Mougios, Vassilis 1958- (Vassilis Constantine Mougios)

PERSONAL:

Born July 10, 1958, in Derveni, Corinth, Greece; son of Constantine Vassilis and Catherine Constantine Mougios; married Maria Nikos Nikolopoulou, January 6, 1982. Education: University of Athens, Greece, B.S., 1981; University of Chicago, Ph.D., 1986. Hobbies and other interests: Hiking, biking, and photography.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Thermi, Thessaloniki, Greece. Office—Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Physical Education, 54006 Thessaloniki, Greece. E-mail—mougios@phed.auth.gr.

CAREER:

Eli Lilly, Athens, Greece, clinical research associate, 1988-89; Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece, lecturer, 1989-1994, assistant professor, 1994-2000, associate professor of exercise biochemistry, 2000—. Served on the scientific committee of the 2004 Pre-Olympic Congress.

MEMBER:

European College of Sport Science, American College of Sports Medicine, American Physiological Society, New York Academy of Sciences, Index Copernicus Scientists.

WRITINGS:

Exercise Biochemistry, Human Kinetics (Champaign, IL), 2006.

Contributor to journals, including the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, Clinical Chemistry, Metabolism, European Journal of Biochemistry, and the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry; reviewer for journals, including the Journal of Applied Physiology, British Journal of Sports Medicine, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Acta Physiologica, Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, and Obesity Research.

SIDELIGHTS:

Vassilis Mougios is an educator whose interests include sport nutrition, exercise metabolism, muscle contraction, and biochemical assessment of athletes. Born in Greece, Mougios was educated at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and earned his doctorate at the University of Illinois in Chicago. He returned to Greece after earning his Ph.D., and worked for one year as a clinical research associate for Eli Lilly. He then returned to the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki to teach. Mougios teaches exercise biochemistry, sport nutrition, and sports ergogenics. The scholar of sports medicine served on the scientific committee of the Pre-Olympic Congress in 2004.

Mougios is a contributor to international journals and the author of Exercise Biochemistry, a volume in which he asks and answers questions that might be posed by a student. This approach conveys the necessary scientific facts in a conversational manner. Mougios uses analogies, including references to works of art, to make his points more accessible. The book provides an in-depth study of exercise biochemistry, covers the basics of biochemistry, and explains metabolism, endocrinology, and assessment, which is unusual for one volume. Mougios further enhances each chapter with sidebars and explanations of key terms.

Exercise Biochemistry is divided into four parts. In the first section, Mougios introduces the basics of biochemistry and includes chapters on metabolism, nucleic acids and gene expressions, proteins, and carbohydrates and lipids. The two chapters of the next part cover neural control of movement and muscle contraction. In the third part, which is on exercise metabolism, six chapters focus on carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism, compounds of high phosphoryl transfer potential, effects of exercise on gene expression, and the integration of exercise metabolism. In the final section, Mougios studies the biochemical assessments of those who exercise. Individual chapters are dedicated to metabolites, iron status, and enzymes and hormones. He includes simple biochemical tests that can be used to evaluate the health and performance of athletes.

In reviewing Exercise Biochemistry for Human Kinetics online, a critic noted that Mougios has, in effect, created a textbook that can stand alone; the reviewer suggested that more universities might consider establishing courses in exercise biochemistry based on this volume: "Exercise Biochemistry is a highly readable book that serves as a source for understanding how exercise changes bodily functions," adding that this variety of topics in one volume "will facilitate the work of instructors and students." A SciTech Book News contributor concluded that the book should be valuable to health scientists and sport and physical education professionals.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice, October, 2007, A.H. Goldfarb, review of Exercise Biochemistry, p. 308.

SciTech Book News, September, 2006, review of Exercise Biochemistry.

ONLINE

Human Kinetics Online,http://www.humankinetics.com/ (February 12, 2008), review of Exercise Biochemistry, and brief biography of Vassilis Mougios.