Dr Mert Eray Onen is the founder and Academic Director of EFWA. His academic work is centred on exercise physiology, exercise biochemistry, applied anatomy, kinesiology and training science. He completed his first doctorate at Marmara University and has continued advanced doctoral study in movement and training sciences at Ege University.

His university teaching career began in the early 2000s and has included anatomy, kinesiology, exercise physiology, training science and related sport-science subjects. At EFWA, he develops the scientific framework used across programmes and prepares the applied anatomical analysis accompanying Pilates demonstrations, including joint actions, prime movers, stabilising muscles and movement-specific biomechanical reasoning.

His role is to ensure that EFWA courses do more than show exercises: learners are encouraged to understand why a movement is selected, which structures are involved and how technique relates to physiology and biomechanics.

Melisa Arslan delivers practical Pilates demonstrations across EFWA’s Mat, Reformer, Pregnancy and Pilates for Kids programmes. Her role focuses on exercise setup, execution, cueing, sequencing and practical presentation.

EFWA deliberately separates practical demonstration from the academic explanation that accompanies it. This allows learners to see how an exercise is performed while studying the anatomical and biomechanical reasoning behind the movement in parallel.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Mustafa Said Erzeybek is an academic at Kütahya Dumlupınar University and currently serves within Sport Management. He completed his undergraduate degree, master’s degree and PhD at Marmara University, receiving his doctorate in Sport Health Sciences in 2012.

His academic and professional background combines sport science with extensive applied experience in fitness, massage, recovery and sports health. His research and teaching interests include healthy ageing and exercise, prevention and rehabilitation of sports injuries, manual approaches in sport, physical fitness and movement training. University records also document a substantial publication and project portfolio.

Within EFWA, his expertise strengthens the connection between scientific exercise prescription, recovery, sports-health principles and professional fitness practice.

Prof. Dr Ayşe Oya Erkut is Professor at Marmara University Faculty of Sport Sciences, Department of Physical Education and Sport Education. Her academic expertise spans movement education, motor development, motor behaviour, gymnastics, balance and coordination, with a long record of teaching, research and postgraduate supervision.

She completed her undergraduate and master’s education at Dokuz Eylül University and her PhD at Marmara University. Before and alongside her academic career, she represented Türkiye as a national artistic gymnastics athlete and also gained experience in coaching and judging. This combination gives her work a distinctive link between motor-learning theory and high-level movement practice.

Within EFWA, Prof. Erkut contributes to movement education, motor-learning principles, teaching methodology and the pedagogical quality of instructor development.

Prof. Dr Gözde Ersöz Ay is Professor at Marmara University Faculty of Sport Sciences. She is Head of the Psychosocial Fields in Sport division and also serves as Deputy Head of the Department of Physical Education and Sport Education. Her research covers sport and exercise psychology, motivation, health behaviour, physical-activity participation, women and sport, sociology and sport management.

She graduated in Sport Management from Manisa Celal Bayar University, completed postgraduate study in Psychosocial Fields in Sport and earned her PhD from Ege University. In 2012–2013 she conducted postdoctoral research at Florida State University through a TÜBİTAK international fellowship, focusing on exercise motivation and related behavioural processes.

Her academic record includes extensive journal, book, congress and project activity. Within EFWA, she strengthens the behavioural and psychological dimensions of exercise adherence, learner motivation and long-term participation in physical activity.

Prof. Dr Oğuzhan Yüksel is Professor at Kütahya Dumlupınar University Faculty of Sport Sciences, Department of Recreation. His current university profile identifies his principal field as Movement and Training Science. He completed his undergraduate education at Karadeniz Technical University, his master’s degree at Dumlupınar University and his PhD at Gazi University in 2013.

His academic work covers training science, physical performance, measurement and evaluation, human anatomy and kinesiology, sports rehabilitation, fitness and exercise practice. His university record includes teaching in human anatomy and kinesiology, general anatomy, sports rehabilitation, fitness, sports nutrition and measurement and evaluation, together with a broad research portfolio.

Prof. Yüksel has worked with the EFWA team since 2017, contributing to training science, performance analysis and anatomy-informed exercise education.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Nurcan Demirel is an Associate Professor at Atatürk University Faculty of Sport Sciences. Her current institutional record places her academic appointment in Sport Management Sciences; she also serves as Deputy Head of the Department of Coaching Education. She has held the rank of Associate Professor since 2018.

She completed her undergraduate and master’s degrees at Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University and her PhD at Marmara University in 2009. Her academic career has included appointments at Atatürk University and Marmara University, as well as an international academic appointment in Exercise Sciences at Herbert H. Lehman College, City University of New York.

Her work spans exercise across the lifespan, psychomotor development and learning, gymnastics, healthy ageing, physical activity and motor performance. Within EFWA, she contributes evidence-based perspectives on exercise for different age groups and motor-learning development.

Prof. Dr Nurullah Emir Ekinci is Professor at Yalova University Faculty of Sport Sciences, Department of Recreation. Current university records identify him as Head of both the Recreation Department and the Recreation Division. His recognised research fields include sport sciences, recreation, therapeutic and commercial recreation, sport tourism and recreation management.

His publication record includes work on recreational participation, leisure constraints, healthy lifestyle behaviour, digital-game behaviour, quality of life and participation in physical activity across different population groups. He also contributes to internationalisation and academic coordination activities within the Faculty of Sport Sciences.

Prof. Ekinci has worked with the EFWA team since 2017. Within EFWA, his expertise supports active ageing, recreational physical activity, healthy lifestyle behaviour and lifelong engagement with exercise.