About · CeprLab
A clinical exercise physiology and rehabilitation laboratory at the University of Thessaly. We translate physiological evidence into exercise interventions for people living with chronic pain, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory conditions.
Who we are & where we're going
The principles that shape every research decision, every clinical collaboration, and every relationship at CeprLab.
Mission
To advance the understanding of exercise physiology in health and chronic disease through rigorous research, and to translate that knowledge into evidence-based rehabilitation interventions that improve patient outcomes — locally, nationally, and across Europe. We serve patients, clinicians, researchers, and educators — generating science that moves from the laboratory to the clinical bedside and the physiotherapy classroom.
Vision
To be a leading European centre for clinical exercise physiology research and rehabilitation science — recognised for the quality and clinical relevance of our publications, the strength of our international collaborations, and the real-world impact our findings have on patients with chronic disease. We envision a future where exercise physiology is central to European healthcare systems.
Our values
Six commitments — to science, to patients, and to each other — that show up in everything we do.
Every hypothesis tested, every finding reported, every protocol published to the highest methodological standard. We do not compromise on study design or statistical integrity.
Research questions are chosen because they matter to patients. Outcomes are measured in terms patients care about — quality of life, functional capacity, symptom burden, independence.
Science advances through collaboration. We share data, curricula, and credit — across borders, disciplines, and institutions. Our Erasmus+ partnerships embody this commitment.
Findings that stay in journals don't change lives. We design every study with a path to clinical implementation — and we measure ourselves on whether that path actually gets walked.
Doctoral candidates, masters students, postdocs, visiting researchers — every member of CeprLab is supported to grow. Mentorship is not an extracurricular; it's how we work.
Quantitative trials, qualitative interviews, systematic reviews, single-case experimental designs. We choose the method that fits the question, not the question that fits a preferred method.
How we work
Values are what we believe. This is what we actually do — week to week, in the lab, the clinic, and the community.
Undergraduate and postgraduate students don't just assist; they co-author and present. CeprLab students have taken first-author work to the World Physiotherapy Congress and the European Region WCPT congress, and have won best-presentation awards at the Panhellenic Physiotherapy Congress.
During the COVID-19 lockdowns the lab ran the free community programmes At home without pain (Στο σπίτι χωρίς πόνο) and Take a breath (Πάρε μια ανάσα) with the Municipalities of Lamia and Karystos, and carried the findings to the public through regional radio and television.
Studies run where patients are — in partnership with hospital teams including Evangelismos, "Sotiria", and KAT Attica General Hospital, on telerehabilitation for respiratory, cardiac, and COVID-19 patients.
The lab presents and collaborates internationally — World Physiotherapy and European Region WCPT congresses, Erasmus+ partnerships, an invited doctoral-examiner role at Umeå University, and a multi-country Delphi study on sports-physiotherapy competencies.
CeprLab is led by three women principal investigators and has championed women's leadership in health, including the WEALTH: Women Leading in Health event during EUPHA's European Public Health Week.
Laboratory Director
CeprLab exists because the gap between exercise physiology research and clinical rehabilitation practice is still too wide. Our job is to narrow it — through evidence patients can use, mentorship the next generation of clinicians can build on, and partnerships across Europe that move ideas faster than any single lab could on its own.
Prof. Eleni KapreliProfessor · Founding Director · Principal Investigator
Our history
A laboratory in its 19th year, shaped by deliberate steps along the way.
Today · 2026
Three research lines led by senior PIs · ongoing Erasmus+ and nationally funded projects · European and international research partnerships.
How we got here
Lab leadership
Each research line is led by a senior faculty member. Postdoctoral researchers, PhD candidates, and technical staff appear on the people page.
Get involved
Doctoral candidates · postdoctoral researchers · visiting scholars · clinical collaborators · Erasmus+ exchange students. We accept applications year-round across all three research lines.
Open opportunities
