Toby Mündel, PhD

Professor, Kinesiology, Canada Research Chair in Extreme Human Environments (Tier 1)

Tobu Mundel

Office: WC 287
905 688 5550 x5457
tmundel@brocku.ca

ResearchGate
Google Scholar
CV

I am interested in how humans respond physiologically to the stress of physical activity; extremes of environmental stressors such as ambient temperature and humidity; and fluctuations in body water content. My primary research platform is the regulation of body temperature and water content, often during exercise and accompanying heat stress or dehydration. Research objectives move beyond identifying and understanding how and why these factors affect the human body, to reducing risk to an individual or user group, improving enjoyment/health/well-being, and eventually enhancing output (work or performance) towards meaningful and positive societal impact. Recent focus has been on females and the non-reproductive influence of ovarian hormones.

Research Interests

  • Exercise Physiology
  • Temperature Regulation
  • Hydration and Drinking
  • Female Response/Adaptation
  • Ovarian Hormones

Professional affiliations and accreditation/certification

  • Fellow, The Physiological Society (UK)
  • Fellow, European College of Sport Science
  • Senior (Reviews) Editor, Experimental Physiology
  • Associate Editor, Temperature
  • Visiting Research Professor, Hubei Normal University (China)
  • Scientific Advisor, Kenzen Inc.

Publications

*Students supervised underlined 

  1. Jenkins EJ, Campbell HA, Lee, JKW, Mündel T, Cotter JD (accepted, in press 2023). Delineating the impacts of air temperature and humidity for endurance exercise. Experimental Physiology
  2. Lei TH, Fujiwara M, Amano T, Mündel T, Inoue Y, Fujii N, Nishiyasu T, Kondo N (2023). Induction and decay of seasonal acclimatization on whole-body heat loss responses during exercise in a hot humid environment with different air velocities. American Journal of Physiology Regulatory Integrative Comparative Physiology 324(1):R35-R44.
  3. Zheng H, Badenhorst CE, Lei TH, Liao YH, Fujii N, Kondo N, Mündel T (2022). Do E2 and P4 contribute to the explained variance in core temperature response for trained women during exertional heat stress when metabolic rates are very high? European Journal of Applied Physiology 122(10):2201-2212.
  4. O’Connor E, Mündel T, Barnes MJ (2022). Nutritional compounds to improve post-exercise recovery. Nutrients 14(23):5069.
  5. Fujji N, Amano T, Kenny GP, Mündel T, Lei TH, Honda Y, Kondo N, Nishiyasu T (2022). TMEM16A blockers T16Ainh-A01 and benzbromarone do not modulate the regulation of sweating and cutaneous vasodilatation in humans in vivo. Experimental Physiology 107(8):844-853.
  6. Korad S, Mündel T, Fan JL, Perry BG (2022). Cerebral autoregulation across the menstrual cycle in eumenorrheic women. Physiological Reports 10(9):e15287.
  7. Tan B, Philipp MC, Che Muhamed AM, Mündel T (2022). Hypohydration but not menstrual phase influences pain perception in healthy women. Journal of Applied Physiology 132(3):611-621.
  8. Kataoka Y, Kenny GP, Nishiyasu T, Amano T, Mündel T, Zheng H, Lei TH, Watanabe K, Fujii N (2022). TRPA1 channel activation with cinnamaldehyde induces cutaneous vasodilation through NOS, but not COX and KCa channel, mechanisms in humans. Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology 79(3):375-382.
  9. Cao Y, Lei TH, Wang F, Yang B, Mündel T (2022). Head, face and neck cooling as per-cooling modalities to improve exercise performance in the heat: A narrative review and practical applications. Sports Medicine – Open 8(1):16.
  10. Fricke A, Lark SD, Fink PW, Mündel T, Shultz SP (2021). Exercise interventions to improve pelvic floor muscle functioning in older women with urinary incontinence: a systematic review. Journal of Women’s Health Physical Therapy 45(3):115-125.
  11. Moyen NE, Bapat R, Tan B, Hunt L, Jay O, Mündel T (2021). Accuracy of algorithm to non-invasively predict core body temperature using the Kenzen wearable device. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18:13126.
  12. Zheng H, Badenhorst CE, Lei TH, Che Muhamed AM, Liao YH, Amano T, Fujii N, Nishiyasu T, Kondo N, Mündel T (2021). Measurement error of self-paced exercise performance in athletic women is not affected by ovulatory status or ambient environment. Journal of Applied Physiology 131:1496-1504.
  13. Fricke A, Fink PW, Lark SD, Mündel T, Shultz SP (2021). Mini-Trampoline jumping as an exercise intervention for postmenopausal women who experienced a stroke: a case report. Journal of Women’s Health Physical Therapy 45:201-208.
  14. Lei TH, Fujiwara M, Gerrett N, Amano T, Mündel T, Inoue Y, Okushima D, Nishiyasu T, Kondo N (2021). The effect of seasonal acclimatization on whole body heat loss response during exercise in a hot humid environment with different air velocity. Journal of Applied Physiology 131(2):520-531.
  15. Zheng H, Badenhorst CE, Lei TH, Liao YH, Che Muhamed AM, Fujii N, Kondo N, Mündel T (2021). Menstrual phase and ambient temperature do not influence iron regulation in the acute exercise period. American Journal of Physiology Regulatory Integrative Comparative Physiology. 320(6):R780-R790.
  16. Lin HF, Tseng CY, Mündel T, Lin YY, Lin CC, Chen CN, Liao YH (2021). Perturbations of adjuvant chemotherapy on cardiovascular responses and exercise tolerance in patients with early-stage breast cancer. Biology 10(9):910.
  17. Chen CY, Chen CR, Chen CN, Wang PS, Mündel T, Liao YH, Tsai SC (2021). Amphetamine-decreased progesterone and estradiol release in rat granulosa cells: the regulatory role of cAMP- and Ca2+-mediated signaling pathways. Biomedicines 9(5):493.
  18. Perry BG, Mündel T (2021). Lower body positive pressure affects systemic but not cerebral haemodynamics during incremental hyperthermia. Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging. 41(2):226-233.
  19. Fricke A, Fink PW, Mündel T, Lark SD, Shultz SP (2021). Mini-trampoline jumping as an exercise intervention in postmenopausal women to improve women specific health risk factors. International Journal Preventive Medicine. 12:10.
  20. Tan B, Philipp M, Hill S, Che Muhamed AM, Mündel T (2020). Pain across the menstrual cycle: considerations of hydration. Frontiers in Physiology 11:585667.
  21. Barwood MJ, Gibson OR, Gillis DJ, Jeffries O, Morris NB, Pearce J, Ross ML, Stevens C, Rinaldi K, Kounalakis SN, Riera F, Mündel T, Waldron M, Best R (2020). Menthol as an ergogenic aid for the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games: an expert-led consensus statement using the modified Delphi method. Sports Medicine 50:1709-1727.
  22. Lei TH, Schlader ZJ, Che Muhamed AM, Zheng H, Stannard SR, Kondo N, Cotter JD, Mündel T (2020). Differences in dry-bulb temperature do not influence moderate-duration exercise performance in warm environments when vapor pressure is equivalent. European Journal of Applied Physiology 120:841-852.
  23. Lei TH, Matsukawa H, Okushima D, Gerrett N, Schlader ZJ, Mündel T, Fujiwara M, Kondo N (2020). Autonomic and perceptual thermoregulatory responses to voluntarily engaging in a common thermoregulatory behaviour. Physiology and Behavior 215:112768.
  24. Kuo YC, Chang HL, Cheng CF, Mündel T, Liao YH (2020). Six-week inspiratory resistance training ameliorates endurance performance but does not affect obesity-related metabolic biomarkers in obese adults: A randomized controlled trial. Respiratory Physiology and Neurobiology 273:103285.
  25. Mündel T (2020). An anti-doping perspective on nicotine detection in the peri-exercise period in a cohort of trained male cyclists. Current Research in Physiology 2:30-33.
  26. Kamaruddin HK, Ooi CH, Mündel T, Aziz AR, Che Muhamed AM (2019). The ergogenic potency of carbohydrate mouth rinse on endurance running performance of dehydrated athletes. European Journal of Applied Physiology 119:1711-1723.
  27. Che Muhamed AM, Yusof HA, Stannard SR, Mündel T, Thompson MW (2019). The efficacy of ingesting water on thermoregulatory responses and running performance in a warm-humid condition. Frontiers in Physiology 10:507.
  28. Mündel T, Houltham SD, Barnes MJ, Stannard SR (2019). Nicotine supplementation does not influence performance of a 1h cycling time-trial in trained males. Frontiers in Physiology 10:292.
  29. Liao YH, Mündel T, Yang YT, Wei CC, Tsai SC (2019). Effects of periodic carbohydrate ingestion on endurance and cognitive performances during a 40-km cycling time-trial under normobaric hypoxia in well-trained triathletes. Journal of Sports Sciences 37:1805-1815.
  30. Pinkham MI, Burgess R, Mündel T, Tatkov S (2019). Nasal high flow reduces minute ventilation during sleep through a decrease of carbon dioxide re-breathing. Journal of Applied Physiology 126:863-869.
  31. Lei TH, Cotter JD, Schlader ZJ, Stannard SR, Perry BG, Barnes MJ, Mündel T (2019). On exercise thermoregulation in females: interaction of endogenous and exogenous ovarian hormones. Journal of Physiology 597:71-88.
  32. Mündel T (2018). Sodium bicarbonate ingestion improves repeated high-intensity cycling performance in the heat. Temperature 5:343-347.

Teaching

  • Environmental Exercise Physiology

Graduate Student Opportunities

I am always happy to hear from prospective students with interests that mesh with mine, whether at Masters, PhD, or Post-Doctoral level. Opportunities exist to be involved with ongoing projects or where students develop their own study. If you are interested, please ensure you have checked my publications and then contact me with an outline of your background, interests, and ideas for potential projects.

Undergraduate Student Opportunities

I am always happy to hear from prospective students that would like to experience research within our lab. If you are interested in volunteer and paid (e.g., Summer Research Assistant) or course-based (e.g., KINE 3P99, 4P99, 4F90, 4F91) opportunities, please get in touch!