DANBURY, CONN. — Western Connecticut State University will host physiologist Dr. Neil Walsh for a lecture about “Practical Strategies to Maintain Immune Health in Athletes” at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012, in Room 125 of the Science Building on the university’s Midtown campus 181 White St. in Danbury. The talk, sponsored by the WCSU department of health promotion and exercise sciences, will be free and the public is invited.

As director of the Extremes Research Group at Bangor University in the U.K., Walsh conducts studies that seek “to advance knowledge and understanding of human performance and health in ‘extreme’ natural and artificial environments and conditions … focusing on human responses and adaptations to a range of stressors including: thermal, altitude, dehydration, energy restriction, sleep deprivation, psychological and prolonged exercise.”

Walsh has written numerous book chapters on immune response to exercise. Much of his work has been supported by the U.K. Ministry of Defense and has focused on the influence of stressors on the immune health and performance of Army recruits. Walsh currently is a contributing writer for Runners World magazine and is accredited by the British Association of Sports and Exercise.

For more information, call (203) 837-8687.

Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England’s best small private universities.