Enhancing health and wellbeing through lifestyle medicine – Dr Daniel Wilson

Dan is a Senior Academic Staff Member with over a decade of higher education teaching experience. Dan’s passion for holistic wellbeing and performance has led him to being a jack of all trades in the health and performance space, holding certifications in strength and conditioning, nutrition, health coaching, and lifestyle medicine. Dan’s ongoing research mahi involves conducting studies and publishing journal articles, presenting at scientific conferences, advising research practice and policy for various profit and non-profit organisations, and contributes as a review board member for various international scientific journals.

In 2022, Dan completed his PhD at the University of Waikato. His doctoral research, titled Understanding Health Risk Factor Prevalence and Enhancing Health Behaviours of Airline Pilots, represents one of the most comprehensive bodies of work to date on airline pilot cardiometabolic health. 

This research was developed in partnership with Air New Zealand and spanned seven integrated and published studies, including two literature reviews, one cross-sectional study, and four clinical trials. His investigations focused on cardiometabolic health risk factors—such as insufficient sleep, poor nutrition, and physical inactivity—which are prevalent among commercial airline pilots due to the unique demands of their profession. 

This work culminated in four clinical trials evaluating a personalised lifestyle medicine intervention targeting sleep, nutrition, and physical activity. The trials demonstrated significant improvements in health outcomes—such as sleep quality, physical activity and fitness, body composition, blood pressure, and mental health. While tailored to the aviation workforce, these findings offer promising insight into the potential impact of holistic interventions in other high-risk or underserved populations. 

Expanding this work and implementing these strategies among diverse at-risk groups in the general population is a central focus of Dan’s future research.

Recent journal articles include:

Wilson, D., Driller, M., Johnston, B., & Gill, N. (2024). Association Between Health Behaviours and Mental Health Among Airline Pilots. Lifestyle Medicine, 5(4), e70003.

Wilson, D., Driller, M., Johnston, B., & Gill, N. (2024). The relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and blood pressure among airline pilots: a mediation analysis of body composition. Journal of Hypertension, 42(2), 344-349.

Wilson, D., Driller, M., Johnston, B., & Gill, N. (2023). Healthy nutrition, physical activity, and sleep hygiene to promote cardiometabolic health of airline pilots: a narrative review. Journal of lifestyle medicine, 13(1), 1.

Wilson, D., Driller, M. W., Johnston, B., & Gill, N. D. (2023). A contactless app-based intervention to improve health behaviours in airline pilots: a randomized trial. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 64(5), 666-676.