished career in higher education. His widely published research to advance lifestyle interventions for the prevention and treatment of metabolic disease investigates the role of regularly repeated exercise in modifying risk factors for cardio-metabolic disease and the impact of dietary sugars in developing adiposity and cardio-metabolic disease.
As professor and chair of the University of Vermont College of Nursing and Health Sciences Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Science, Angelopoulos manages programs and oversees several faculty research programs in disciplines including sports medicine, obesity, exercise and mental health, pain neuroscience, work rehabilitation, and treatment of chronic disease with therapeutic exercise.
Before his work at UVM, Angelopoulos spent most of his career at the University of Central Florida, where he directed the exercise physiology laboratory from 1998-2005, a program funded by the National Institutes of Health, which significantly contributed to research in muscle hypertrophy. Angelopoulos was pivotal in recruiting a research faculty for the Provost Research Enhancement Program and became one of nine members of the International Exercise and Genetics Collaborative Research Group, a consortium of investigators examining genetic factors contributing to individual responses to exercise training. He also served as Director of Clinical Research for Rippe Lifestyle Institute at Florida Hospital from 2002-2008, where he oversaw research compliance and developed a sponsored research program; during his tenure, the Institute’s research portfolio increased significantly. Angelopoulos also formed an innovative grant partnership between Florida Hospital and the University of Central Florida. He created an interdisciplinary team of research-focused physiologists, physicians, nutritionists, registered dieticians, and nurses.
In August 2015, Angelopoulos was awarded the 8th E.W. Barker professorship at Nanyang University, Singapore. As part of his professorship, he gave public lectures and participated in multiple brainstorming meetings with critical senior University administrators. He was also invited to participate in a round table discussion regarding the obesity epidemic in the region at Singapore’s Department of Health.
Angelopoulos has published over 100 articles in refereed journals and conference proceedings and mentored more than 40 graduate students, postdocs, and research scientists. He is a fellow of The Obesity Society, a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, and a member of the American Physiological Society. His scientific contributions have advanced the understanding of the impacts of adiposity, exercise, metabolism and physiogenomics on health.