The 2019 Footwear Biomechanics Symposium will have many distinguished speakers including four keynotes and many invitied speakers.
The four keynote speakers will include:
Thor Besier - University of Auckland
Thor is an Associate Professor at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. He completed his PhD in Biomechanics at The University of Western Australia where he developed EMG-driven models to estimate muscle forces and investigated mechanisms of non-contact knee ligament injury. Thor spent 8 years at Stanford University combining medical imaging with computational models to understand the mechanical aetiology of patellofemoral pain. His current projects combine wearable sensors with computational models to develop novel interventions for musculoskeletal disorders, such as stroke and osteoarthritis.
Breanne Everett - Orpyx Medical Technologies Inc.
Dr. Breanne Everett is the CEO and Co-Founder of Orpyx Medical Technologies Inc. (“Orpyx®”), as well as a medical doctor and resident in plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Calgary. Seeing the burden that diabetic foot complications pose on both patients and the healthcare system, and with the goal of addressing these issues, she founded Orpyx to create meaningful, life-changing impacts with medical-grade wearable technologies. Orpyx has developed a proprietary, pressure sensor platform designed to empower patients to optimize the medical care of certain conditions, such as diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Beyond these immediate applications in diabetic foot monitoring and amputation prevention, the platform technology that Orpyx has developed can be leveraged to multiple applications in pressure sore prevention, athletic performance optimization, and injury prevention.
Dr. Everett was one of six national winners awarded with the Governor General’s Innovation Award in 2016. She was named one of Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2012, and the University of Calgary’s Graduate of the Last Decade in 2014. She is a Loran National Scholar, who serves as an active member of the Loran Alumni Community, and is a member of the scientific review board of the Pedorthic Research Association of Canada and the Canadian Medical Association’s Joule Innovation Council. Her pride and joy is her family, and when not working, she loves spending time with her two small sons.
Richard Kent - University of Virginia
Over the course of his 20-year career, Dr. Kent has published over 200 articles on the biomechanics of injury and the design and assessment of injury prevention countermeasures. Dr. Kent’s background as an international expert in automotive crash injury prevention has informed the NFL’s research to improve assessment tools for sports injury protection equipment, including helmets, shoulder pads, thigh pads, knee pads, footwear, and turf. Dr. Kent is a Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Emergency Medicine at the University of Virginia and past Deputy Director of the UVA Center for Applied Biomechanics. Dr. Kent is a past Director, current Fellow, and Award of Merit recipient of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine, a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers, and a member of the Stapp Advisory Committee.
Rodger Kram - University of Colorado Boulder
Dr. Kram’s primary research interest is the biomechanical basis for the energetic cost of locomotion. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles, including some in prestigious journals such as Nature, Science and the Proceedings of the Royal Society. Kram and his lab recently performed the external testing of the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly 4% shoe. In addition to his human studies, Dr. Kram has studied more than 40 animal species ranging in size from ants to elephants and in speed from tortoises to pronghorn antelope, none of whom wear shoes.
