President
Prof. Kim Delbaere, Neuroscience Research Australia
Professor Kim Delbaere is a Senior Principal Research Scientist at NeuRA, supported by NHMRC, and Professor at UNSW, Sydney. Kim graduated in 2001 with a master in Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy from Ghent University in Belgium and in 2005 completed her PhD on falls in older people. In 2006, she moved to Australia to work at NeuRA on reducing fear of falling in older people. Her research has contributed to the understanding of physical, psychological and cognitive factors that cause falls. Her multidisciplinary approach to preventing falls and promoting healthy ageing incorporates elements from physiotherapy, psychology, brain imaging and software engineering.
Vice President
Dr Daina Sturnieks, Neuroscience Research Australia
Doctor Daina Sturnieks has a PhD in human biomechanics from The University of Western Australia. She is a Senior Lecturer in Anatomy at UNSW and a Conjoint Senior Research Scientist at NeuRA. Her research focuses on understanding biomechanical, sensorimotor and neurocognitive contributions to balance and falls in older people and clinical groups, and randomised controlled trials of novel interventions to prevent falls involving balance, stepping and cognitive training. Daina is active in translating research findings into community, aged care and hospital settings. She is an Executive Board Member of the NSW Fall Prevention and Healthy Ageing Network.
Treasurer
Prof. Stephen Lord, Neuroscience Research Australia
Professor Stephen Lord is a Senior Principal Research Fellow at NeuRA. A leading international researcher in his field, Stephen has published over 400 papers in the areas of balance, gait and falls in older people. His research follows two main themes: the identification of physiological risk factors for falls, and the development and evaluation of fall prevention strategies. His methodology for fall-risk assessment has been adopted by researchers and clinicians across the world. Stephen is actively engaged in initiatives aimed at implementing falls prevention evidence into policy and practice. In 2019, Stephen was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the President of the British Geriatrics Society in recognition for his contribution to falls research.
Secretary
Dr Anna Hatton, The University of Queensland
Doctor Anna Hatton is a Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, Master of Physiotherapy Studies Program Director, and Co-Director of the Centre for Neurorehabilitation, Ageing and Balance Research, at The University of Queensland. Anna was awarded a BSc(Hons) Physiotherapy (2005) and PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences (2010) from Teesside University, UK. Her research (in partnership with med-tech industry) focuses on the development and evaluation of innovative footwear technology to enhance balance, mobility, physical activity, and prevent falls, in healthy and disease populations. She is an Associate Editor for the journal Gait & Posture.
Communications Manager
Dr Jasmine Menant, Neuroscience Research Australia
Doctor Jasmine Menant is a Senior Research Fellow within the Falls, Balance and Injury Research Centre at NeuRA and a Conjoint Lecturer within the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at UNSW. She has a PhD in applied physiology / biomechanics from UNSW. Her research aims to investigate and improve balance, mobility, physical function and falls in ageing and clinical populations with motor and cognitive impairments. To this aim, she conducts experimental trials, longitiudinal studies and randomised-controlled trials.
Jasmine is also actively engaged in research translation. She is currently co-leading the update of the Best Practice National Falls Prevention Guidelines. She also sits on the Scientific Committee of the International Society for Posture and Gait.
Student Member
Ms Charlotte McLennan, The University of Sydney
Charlotte McLennan is a Physiotherapist and Inpatient Falls Research Manager at Sydney Local Health District. She has a masters degree in Health Service Management and is currently undertaking her PhD at the University of Sydney. Her PhD focuses on understanding, evaluating and implementing falls prevention strategies in inpatient hospital settings. Charlotte works closely with clinicians, consumers, health executives and academics to design, conduct and translate falls prevention research.
Past President
Prof. Cathie Sherrington, The University of Sydney
Professor Cathie Sherrington FAHMS, FACP, PhD, MPH, BAppSc is a Professor at the School of Public Health and Institute for Musculoskeletal Health University of Sydney/ Sydney Local Health District where she leads the Physical Activity, Ageing and Disability Research Stream. Her research focuses on the design and evaluation of falls prevention and exercise interventions for older people and those with disabilities. She has authored 320 refereed journal articles, including reports of 33 clinical trials, and has been a Chief Investigator on NHMRC and MRFF grants totaling over $28 million. Cathie has a clinical background as a physiotherapist in aged care and rehabilitation.
2021 Past Conference Host
Prof. Ngaire Kerse, The University of Auckland
Professor Ngaire Kerse is a GP, Professor of General Practice and Primary Health Care, Joyce Cook Chair in Ageing Well, President New Zealand Association of Gerontology and Co-director Co-Created Ageing Research Centre at the University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. She has a long history of falls prevention research and been part of the Cochrane review of fall prevention in care homes. Ngaire’s work focuses on gerontology research that transforms society, promotes independence, activity, autonomy in ageing and falls prevention. She has authored over 350 refereed journal articles.
2022 Upcoming Conference Host
Prof. Anne-Marie Hill, Curtin University
Professor Anne-Marie Hill is a Senior Principal Research Fellow in the School of Allied Health, University of West Australia and WA Centre for Health & Ageing. Her research interests are in improving older people’s health and well-being and she leads clinical translational research in hospital, community and residential care settings. She is a titled Gerontological Physiotherapist and has over 30 years clinical experience working with older people. Anne-Marie holds an NHMRC EL2 Investigator grant focusing on Fall prevention and has been awarded over $12M in research funding.
General Member – New Zealand
Prof. Debra Waters, University of Otago
Professor Debra Waters is the Director of Gerontology Research at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. She also holds a Research Professor appointment at the University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is the co-director of the Otago Falls Network, an executive member of the Australia and New Zealand Falls Prevention Society and on the steering committee of the International Conference on Sarcopenia and Frailty Research (ICFSR). Debra’s research career has been focused on maintaining physical function and preventing sarcopenia and falls in older adults.
General Member – Australia
Dr Morag Taylor, Neuroscience Research Australia
Doctor Morag Taylor is a Research Fellow at NeuRA and conjoint lecturer at UNSW. She completed her PhD (Understanding fall risk in cognitively impaired older people) in 2014 (Medicine, UNSW). Morag was awarded a prestigious NHMRC-ARC Dementia Research Development Fellowship 2016 – 2020. Her research focuses on understanding and preventing falls and fall-related injury in older people with dementia. Morag is a physiotherapist with 15 years clinical experience in predominantly Aged Care Rehabilitation and was the inaugural senior physiotherapist in the Falls, Balance and Bone Health clinic at Prince of Wales Hospital.
General Member – Australia
A/Prof. Lynette Mackenzie, The University of Sydney
Associate Professor Lynette Mackenzie is an occupational therapist with an interest in the role of the environment and ADL activities in falls risk for older people, as well as the special needs of people with cancer and their falls risk following invasive treatments. Lynette is a Professor of o\Occupational Therapy at the University of Sydney and she supervises clinicians undertaking PhD study as well as teaching into the Bachelor and Masters Entry level occupational therapy programs. Lynette is also the author of the Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool which is widely used in practice.
General Member – Australia
Prof. Anne Tiedemann, The University of Sydney
Professor Anne Tiedemann is Professor of Physical Activity and Health at the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, a research partnership between The University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District. Professor Tiedemann completed her PhD on falls in older people in 2007 at UNSW. Her research has contributed to the understanding of fall risk assessment and evidence-based exercise for preventing falls in older age and her current research develops and evaluates scalable, cost-effective physical activity-based strategies to promote health and prevent falls in middle to older age. Anne co-leads the older adults work package for the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Physical Activity, Nutrition and Obesity.
Project Officer
Mr Cameron Hicks, Neuroscience Research Australia
Cameron Hicks is a PhD candidate and Research Assistant at NeuRA. He previously trained as an Exercise Physiologist working in Residential Aged Care Facilities before moving into Fall Prevention Research. His PhD focusses on determining optimal balance and gait assessments for predicting falls in community-dwelling older people. Cameron previously worked as a project officer for the NSW Fall Prevention and Healthy Ageing Network.
General Member – Australia
Dr Melanie Farlie, Monash University
Doctor Melanie Farlie has a PhD in physiotherapy from Monash University. She is a Lecturer in Physiotherapy and Research Fellow in the Monash Centre for the Scholarship of Education at Monash University. Her research focuses on the measurement of balance exercise intensity with broader research interests in the application of qualitative research methods in clinical research, health care professions education, evidence-informed practice, allied health workforce models and models of care, professional identity development and uncertainty tolerance. Melanie is active in translating research findings into education and clinical settings. She is a member of the Education Committee of the International Association of Physical Therapists working with Older People (IPTOP).