DAMIR ZUBAC, PhD, Research Assistant

Institute for Kinesiology Research

Phone: +386 5 663 77 00

E-mail: damir.zubac@zrs-kp.si

Research Areas:

  • Kinesiology / Sports Sciences
  • Exercise physiology

Biography:

Damir Zubac is a sports scientist whose expertise lies in the evaluation and interpretation of physiological processes related to physical training and elite athletic performance.

He completed his thesis in 2016 at the University of Split, Faculty of Kinesiology, Split, Croatia. Portions of his thesis were recently published in high impact factor journals including European Journal of Sports Sciences, Journal of Sport Sciences and International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. Over the last couple of years, he had published more than ten peer-review papers in international journals and book chapters.

Currently, he is a member of the Institute for Kinesiology Research, research group at Science and Research Centre Koper, Slovenia that was placed among best 150 in the Shanghai list of research institutes in 2016.

In 2016 he was awarded “The Youth Research of the Year Award” in Croatia, as well as the “Rectors award” for exceptional academic achievements (University of Split, Croatia, EU). As the leading author of the paper entitled “Fluid balance and hydration status in Olympic combat athletes: A systematic review with meta-analysis of controlled and uncontrolled studies” he was invited as one of five best youth candidates to participate in the prestige “Pitch your Science!” contest at the 10th Annual Hydration for Health Scientific Conference, which was held in Evian-les-Bains, France, form 26th – 28th of June 2018. 
In 2018, he received a post-doctoral grant with the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS: Z7-9420: The effects of variable load exercise on aging atrophy – randomized controlled trial).

Besides his research activities, Damir Zubac is also a lecturer at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Kinesiology, Department of Sport and Exercise Medicine as well as at the University of Split, Faculty of Kinesiology, Department of Biomedicine and Anthropology, both in Croatia, where he is participating in courses of Exercise Physiology, Sports Medicine, Applied Medicine in Kinesiology and Sport.

Research activity:

Under the supervision of prof. Moshe Ayalon he spent 40 days at the Academic Collage at Wingate, Natanya Israel, working on a project that was looking at the underlying foundations of the neuromuscular fatigue development. Within the Erasmus+ international cooperation frame he has undergone extensive laboratory training at the Science and Research Centre Koper, Slovenia and Institute for Kinesiology and Sport at the University of Split, Croatia. Under supervision of prof. Šimunič B., PhD and Morrsion S. A., PhD he had successfully coordinated the nationally funded project looking at measurement resolution of acute dehydration markers in Olympic combat athletes [Grant no. RR-15-073]. In Split, under supervision of dr. Vladimir Ivančev, MD he has undergone extensive training on cardiorespiratory and metabolic profile assessment of elite athletes (Hajduk Split football club, Bahrain Merida cycling team), including oxygen consumption measurement and interpretation (VO2 max testing, RCP threshold determination; maximal lactate steady state assessment; excessive post exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) etc.

He contributed with his research work to several projects:

  • Evaluation blood parameters in micro-vesicles for optimizing sports performance.  (ARRS J5-7098);
  • The effects of variable load exercise on aging atrophy – randomized controlled trial. (ARRS Z7-9420);
  • Decomposition of the skeletal muscle contractile properties under different loading. (ARRS L7 – 9421);
  • Development of noninvasive marker for muscle atrophy. (ARRS L5-5550);
  • Development of the method to address the effects of acute dehydration on some physiological parameters in elite combat athletes – Foundation for Financing Sport Organizations, (RR-15-073);
  • Anaerobic capacities in kicking combat sports. Croatian Science Foundation, (IP-6524);
  • Physical activity in Croatian adolescents: A longitudinal study. Croatian Science Foundation, (IP-06).

Damir Zubac is a referee in peer-review journals: International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, Human Kinetics; Journal of Physiology and Biochemistry, Springer International Publishing AG. Part of Springer Nature; Kinesiology Journal – International Journal of Fundamental and Applied Kinesiology, Zagreb; European Review of Aging and Physical Activity, Springer Nature Publishing; Frontiers in Physiology, Lausanne, Switzerland, section Exercise Physiology and a Section editor at Acta Kinesiologica, Exercise Physiology section.