Biomechanics Research & Innovation Challenge

Dr Celeste Coltman

Dr Celeste Coltman is an Assistant Professor in the Discipline of Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Canberra (UC) and an academic member of the UC Research Institute for Sport and Exercise (UCRISE). Celeste completed her PhD at the University of Wollongong in the area of Breast Biomechanics. Her thesis examined the breast characteristics of Australian women in order to develop evidence-based recommendations to improve sports bra fit and breast support. Celeste has an interest in the development of products and technologies that improve women's health and has undergone extensive medical devices commercialisation training. Celeste incorporates biomechanics, human factors, ergonomics and design into her research practices, with a current focus on fit, form and function of personal protective equipment for women. She is a current Defence Science and Technology Group Research Fellow and the inaugural Early Career Research Representative for the Australian and New Zealand Society of Biomechanics.

Dr Laura Diamond

Dr Laura Diamond is an Early Career Researcher and Deputy Director of Operations in Griffith Centre of Biomedical and Rehabilitation Engineering (GCORE) and Senior Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences & Social Work at Griffith University, and holds an honorary Research Fellow position in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The University of Queensland. She is a trained biomedical engineer whose research integrates a unique blend of skills in engineering and clinical sciences to understand the neurophysiological and biomechanical mechanisms that underlie joint disease. Her work applies innovative technology to modify movement adaptations that are risk factors for joint pain and disease in people with osteoarthritis. Since her PhD conferral in Dec 2016, she has attracted AU$5.5 million in grant funding as chief investigator, primarily from nationally competitive sources and industry partnerships. She has won numerous research awards, including a Young Tall Poppy Science Award (2021), currently supervises 10 PhD students from diverse disciplines, and is recognised as an emerging leader in the field of osteoarthritis (ranked in the world’s top 2.5% of experts across all disciplines (expertscape, 01/04/2021; >95,000 experts)).

Dr Crystal Kean

Dr Crystal Kean is a Senior Lecturer in Exercise and Sport Sciences at Central Queensland University. With over 15 years of research experience, Crystal’s primary research combines aspects of biomechanics, neuromuscular physiology, and clinical sciences to investigate biomechanical and neuromuscular mechanisms that underlie musculoskeletal injuries, such as knee osteoarthritis and tendinopathy. In addition, her research interest spans to understand biomechanical and physiological factors that contribute to performance and injury in athletes with a primary focus on basketball and rugby league players. Crystal is also heavily involved in promoting STEM in regional Queensland through organising National Biomechanics Day events and participating in the Queensland Virtual STEM Academy Biomechanics program.

Dr Karen Mickle

Dr Karen Mickle is a Lecturer in Biomechanics within the discipline of Exercise and Sport Science at the University of Newcastle. Karen gained her PhD in 2011 from the University of Wollongong, and since then, has worked in both academia and industry; predominately in the fields of footwear and athletics. Karen’s research over the past 10+ years has focused on applied lower limb biomechanics with a specific interest in structure and function of the foot and the influence of musculoskeletal and metabolic pathologies. Her research has received funding from numerous sources including NHMRC. Karen is also the president for the Australian and New Zealand Society of Biomechanics and the Secretary-general for the Footwear Biomechanics Group.

Dr Martina Barzan

Dr Martina Barzan is a Bioengineer with 6 years of academic and clinical experience in pediatric orthopedic biomechanics. Her goal is to develop innovative surgical solutions and translate them into clinical practice to improve surgical planning and outcomes. As part of her current role at the Griffith Centre of Biomedical and Rehabilitation Engineering, Martina develops personalised digital twins of children with lower limb deformities. In collaboration with several orthopedic surgeons at the Queensland Children's Hospital and medical device companies, they use the digital twins to inform virtual surgery planning and design patient-matched surgical guides.

Dr Michelle Hall

Dr Michelle Hall is a Senior Research Fellow and NHMRC Emerging Leader Fellow in the Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine, University of Melbourne. Michelle graduated from the University of Melbourne with a PhD (2015) and completed the Global Clinical Scholars Research Training program at Harvard Medical School (2016). Michelle is an emerging leader in the field of hip and knee osteoarthritis, with a particular interest in exercise and adjunct treatments. She leads a multidisciplinary research program to optimise the therapeutic effects of exercise using clinical trials with embedded mechanistic investigations. She has attracted $4.5 million in research funding from industry and the NHMRC, including a Project grant (2018) and MRFF grant (2021). Michelle has received awards for research excellence and engagement including Dame Kate Campbell Research Fellowship from University of Melbourne in 2020 (top 10% researcher within Faculty of Medicine, Density and Health Sciences) and two-time runner up of the Clinical Biomechanics Award (2013, 2018).

Dr Taylor Dick

Dr Taylor Dick is a Lecturer in The School of Biomedical Sciences and leads the Neuromuscular Biomechanics Laboratory within the Faculty of Medicine at The University of Queensland. She was awarded her PhD in 2016 from Simon Fraser University, Canada. She leads a multidisciplinary team whose research aims unveil the mechanisms of how muscles work in the body; understand how the musculoskeletal system adapts to external challenges such as size, age, and disease; and examine how wearable assistive technologies can be used to improve mobility. Taylor is passionate about providing opportunities for young girls to engage in STEM and promoting the cross-pollination between the human and comparative biomechanics fields. She is winner of the International Society of Biomechanics Jacqueline Perry Emerging Female Scientist Award (2021) and the University of Queensland, Faculty of Medicine Rising Star of the Year Award (2020).

Dr Jayishni Maharaj

Dr Jayishni Maharaj is an early career research fellow in the Griffith Centre of Biomedical and Rehabilitation Engineering (GCORE). Jayishni completed her PhD in 2018 from the University of Queensland with the support of a NHMRC postgraduate scholarship in the areas of Biomechanics and Motor Control. Her research is at the intersection of biomechanics, rehabilitative and computer sciences. Jayishni is also a registered practicing Podiatrist whose research focuses on exploring mechanisms of injury and outcomes of rehabilitation and surgery in the foot and ankle. Jayishni has won numerous research awards, including International Society of Biomechanics’ inaugural World Athletics Award for Biomechanics (2021), and is recognised as an emerging leader in the field of foot and ankle research (ranked in the world’s top 2% of experts (expertscape, 24/07/2021). Jayishni is passionate about diversifying STEM and specifically the field of Biomechanics by fostering a safe environment for girls and women to grow. In 2020, Jayishni co-founded the international Women in Biomechanics (IWB) group. Today IWB, is a community of over 550+ members from over 150 universities and 20 countries around the world, including US, UK, Australia, Brazil, Iran, and South Africa.

Dr Alycia Fon Yang

Dr Alycia Fong Yan is a Senior Lecturer in the discipline of Exercise and Sport Science within the Faculty of Medicine and Health at The University of Sydney. Alycia completed her PhD in dance biomechanics in 2014 from The University of Sydney. Her thesis investigated the effect of dance footwear design on lower limb biomechanics. Alycia’s research encompasses understanding dance as a complex movement, risk factors for injury in dancers and athletes, and the health benefits of dance, the long-term effects of footwear design to positively or negatively impact the health, growth and development of feet. Alycia has an interest in novel technology and solutions for measuring complex movement and in-shoe foot motion. Alycia serves on the Research Committee for the International association for Dance Medicine and Science.

Isobel Oon

Isobel Oon is an Honours student at the University of Canberra, working under the supervision of Dr Celeste Coltman. Isobel is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist (ESSA), having completed her Bachelors in Exercise Physiology and Rehabilitation in 2020. Isobel’s honours project is on Evaluating Female-Specific Body Armour. Her interests include combining Biomechanics with Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation. She is passionate about furthering women in STEM and providing a safe and inspiring place for young students.

Dr Kerry Mann

Dr Kerry Mann is an early career Lecturer with the School of Allied Health, Exercise and Sports Science within the faculty of Science and Health at Charles Sturt University located in Bathurst. Kerry is also an Accredited Exercise Scientist with Exercise and Sports Science Australia. Her primary research focus in the field of biomechanics is movement screening and injury prevention in pre-elite youth athletes. She was awarded her PhD in 2019, from Charles Sturt University. Kerry grew up in a small rural town in New South Wales, so she is passionate about providing young rural girls opportunities in STEM, and helping them to gain valuable experience and insight into the opportunities available within regional areas.

Maddison Kirk

Maddy Kirk is in her final year of her PhD in the Biomechanics Research Laboratory, University of Wollongong. Her research is focused on improving footwear for male and female netball players. Maddy is interested in lower limb injury prevention, structure and function of the foot and improving performance. She is passionate about increasing women’s and girl’s participation in STEM and received the International Society of Biomechanics 2021 Outreach for Women in Biomechanics award.

Nicole D'Souza

Nicole D'Souza is a third-year PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, researching various biomechanical interventions that may slow disease progression of knee osteoarthritis. Being able to combine clinical questions as a physiotherapist, with the problem-solving aspect of biomechanics has been very exciting in her research trajectory so far.

Dr Sheridan A. Gho

Founder and CEO, Cenofex Innovations

Dr Gho holds a PhD in Biomechanics as well as a Bachelor of Science with Class 1 Honours, and a Graduate Certificate in Research Commercialisation. She also graduated with distinction from the NSW Medical Device Commercialisation Training Program (2014), following which she was awarded the 2015-2017 NSW Health-Rosenman Institute Fellowship. This Fellowship placed her at the University of California, in San Francisco for two years where she co-founded and developed Cenofex Innovations, a medical device company revolutionising the management of lymphoedema. With over eleven years’ experience in biomechanics, social, and health research, and extensive medical device commercialisation training, Dr Gho is the company lead in clinical research, stakeholder relations, managing intellectual property, and regulatory affairs. Since returning to Australia in 2018, Cenofex Innovations has been awarded Regulatory Strategy and Intellectual Property prizes, and secured $1.5 Million from the NSW Medical Devices Fund.

Dr Gho is also an Honorary Research Fellow at the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute (University of Wollongong), and continues to collaborate with the academic community.

Dr Suzanne Martin

Suzanne.martin@vu.edu.au

Dr Suzanne Martin completed her PhD in 2021 at Victoria University, Melbourne.

She has developed her research expertise in Biomechanics, focusing on gait, assistive devices, and technology. Dr Martin has established an international reputation as a gait biomechanist studying pathological gait patterns and their rehabilitation.

She works as an adjunct research fellow and lecturer in Biomechanics at Institute for Health and Sport (IHES), Victoria University in Melbourne. Dr Martin will supervise a PhD student to train people with impaired gait adaptability using the novel biofeedback program developed in her PhD project.

Dr Victoria Brackley

Dr Victoria Brackley is a Performance Scientist in biomechanics at the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) supporting the swimming program and athlete projects team. Coming from a sports engineering background, Victoria entered the sports science field in biomechanics in late 2015 which led to a PhD with Swimming Australia and Victoria University from 2017-2020 looking at freestyle swimming training practices from a biomechanics and skill acquisition lens. Successfully completing her PhD led to a mixture of roles in academia within the biomechanics, motor learning and coaching disciplines. Victoria continues to research in the swimming biomechanics while working as an applied practitioner in the high-performance sport science environment.

Alexandra Giraldo-Pedroza

Alexandra Giraldo-Pedroza is a PhD student at the School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Wollongong, and is part of the applied Mechatronics & Biomedical Research group (AMBER). Her research examines how to improve performance in older adults through the use of wearable devices. She incorporates biomechanics, design, biofeedback and human factors to drive solutions to improve mobility and gait. Currently, she is the administrator for the Australia and New Zealand chapter (ANZ Chapter) with the International Women of Biomechanics group. Alexandra is also a member of the Management Committee of Circus Monoxide and is a part of the Wellness team at Warrigal Care. Prior to starting her PhD, Alexandra completed her Master in Integrative Physiology at the University of Barcelona and her Bachelor in Physiotherapy at the National University of Colombia. She has worked across different populations with a particular interest in performing artists and rehab. As a South American woman, Alexandra recognises the critical importance of supporting minorities.

Laura Hutchinson

Laura Hutchinson is a PhD student at the University of Queensland in the school of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences. Laura completed her masters in mechanical engineering in 2016 at Queen’s University in Canada. Her current research specialises in designing, adapting, and improving research technology for non-invasive human data collection. Laura is passionate about women’s equality in STEM and sport and the intersectionality between them.

Associate Professor Suzanne Snodgrass

Associate Professor Suzanne Snodgrass has a passion for understanding the mechanisms that define and modulate musculoskeletal (muscle and joint) pain in order to find new solutions for patients. Working as a clinician in musculoskeletal pain and sports settings for 10 years prior to academia motivates her to seek practical solutions for patients that translate to the clinic. The major focus of her research is on investigating treatments for chronic musculoskeletal pain that improve movement dysfunction, engage clients and change behaviour. Topics include the investigation of neural and kinematic biomarkers in chronic pain, task-specific training and real-time feedback for improving symptoms of chronic pain, and estimating injury risk in work and sporting settings.

Ceridwen Radcliffe

Ceridwen Radcliffe is a second year PhD student studying landing biomechanics at the University of Canberra. She first learnt about biomechanics in the second year of her undergraduate degree and chose to pursue an honours project, and then a PhD, after receiving encouragement from some wonderful female mentors at the university.

Julie Choisne

Julie Choisne is an Aotearoa Research Fellow in musculoskeletal modelling at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute (New Zealand). Her research is concentrated in three areas: 1) Personalized medicine for children, 2) musculoskeletal modelling using statistical shape models and 3) Finite Element modelling for surgical planning. Her work is committed to use engineering principal and methods to answer specific clinical questions with the overarching goal of improving early diagnosis and personalized treatment for better recovery.

Dr Natalie Collins

Dr Natalie Collins is an APA Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist, and Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland. She leads a program of research focused on preventing persistence and progression of knee pain across the lifespan, including patellofemoral pain in adolescents and young adults, and patellofemoral osteoarthritis in older adults. She has a particular interest in identifying effective non-surgical treatments for patellofemoral pain conditions and exploring the mechanisms that underpin their therapeutic effects. Natalie has published more than 90 peer-reviewed papers and been awarded more than $4 million in competitive funding as a chief investigator. She has almost 20 years’ clinical physiotherapy experience and has worked in a variety of settings including Olympic Park Sports Medicine Centre, the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and with elite and amateur sporting teams.

Laura Hutchison

Laura Hutchison is a PhD Candidate in the Neuro-Musculoskeletal Research Collaborative at the University of Sydney. Laura’s PhD is investigating the relationship between pain and knee biomechanics, and the effect of gait retraining (changing the walking pattern) on pain and biomechanics in people with knee osteoarthritis. Laura has received competitive funding toward her PhD from Arthritis Australia and Sports and Exercise Podiatry Australia. Laura’s interest in biomechanics developed during her undergraduate Podiatry degree and a subsequent honours project on the effects of footwear and foot orthoses on knee biomechanics. Laura was awarded ‘Best New Investigator’ at the Australasian Podiatry Conference in 2013 for the presentation of this work. As a clinician, Laura uses biomechanics to improve patient outcomes. She is also passionate about teaching and has held podiatry teaching roles at three Australian universities. Laura looks forward to using her skills in biomechanics and teaching to mentor girls in the BRInC program.

Dr Samantha Fien

Dr Samantha Fien is a driven Early Career Researcher at CQUniversity based in Mackay (QLD) who lectures in Exercise and Sport Sciences. Samantha is passionate about her research in ageing and exercise as you are never too old to start. She knows that research must be translated to the greater community and is also a LASA NextGen Ambassador for Queensland in aged care services. Samantha’s PhD was titled “Gait performance and the benefits of exercise in older adults living in residential aged care”.

Dr Amy Lewis

Dr Jaquelin Bousie

Dr Jaquelin Bousie is an Assistant Professor in the Discipline of Physiotherapy at the University of Canberra (UC). Jaquelin completed her PhD at the University of Queensland in partnership with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) investigating the role of cycling biomechanics in foot and knee pain. As a practicing Physiotherapist, her clinical expertise informs her research examining the links between biomechanics, physical activity, and musculoskeletal injury prediction, prevention, and management. Her research focuses on lower limb injuries, particularly in running and cycling, and on better understanding the function of the foot. Jaquelin uses novel technologies like shear wave elastography, and aims to cultivate health research that improves outcomes for women. Having also previously worked as an Engineer, Jaquelin is passionate about supporting girls and women in STEM to learn and work in safe and supportive environments.

Rory Purdie

Rory Purdie is completing an application based PhD in Sports Technology at Deakin University with an undergraduate degree in Exercise & Sport Science. The key research areas within her PhD are female focused biomechanics and apparel design.

Sid Verma

sverma@brainstem.org.au

Sid Verma is the Founder & Executive Director of BrainSTEM.