2022 speakers

Professor Joe Hamill

University of Massachusetts, USA

Joseph Hamill completed his graduate work in Biomechanics at the University of Oregon (M.S., Ph.D.). He is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and holds visiting positions at the Universities of Edinburgh, Limerick, Staffordshire, and Ostrava. He has authored over 500 research papers, proceedings and abstracts, 21 book chapters and 11 books. He has also presented over 300 papers at both national and international conferences. He has been an invited speaker at numerous universities in the United States and around the world. He is a Fellow of the Research Consortium, ISB, ASB, CSB, ISBS, ACSM and the National Academy of Kinesiology. He has been awarded the James G. Hay Award from ASB, the Ruth Glassow Award from the Biomechanics Academy and a Career Achievement Award from ACSM. During his academic career, he has mentored over 60 PhD and MS students and 10 honors’ students. His research interests are focused on lower extremity biomechanics during normal and pathological locomotion. His current projects include studies on coordination variability in the determination of cumulative micro-trauma injuries and the interaction of biomechanical and anatomical factors in overuse injuries. Professionally, he has served as the Chair of the Footwear Biomechanics Group and as President of the International Society of Biomechanics and the International Society of Biomechanics in Sports.

Dr Tom Shannon

OMG Group, Oxford

Dr Tom Shannon is a chartered professional engineer with over thirty-seven years of international, commercial experience as a practising engineer, medical physicist, and computer scientist with a focus on clinical and machine vision applications applied to the analysis of human motion and shape. He is a co-founder of Oxford Metrics plc headquartered in Oxford, and a Director of Vicon Motion Systems located in Oxford, Denver and Los Angeles. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, College of Biomedical Engineering, of the Royal Society of Medicine, and of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce.

Tom is a Visiting Professor within the Centre for Biomechanics and Rehabilitation Technologies, Staffordshire University, U.K. researching the application of vision science techniques to the measurement of cosmetic defect and physical capability among children diagnosed with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis. In his spare time, he is an amateur historian, a Trustee/Director of a museum, and a partner in a family farm in Somerset.

Dr Toni Arndt

Karolinska Institute, Sweden

Toni Arndt performed his undergraduate studies in New Zealand and Australia in biology and Human Movement Sciences before receiving a scholarship for a PhD at the German Sport University, Köln. His PhD involved studies concerning asymmetrical loading of the Achilles tendon. This line of study continued at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden as a post-doc, together with unique invasive techniques for determining intrinsic foot kinematics. At present Toni Arndt is a professor in biomechanics, specializing in lower extremity muscle-tendon function, athletic footwear and sports biomechanics at The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH) in Stockholm. He was Dean of Research and Doctoral Education at GIH for six years and is Pro Vice-Chancellor since 2022. He has published approximately 90 peer reviewed scientific articles and has supervised ten PhD students to completion. In 2020 Toni was awarded the Swedish senior prize for sport science research. He is Past-President of the International Society of Biomechanics.

Professor Rami Abboud

University of Balamand, Lebannon

Professor Abboud is a distinguished academic with an illustrious career in research, teaching, and services. He holds BEng in Electrical Engineering from the American University of Beirut and MSc and PhD in Biomedical and Rehabilitation Engineering from the University of Dundee. He was promoted to Professor of Biomechanics in 2007 and was appointed the Head of the Academic Department of Orthopaedics & Trauma Surgery. Under his leadership, the world-renowned Institute of Motion Analysis and Research (IMAR) was established to promote excellence in teaching, research and to provide a clinical service in the fields of Motion Analysis and Biomechanics. His research focuses on important aspects of daily activities in relation to posture, movement, and ergonomics, with emphasis on sports and disability to alleviate pain, correct deformity and enhance performance. Professor Abboud has authored over 400 academic disseminations and supervised more than 300 student projects. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of "The Foot" since 2013.

He has been recognised internationally with many prestigious awards, to name a few:

• 2012 - Honorary Fellowship from Royal College of Surgeons of England
• 2018 - Honorary Fellowship ad hominem from Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
• 2018 - Honorary Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery from the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences in India

The Honorary Fellowships are extremely rare accolades to be presented to a non-surgeon and are extraordinarily rare to be presented to a non-medically qualified individual. Professor Abboud is most likely the only non-medically qualified individual to have received the fellowships. In 2019, Professor Abboud decided to return to his country of birth Lebanon, and joined the University of Balamand in the dual post of Dean of Faculty of Engineering and Vice President for Internationalization & Engagement. Balamand is currently QS ranked amongst the top 500 universities worldwide and number 2 in Lebanon.

Dr Sharon Dixon

University of Exeter

Dr Sharon Dixon is an Associate Professor of Biomechanics at the University of Exeter. Sharon's research interests focus on biomechanical mechanisms of lower limb injury in sport and exercise, and the influence of interventions on lower limb biomechanics and injury risk. Sharon co-ordinates the Exeter Biomechanics Research Team, with projects including those with military populations, sport performers and active older adults.  She has published over 70 research papers in a range of international peer reviewed journals spanning the fields of sport and exercise related biomechanics, sports medicine and sports engineering.

Research collaborations include those with industry (eg. Cosyfeet, Materialise Motion) sport teams (Exeter Chiefs Rugby Club, Exeter City F.C.) and Ministry of Defence, with a focus on application of research evidence to inform applied practice.  This work has been supported by funding from UKRI and industry. Recent funding through the UKRI Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund supported a Healthy Ageing Catalyst award to investigate footwear requirements for active older females with industry partner Cosyfeet, leading to population-specific footwear development.

Sharon is currently Past-Chair of the Footwear Biomechanics Group of the International Society of Biomechanics, is an Associate Editor for the journal Footwear Science, and is a member of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board. 

Professor Mike Edmonds

Kings College London

Professor Michael Edmonds is a Consultant Physician at King’s College Hospital in London with a special responsibility for care of the diabetic foot.  He developed a multi-disciplinary diabetic foot clinic in 1981, one of the first in the world.  This clinic brought about a 50% reduction in major amputations in people with diabetes at King’s College Hospital. He is a past Chairman of the Diabetic Foot Study Group of the European Association of the Study of Diabetes.  He has co-authored the book Managing the Diabetic Foot (Blackwell Science) and A Practical Manual of Diabetic Foot Care (Blackwell Science), which was voted BMA Book of the Year in 2004.  He won the Karel Bakker award at the 6th International Symposium on the Diabetic Foot in 2011 and more recently in 2013 the DFSG Achievement Award.  He has also won the Edward James Olmos award for the advocacy in amputation prevention at the DF Con 2014 and gave the Arnold Bloom lecture at Diabetes UK in 2015.

Dr Cynthia Formosa

University of Malta

Cynthia Formosa is currently working as an Associate Professor with the University of Malta and Head of Podiatry Department inside the Faculty of Health Sciences. A post which she has occupied for the past 15 years. Cynthia Formosa was awarded a Master of Science in Podiatry in April 2003 from the University of Brighton, United Kingdom.  She was later awarded the PhD in Podiatry in October 2009 from the same university.  She was also appointed as a Visiting Fellow on the 1st of September 2011 at the Centre for Sport, Health and Exercise Research, Faculty of Health, Staffordshire University. She is External examiner for two universities one in the UK and another in Ireland. She is also Fellow of the Faculty of Podiatric Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow.

She is currently the Chairperson for the European Council of Podiatrists [ECP] and a member of the International Federation of Podiatrists [FIP] and a member of the Clinical Biomechanics and Human Performance Research Team at the Faculty of Health, Staffordshire University. She is also a founder member of the Diabetes Foot Research Group, University of Malta, ENPODHE and Global Podiatry Network. Cynthia has published over 90 papers in both local and peer-reviewed international journals. She has also contributed to a number of book chapters. She has presented over 100 presentations in leading Podiatry and Diabetes Congresses and Conferences. She is also a peer-reviewer and editorial board member of a number of local and international journals. Her areas of interest include the diabetic foot, diabetes foot screening, screening guidelines and mixed methods and qualitative research. She has also carried out MCST funded projects and was the local lead for an Erasmus+ KA02 ‘Strategic Partnerships in the field of education, training and youth’. She has participated in more than 100 conferences at the national and international level, in countries such as the USA, Portugal, Italy, United Kingdom, Scotland, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Slovenia, Poland, Dubai, France, and Romania.

Dr Andy Goldberg

University College London

Mr Andrew (Andy) Goldberg is a translational researcher who translates exciting ideas into medical practice and meaningful health outcomes. His research focus is into ankle and subtalar joint arthritis and regenerative medicine involving basic science studies, bench top engineering studies; and the set up and running of clinical studies from first in man studies to large multicenter clinical trials.

Mr Andrew Goldberg graduated from St Mary’s Hospital Medical School (Imperial College) in 1994 before completing his specialist training in trauma and orthopaedics in London with a specialist fellowship in complex foot and ankle disorders in Oxford, as well as overseas in centres of excellence across the USA and Europe. He was awarded an MD from the University of London in 2006.  In 2009 he was appointed as a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon in Northampton, and in 2010 he was appointed as an Honorary Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust in Stanmore and an Associate Professor at UCL where he helped raise more than £10m of research grants into health informatics; first in man studies into stem cell therapies (ASCAT); and NIHR HTA multicentre RCTs comparing ankle replacement against ankle fusion (TARVA); as well as examining and supervising PhD students. In 2018 he moved his clinical role to the Wellington Hospital in London but continues to run his research programme.

In 2011 he was awarded an OBE for services to medicine.  He sits on the outcomes committee for BOFAS, the National Joint Registry (NJR) Editorial Committee and Medical Advisory Committee, the AOFAS editorial board for Foot and Ankle Orthopaedics (FAO) as well as AOFAS OFAR Managerial Board. 

Dr Howard J. Hillstrom

Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City

As a biomedical engineer with 26 years of experience in directing motion analysis laboratories, Dr. Hillstrom has a strong background in the biomechanics of human movement with special attention to the lower extremity and related pathologies. His philosophy for research in the neuromusculoskeletal system is that structure and function are intimately related on multiple scales from the cellular level to the whole body. Abnormal (malaligned) structures are associated with aberrant function (gait), so when structures (alignment) are improved through conservative (orthoses) or surgical care, improved function generally results.

Dr. Hillstrom served as a principal investigator, co-investigator, or consultant on six NIH and NSF research grants and has conducted over 80 funded investigations in human movement with patient self-assessed outcomes in individuals with neuromusculoskeletal pathologies. He has also published over 90 peer reviewed manuscripts and 10 book chapters addressing concerns in healthy and pathologic human movement. 

Dr Géza F. Kogler

Kennesaw State University, USA

Dr. Kogler is currently an Associate Professor of Prosthetics and Orthotics, at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia. He serves as the Director of the Master of Science in Prosthetics and Orthotics Program and is the Principal Investigator of the Clinical Biomechanics Laboratory. He received his baccalaureate degree from Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, in 1982, a post-graduate certificate in Orthotics from Northwestern University Prosthetics and Orthotics Center, Chicago Illinois, in 1983, and his Ph.D. degree in bioengineering from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, in 1998. His current research interests are: powered exoskeletal systems for rehabilitation, human augmentation, sensing applications for diagnostics and musculoskeletal health, foot ankle biomechanics, and plantar foot tissue mechanics. He has been involved with the development of several biomedical device systems and has four patents pending.

Dr Mark Lake

Liverpool John Moores University

I gained an undergraduate degree in Human Biology and Sports Science at Loughborough University, U.K, before moving to the U.S.A for an MSc in Biomechanics at Penn State University. I then completed a doctorate in Biophysics at the University of Guelph in Canada and returned to the U.K to teach biomechanics at the University of Liverpool. Currently, I’m the programme leader for MSc Sport and Clinical Biomechanics at Liverpool John Moores University. My research interests have mainly been in the area of biomechanics of locomotion and lower limb loading (injury prevention). This has involved working with athletes and also sports footwear manufacturers in order to reduce the incidence of lower limb injury and help improve sports performance.

Dr Alberto Leardini

IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Italy

He has been working at Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli - Bologna (Italy) since 1990, where he is now Director of the Movement Analysis Laboratory, and Research Coordinator of the Line of Research “Innovative and prosthetic surgery”.

He received the Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in Orthopaedic Engineering at the University of Oxford. His initial research focused on methodological issues and clinical applications of human motion analysis. His interests evolved to three-dimensional videofluoroscopy, radiostereometry, and computer assisted surgery. He also made fundamental progresses on the mechanical modelling and prosthesis design of the ankle joint, and his original total ankle replacement is implanted with successful clinical and functional outcomes. He is now exploiting medical imaging, including modern weight-bearing CT, and additive manufacturing for custom-design of orthotics and orthopaedic implants. He is author of 230 papers in peer-review journals (H-index 45 and more than 12300 citations – SCOPUS November 2021) and of 4 international patents.

He has served on many national and international scientific communities: he has been President of the Società Italiana di Analisi del Movimento in Clinica (SIAMOC), of the Technical Group 3-D Analysis of Human Movement (3DAHM) and of the Italian Digital Biomanufacturing Network (IDBN), and in the Research Committee of the European Foot and Ankle Society (EFAS). He has been in the Steering Group of the International Foot & Ankle Biomechanics community (i-FAB) since the foundation, and more recently in the Scientific Board of the International Weight Bearing CT Society (IWBCTS). He is now the President of the International Society of Biomechanics (ISB).

Professor Nicola Maffulli

Queen Mary University of London

The most highly cited author in Orthopaedics, Professor Maffulli is a Consultant Orthopaedic and Sports Injury Surgeons.  He has published more than 1,300 peer reviewed articles in scientific journals and 12 books, and has described more than 40 new surgical techniques in the field of knee, foot and ankle, fracture and sports surgery. Many have now become the standard of practice in these fields.

A keen free style wrestler and judo player in his younger day, his dream of going to the Olympics was granted in London: he organised the medical services for the judo and wrestling tournaments at the London 2012 Olympics.

Prof Jim Richards

University of Central Lancashire

Professor Richards is the Director of Research for the Faculty of Allied Health and Wellbeing and Research Lead for the Allied Health Research unit. Professor Richards' research includes the clinical application of biomechanics, the development of new assessment tools for chronic disease, conservative and surgical management of orthopaedic and neurological conditions, and the development of evidence based approaches for improving clinical management and rehabilitation. The focus of Professor Richards' work is to encourage inter-professional research and to develop direct parallels with research to the ‘real world’ of allied health work.

Professor Richards has authored over 220 peer reviewed journal papers, and written and edited a number of textbooks including Biomechanics in Clinic and Research (2008), the 5th and 6th editions of Whittle’s Gait Analysis (2012, 2022) and the Comprehensive Guide to Clinical Biomechanics (2018). He has also contributed to Tidy’s Physiotherapy (2003, 2008, 2012), the 10th edition of Mercer's Textbook of Orthopaedics and Trauma (2012), Experimental Research Methods: A Guidebook for Studies in Trauma Care (2015), Patellofemoral Pain: A Clinical Guide (2017), Forensic Gait Analysis: Principles and Practice (2020), and the Guide to Sports Physiology and Injury (2020).

Mr Michael Rexing

Human Study e.V., Germany

After completion of his professional education Michael has been working at various university clinics. He completed his higher education as Prosthetist/Orthotist (Meister-D) back in 1994. After various management and leadership positions, he has run his own business for many years. After completing his entrepreneurial activities, he continues the tradition of his father and is engaged in research and teaching in addition to his activities in pediatric orthopedics in Heidelberg and conservative scoliosis treatment in Bad Sobernheim. Michael is a member of many professional associations and academies, co-founder of ISST International Scoliosis Schroth Therapy and lectures at home and abroad in the field of orthotic trunk orthotics and lower limb orthotics for neuromuscular diseases.

Member of ISPO, VTO, FOT, Board Member of Human Study e.V.. International School of Rehabilitation, Member of Course Committee OT-World Leipzig. International Trainer for Specialised Courses in Spinal Bracing and Dynamic Orthotics. Lectures in AIS and Neuromuscular Spine Deformity Treatment at Mahidol University Bangkok, PFH Göttingen/Orthobionic, MSOT Munich, Ankara University, CRRC Peking, Mastercourses in Germany for Brace-Treatment. Board Member of ISST, International Schroth Scoliosis Therapy, Bad Sobernheim. Trainer on adViva Academy Heidelberg for Dynamic Brace Solutions, Seating and Positioning.

Dr Isabel Sacco

University of São Paulo, Brazil

Prof. Isabel C. N. Sacco is an Associate Professor at the School of Medicine of the University of Sao Paulo (since 1999); 1B Research fellow of CNPq-Brazil (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development); and the head of the Laboratory of Biomechanics of Movement and Human Posture (LaBiMPH), whose main areas of research today include intelligent systems for decision making in health, biomechanics and rehabilitation of people with diabetes and osteoarthritis and recreational runners. Within the last decade of professional experience, Prof. Sacco has an extensive academic production, including over 130 papers published in journals with IF (H index=27), more than 350 complete or extended abstracts in international and national conferences, and several book and books chapters for undergrad and grad studies. Her teaching throughout her career includes the guidance of 10 doctoral theses, 17 master dissertations and 7 post-doctoral supervision. Currently is acting as the vice-director of the Graduation Program in Rehabilitation Sciences at School of Medicine at the University of São Paulo. She has been honored by the Brazilian Government as one of the only 22 young (under forty years old) female Brazilian scientists in the national territory with a recognized merit, building up an academic carrier of national and international recognition with extensive scientific production and important role in the formation of human resources. She is a mother of Paola Sacco (17 years old).

Dr Harry Witchell

Brighton and Sussex Medical School

Harry is a Discipline Leader in Physiology, and uses time series analysis to correlate physiological and motion metrics with physiological, psychological or pathological (disease) states. His work in the laboratory focuses on the triangulation of behavioural data, physical properties and subjective reporting. Harry uses wearable sensors, motion capture and time series analysis to determine the cognitive, emotional and behavioural correlates of engagement and disengagement in response to different psychologically relevant stimuli (e.g. audio and video). Harry is currently examining mind wandering and boredom using PsychoPy and matlab, as well as doing educational research. Harry also uses wearable inertial sensors to develop metrics of ambulatory function/dysfunction, for example in multiple sclerosis.

Developing motion analysis techniques to demonstrate differences in physiology and in subconscious, non-instrumental postural micromovements based on different stimuli. Harry is focusing on seated healthy volunteers, in order to detect subtle (mm) changes over time in response to discrete, two-minute, homogeneous stimuli including games, quizzes, and films. This kind of stimulus allows us to make clear conclusions about the emotion elicited by the stimulus, as two minutes is long enough to become bored, but not long enough to re-engage. Harry is also measuring postural surrogates of fatigue and arousal. Harry uses dynamic time warping of inertial measurements for walking, and also mathematical models for static balance, to make metrics of disability that are objective.

Dr William R. Ledoux

Center for Limb Loss and MoBility, USA

Dr. Ledoux's research has been devoted to preventing limb loss, either functionally or anatomically. He has used CT, MRI, motion analysis, and more recently, a custom developed biplane fluoroscope, to quantify reduced lower limb function (i.e., functional limb loss) in different foot types (flat feet and high arched) compared to neutrally aligned feet. He has studied the functional aspects of various orthopedic foot maladies using the custom developed Robotic Gait Simulator. Additionally, he has explored functional differences between ankle fusion and ankle joint replacement for end-stage ankle arthritis. Anatomical limb loss prevention has involved quantifying the mechanical, histological and biochemical differences between normal and diabetic plantar soft tissue and foot ligaments. Dr. Ledoux has also developed a patient-specific finite element foot model, including customized anatomy and tissue properties, for the purpose of quantifying the effects of increased tissue stiffness and foot deformity on internal tissue stresses. Finally, Dr. Ledoux has explored the complex relationship between foot type and diabetic ulceration.