Staff profile

Dr Katie Di Sebastiano joined the department of Sport and Exercise Sciences in 2021. Her expertise is clinical exercise physiology, and her research focuses on the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of nutrition and physical activity interventions for people living with cancer. In addition, she takes an integrative metabolism approach, consideration interactions between metabolic markers and lifestyle-related factors in cancer and other clinical populations.

Dr Di Sebastiano currently leads a research programme aimed at improving cancer prehabilitation services across the North East and North Cumbria while developing evidence-based recommendations to inform best practice nationally and internationally. Cancer prehabilitation is a multimodal approach that combines nutrition support, physical activity, psychosocial care, and other lifestyle interventions to optimise patients’ health and readiness for cancer treatment.

Her research seeks to improve outcomes for people living with cancer while reduce health inequalities. Working closely with service providers, Dr Di Sebastiano collaborates with the Northern Cancer Alliance, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, and others. Her research is supported by funding from a range of sources, including the ESRC and the Northern Cancer Alliance.

With cancer prehabilitation now recognised as a key component of the National Cancer Plan for England, her work contributes to the continued development and evaluation of services across the UK. She also has a strong interest in digital health technologies, including activity trackers and mobile applications, and investigates how these tools can increase physical activity, improve nutrition, and expand access to prehabilitation and other supportive care interventions.

Research Interests

• Cancer prehabilitation
• Lifestyle interventions for clinical populations
• Integrative metabolism and muscle physiology
• Programme evaluation and implementation sciences
• Knowledge translation and mobilisation

Esteem Indicators

2025-present: Northern Cancer Alliance Prehabilitation Community of Practice Research Advisory Member

Publication Information

ResearchGate Profile here

Scopus Profile here

Google Scholar Profile ‪here

PhD Supervision

Dr Katie Di Sebastiano welcomes expressions of interest from potential PhD students. 

Media Interviews

Dr Di Sebastiano welcomes media interviews connected to her areas of research expertise. 

• Integrative Metabolism
• Body Composition
• Cancer and Clinical Population
• Clinical Exercise Physiology and Nutrition
• Nutrition and Physical Activity Programs
• Program Evaluation
• Knowledge Translation and Mobilisation

Journal Article

• Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of implementing a 12-week home-based aerobic and resistance exercise program for breast cancer patients receiving endocrine treatment in Indonesia: A mixed methods study
  
  Astari, Y. K., Hutajulu, S. H., Prabandari, Y. S., Bintoro, B. S., Wibowo, R. A., Hardianti, M. S., Hartopo, A. B., Sebastiano, K. M. D., Allsop, M. J., & Burke, S. (2024). Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of implementing a 12-week home-based aerobic and resistance exercise program for breast cancer patients receiving endocrine treatment in Indonesia: A mixed methods study. SAGE Open Medicine, 12. https://doi.org/10.1177/20503121241272706
• Development of a ParticipACTION App–Based Intervention for Improving Postsecondary Students’ 24-Hour Movement Guideline Behaviors: Protocol for the Application of Intervention Mapping
  
  Flood, S. M., Thompson, B., Faulkner, G., Vanderloo, L. M., Blackett, B., Dolf, M., Latimer-Cheung, A. E., Duggan, M., Di Sebastiano, K. M., Lane, K. N., Brouwers, M. C., McKenna, J., Chulak-Bozzer, T., Fuller, D., Ruissen, G. R., Sturrock, S. L., & Tomasone, J. R. (2023). Development of a ParticipACTION App–Based Intervention for Improving Postsecondary Students’ 24-Hour Movement Guideline Behaviors: Protocol for the Application of Intervention Mapping. JMIR Research Protocols, 12, e39977. https://doi.org/10.2196/39977
• An Evaluation of a Commercialized mHealth Intervention to Promote Physical Activity in the Workplace
  
  Di Sebastiano, K. M., Lau, E. Y., Yun, L., & Faulkner, G. (2022). An Evaluation of a Commercialized mHealth Intervention to Promote Physical Activity in the Workplace. Frontiers in Public Health., 10, Article 740350. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.740350
• The University of British Columbia healthy beverage initiative: changing the beverage landscape on a large post-secondary campus
  
  Di Sebastiano, K. M., Kozicky, S., Baker, M., Dolf, M., & Faulkner, G. (2020). The University of British Columbia healthy beverage initiative: changing the beverage landscape on a large post-secondary campus. Public Health Nutrition, 24(1). https://doi.org/10.1017/s1368980020003316
• Don’t Walk So Close to Me: Physical Distancing and Adult Physical Activity in Canada
  
  Di Sebastiano, K. M., Chulak-Bozzer, T., Vanderloo, L. M., & Faulkner, G. (2020). Don’t Walk So Close to Me: Physical Distancing and Adult Physical Activity in Canada. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01895
• Glucose impairments and insulin resistance in prostate cancer: the role of obesity, nutrition and exercise
  
  Di Sebastiano, K., Pinthus, J., Duivenvoorden, W., & Mourtzakis, M. (2018). Glucose impairments and insulin resistance in prostate cancer: the role of obesity, nutrition and exercise. Obesity Reviews, 19(7). https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12674
• Glucose metabolism during the acute prostate cancer treatment trajectory: The influence of age and obesity
  
  Di Sebastiano, K. M., Bell, K. E., Mitchell, A. S., Quadrilatero, J., Dubin, J. A., & Mourtzakis, M. (2018). Glucose metabolism during the acute prostate cancer treatment trajectory: The influence of age and obesity. Clinical Nutrition, 37(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2016.11.024
• Elevated C-Peptides, Abdominal Obesity, and Abnormal Adipokine Profile are Associated With Higher Gleason Scores in Prostate Cancer
  
  Di Sebastiano, K. M., Pinthus, J. H., Duivenvoorden, W. C., Patterson, L., Dubin, J. A., & Mourtzakis, M. (2016). Elevated C-Peptides, Abdominal Obesity, and Abnormal Adipokine Profile are Associated With Higher Gleason Scores in Prostate Cancer. The Prostate, 77(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/pros.23262
• The Role of Dietary Fat throughout the Prostate Cancer Trajectory
  
  Di Sebastiano, K., & Mourtzakis, M. (2014). The Role of Dietary Fat throughout the Prostate Cancer Trajectory. Nutrients, 6(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/nu6126095
• Accelerated muscle and adipose tissue loss may predict survival in pancreatic cancer patients: the relationship with diabetes and anaemia
  
  Sebastiano, K. M. D., Yang, L., Zbuk, K., Wong, R. K., Chow, T., Koff, D., Moran, G. R., & Mourtzakis, M. (2013). Accelerated muscle and adipose tissue loss may predict survival in pancreatic cancer patients: the relationship with diabetes and anaemia. British Journal of Nutrition, 109(2). https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007114512001067
• A critical evaluation of body composition modalities used to assess adipose and skeletal muscle tissue in cancer
  
  Di Sebastiano, K. M., & Mourtzakis, M. (2012). A critical evaluation of body composition modalities used to assess adipose and skeletal muscle tissue in cancer. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 37(5). https://doi.org/10.1139/h2012-079