Professor David Pyne is a sports physiologist with 30 years practical and research experience in sport, exercise and physical activity. Pyne served as an adjunct member of UCRISE in 2014 and 2015, joined as a full-time Research Professor in 2016, and appointed as Director in 2021.  He completed both an undergraduate (Bachelor of Applied Science in Sports Coaching) and graduate (Masters in Exercise Physiology) degree at UC, and a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Australian National University. He held adjunct status at UC between 1997 and 2016 in sport science.

Pyne has a long history of service as a sports physiologist and researcher at the Australian Institute of Sport (1987-2016).   Pyne has extensive experience with basketball, rugby union, rugby league, Australian Football, cricket and swimming at the AIS and national levels. He attended four Olympic Games and numerous international competitions with the Australian Swimming Team.  Between 2013 and 2018, David served as the Discipline Lead – Physiology for Swimming Australia.

Pyne's research work in the areas of exercise and the immune system, environmental physiology, the applied physiology of swimming, and fitness and conditioning for team sports is recognised internationally.  This work has focussed on both practical interventions for enhancing sports performance and physiological mechanisms that explain variations in performance, health and fitness.

Pyne is Theme Leader at UCRISE for High Performance Sport and contributes to research training and mentoring of students and staff, and other UCRISE activities. His international research links stretch to the US, New Zealand, France, Germany, Portugal, UK, Spain and the Middle East.  Leadership, collegiality, and mentoring with students, researchers, coaches and athletes alike are seen as high priorities. He was awarded the Researcher of the Year at the University of Canberra in 2018.

Prof Pyne has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers in exercise and sports science journals, an H-Index of 72, and supervised 25 PhD students to completion. He was Foundation Editor of the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance from 2004-2009, and currently serves as a Consulting Editor.  Pyne is a member of Sports Medicine Australia, Exercise and Sports Science Australia, and a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine.  He has also served as Chair of the University of Canberra Animal Ethics Committee since 2019.