President
A/Prof. Daina Sturnieks, University of New South Wales
Associate Professor Daina Sturnieks has a PhD in human biomechanics from The University of Western Australia. She is Deputy Head of Department of Anatomy at UNSW and 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.
Vice President
Prof. Frances Batchelor, National Ageing Research Institute
Professor Frances Batchelor is a Senior Principal Research Fellow and Clinical Gerontology Director at the National Ageing Research Institute in Melbourne. She completed her PhD on Falls Prevention After Stroke in 2010 and since then has focused on leading impactful research across 4 key areas: falls and fall prevention, healthy ageing, health and aged care systems, and technology in health and aged care. We look forward to Frances bringing her research, clinical and policy expertise to strengthen partnerships, support the society’s activities, and promote the multidisciplinary study and implementation of falls prevention in older people.
Treasurer
Dr Morag Taylor, University of New South Wales
Doctor Morag Taylor is a Senior Lecturer, Physiotherapy, School of Health Sciences, UNSW Sydney and a Conjoint Senior Research Fellow at Neuroscience Research Australia. 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.
Secretary
A/Prof. Anna Hatton, The University of Queensland
Associate Professor Anna Hatton is Program Director of the Master of Physiotherapy Studies, 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 program of research (in partnership with multinational 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 clinical populations. Her research related to foot sensory function and balance control has attracted funding from prestigious organisations including the National Health and Medical Research Council, British Geriatrics Society, and Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering. She is an Associate Editor for Gait & Posture, and board member for the International Society of Posture and Gait Research.
Communications Manager
A/Prof. Jasmine Menant,
Neuroscience Research Australia
Associate Professor Jasmine Menant is a Senior Research Scientist within the Falls, Balance and Injury Research Centre at NeuRA and a Conjoint Associate Professor 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 Executive Board of the International Society for Posture and Gait.
Past President
Prof. Kim Delbaere, University of New South Wales
Professor Kim Delbaere is Discipline Lead of Physiotherapy within the School of Health Sciences at UNSW, Sydney and a Senior Principal Research Scientist at NeuRA. 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.
2025 Past Conference Host
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.
2027 Future Conference Host
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 (Tu Ora), 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, frailty and falls in older adults.
General Member – New Zealand
Dr Lynne Taylor, University of Auckland
Dr Lynne Taylor is a physiotherapist and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). Her research focuses on the intersection of falls, frailty, dementia, and physical activity in aged residential care (ARC). After completing her PhD (2017), she coordinated a multicentre randomised controlled trial on exercise to reduce falls in ARC and continues to advise the sector on implementing evidence-based strategies. She has also contributed to work on Māori-led initiatives supporting injury prevention for older Māori and age-friendly community development. She is currently investigating how falls prevention practices in ARC NZ align with the best practice guidelines, aiming to strengthen sector-wide approaches and improve outcomes.
General Member – Australia
Dr Sue Dyer, Flinders University
Dr Suzanne Dyer is a Senior Research Fellow at the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University. She holds an Honours Science degree in pharmacology from the University of Adelaide plus a graduate certificate in public health from UNSW and completed her PhD in 1999. She has since been conducting research in both the public and private sectors, with expertise in evidence-based medicine methodologies including health technology assessment, systematic reviews, meta-analysis and guideline development. Her research has been focused on geriatrics and falls prevention for the past 10 years, being ranked in the top 2% of scientists worldwide in 2025. Her publications include the Cochrane Collaboration Review of Interventions for preventing falls in older people in care facilities, multiple peer-reviewed publications on falls prevention in aged care and hospitals, and 25 contracted research reports for government and NGOs including two research reports conducted for the Aged Care Royal Commission, the Australian Clinical Practice Guidelines for Dementia, the 2025 update of the Australian Falls Prevention Guidelines and the 2022 World Falls Guidelines.
General Member – Australia
Dr Mel Farlie, Monash University
Dr Mel Farlie is a physiotherapist, researcher, and academic whose work focuses on balance exercise intensity and health professions education to strengthen fall-prevention practice. Her PhD (2017) led to the development of the Balance Intensity Scale, now used internationally to support the design and evaluation of balance training. Mel worked in geriatric rehabilitation across the care continuum for two decades before moving into higher education. She is a Senior Lecturer and Director of Education in the Department of Physiotherapy at Monash University, where she leads the Balance Exercise Research Group and undertakes research on balance exercise prescription, clinical reasoning, and implementation to reduce falls and related harm.
General Member – Australia
A/Prof. Kristie Harper, Curtin University / Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital
Associate Professor Kristie Harper is a clinician researcher and an occupational therapist with over 23 years of experience. Kristie holds a conjoint position between Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and Curtin University, Western Australia. Kristie’s research has worked to build an evidence base for falls prevention and management in the Emergency Department (ED) setting. Her current trials have focused on supporting older adults after a fall, exploring the prevalence and outcomes of patients with frailty, delirium management and improving pressure care outcomes.
General Member – Australia
Professor Cathy Said, University of Melbourne
Prof Cathy Said is a Professor of Physiotherapy at Western Health & The University of Melbourne. She has over 25 years’ experience working as a physiotherapist in public health settings, primarily in neurological and gerontological rehabilitation. Cathy’s research and clinical interests focus on gait, balance disorders and falls prevention. As a clinician researcher, she is passionate about ensuring we provide evidenced based care to the people we work with and exploring innovative ways to improve outcomes. Cathy is currently leading a program of research focussing on supporting older people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities engage in exercise to reduce falls and was one of the developers of the Safe Exercise at Home website which provides evidenced based information on exercise and physical activity for older people.
Early Career Representative
Dr Meghan Ambrens,
Neuroscience Research Australia
Dr Meghan Ambrens is a Research Fellow at the Falls, Balance & Injury Research Centre at Neuroscience Research Australia, Conjoint Lecturer at the University of New South Wales, and an Associate Investigator with the UNSW Ageing Futures Institute and Human Rights Institutes. Since completing her PhD, Meghan has begun training to develop her skills in implementation science. Meghan is a skilled qualitative researcher, with experience in mixed-methods research. She is interested in falls prevention, rehabilitation, optimal ageing and preventive health, including the translation of evidence into practice and health policy. Meghan is a passionate about the need for health service and policy change to support a preventive approach to the problem of falls in older people.
Mid Career Representative
Dr Paulo Pelicioni, University of New South Wales
Dr Paulo Henrique Silva Pelicioni is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Health Sciences, the University of New South Wales (UNSW), an emerging leadership NHMRC fellow, the founder and director of the Movement Disorders and Ageing Research Group, a conjoint Senior Research Fellow at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) and an Associate Investigator of the Ageing Futures Institute at UNSW. Paulo’s multidisciplinary program investigates movement disorders and ageing, with a focus on better understanding the risk of falls in people with Parkinson’s, particularly in underserved communities.
Project Officer
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.