Keynote Speakers

Exercise for bone health

Plenary Speech
Knees up in osteoarthritis: the role of exercise in slowing disease progression and managing symptoms

Prof. Kimberly Bennell
Professor
School of Physiotherapy
University of Melbourne
Victoria
Australia

Kim Bennell is a physiotherapist and currently Professor and Foundation Director of the Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine in the School of Physiotherapy, University of Melbourne, Australia. Kim's research interests include the role of physiotherapy, particularly exercise, in the prevention and management of common musculoskeletal conditions such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and patellofemoral pain syndrome. Her research also focuses on the prevention of sporting injuries such as stress fractures and hamstring muscle strains. Kim has over 140 peer-reviewed publications and is the co-author of two text books. She has won several awards for research excellence and has received funding from prestigious granting bodies. Kim is on the editorial board of several sports medicine and physiotherapy journals. In her current position Kim leads a multidisciplinary team comprising physiotherapists, medical practitioners and exercise scientists, and supervises a number of research students.



Sports and Nutrition for All Ages

Plenary Speech
Changes in skeletal muscle with aging nad exercise training in older adults

Prof. Mark Tarnopolsky
Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine
Neuromuscular and Neurometabolic Unit
McMaster University Medical Center

 

Exercise and cardiac health

Plenary Speech
Exercise activity versus sports

Dr Sandy Howell
Associate Professor and Associate Chair
Division of Biokinesiology & Physical Therapy
University of Southern California
United States of America

Dr Sandy Howell is Director of the Muscle Function Laboratory. She conducts basic research in cellular mechanisms underlying diaphragm dysfunction and the pathophysiology of exercise intolerance in congestive heart failure. She has been a Parker B. Francis fellow in pulmonary medicine.

Plenary Speech
International Perspectives on Youth Safety in Organized Sports Systems

Trisha Leahy, PhD
Chief Executive
Hong Kong Sports Institute

Over the past few years there has been increasing international recognition that young people cannot successfully achieve in sport and reap the well-documented benefits of sports participation unless they are protected from harm. As well as the coach, sports medicine and sports science support personnel are in key positions to monitor the maintenance of a safe sporting environment for young athletes and to be an advocate for athletes well-being, so that they can optimise their athletic giftedness in safety and learn life-long positive exercise and health habits. ‘Safety’ refers to both psychologically and physically healthy environments. Lack of psychological safety can occur where the sporting environment is marked by abusive, threatening, or humiliating coaching styles. This not only significantly increases the immediate stress on athletes, but has also been found to be associated with long-term psychological harm. Lack of physical safety can occur where extreme physical activities are used as a punishment for errors or failure to perform. And the sexual abuse of young athletes is a documented reality in many of our countries. At the highest level of elite competitive sport the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recently issued a Consensus Statement regarding sexual harassment and abuse in sport. The IOC has stated its aim is “to improve health and protection of athletes through the promotion of effective preventative policy as well as to increase awareness of these problems among the people in the entourage of the athletes (IOC, 2007). Sports medicine and scientific support staff with their close involvement in the sporting life of young athletes are often the first point of contact for athletes in distress and need to be aware of the potential for these forms of harm, and the relevant social policy and procedures for reporting and referring. In this presentation I will overview some of the research in this area and discuss the implications for professional education programmes with a view to empowering and enabling support personnel to be effective gate-keepers protecting young athletes from harm and to be effective advocates for appropriate child and youth protection policies within the organised sports system.

Psychosocial Health

Plenary Speech
To be confirmed

Dr Trisha Leahey Chief Executive Hong Kong Sports Institute

Trisha Leahy (Ph.D). is the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Sports Institute which is the Government's delivery agent for elite sport in Hong Kong.

Trisha has also previously worked as Senior Psychologist at the Australian Institute of Sport where she worked with many of Australia’s elite athletes including the Australian Olympic Sailing Team, at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Prior to that, she was the Unit Head of the Sport Psychology Unit at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, where she provided psychological services to national team athletes including the Hong Kong Sailing Team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

With over 30 articles published in international academic and professional publications and numerous keynote and invitational presentations Dr Leahy is a internationally recognized expert in elite sports systems. Her research interests include gender issues in elite sport, the prevention of abuse in sport and career transitions for athletes. She is an invited member of the International Olympic (IOC) Medical Commission's special task force on prevention of abuse in sport. She is also an invited member of a UNICEF expert panel advising on global policy and research in preventing violence in sport.

Locally Trisha is extensively involved in Community work, serving at various times in the past few years as advisor to the Hong Kong Council of Social Services, Caritas and the Rain Lilly Rape Crisis Centre. She was the 2006 -2007 President of the Hong Kong Psychological Society.

Plenary Symposium Speakers

Australia
Ms Cathy Bray,
Clinical Services Manager,
Therapy Services,
St. Vincent's Clinic,
Sydney.

Japan Professor Sumio Yamada School of Health Sciences, Nagoya University

Prof. Sumio Yamada is a physiotherapist and Professor and Director of the Centre for Elderly Fitness and Secondary Prevention Research in the School of Health Science, Nagoya University, Japan. Yamada's research interests include the role of exercise in the prevention of disease progression in patients with congestive heart failure as well as exercise based life style change in cardiac patients. He is in charge of nation-wide multi-central cohort trial which has just started with 26 hospitals in Japan and focuses on the course of life function and the effect of exercise on it in patients with congestive heart failure. His current research also focuses on the prevention of recurrence of stroke, especially in light stroke patients.

Philippines
Professor Jocelyn Agcaoili
Associate Professor,
Dean, College of Rehabilitation Sciences
University of Santo Tomas, Espana, Manila

Singapore
Dr. Celia Tan
Deputy Director & Senior Principal Physiotherapist,
Allied Health Division,
Singapore General Hospital

Taiwan Dr. Tsauo Jau-Yih Ph.D., LPT Associate Professor, School and Institute of Physical Therapy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University

There is a paradigm shift in health care from treatment and care in hospital to health promotion in community globally. However, Most PTs in Taiwan are employed in acute and chronic care hospitals or outpatient clinics. Physical therapy involvement in health promotion is emerging slowly. The first government endorsed big-scale physical therapy service in community commenced after the 921 earthquake in 1999. A health promotion and long term care project was implemented in the earthquake area for 3 years in central Taiwan. In 2004, Taipei City government initiated a community health experimental project with cooperation of Taipei Society of Physical Therapy which led to a routine service nowadays. Researchers have experimented on the effects of physical therapists-lead community health promotion programs for fall prevention or intervention for frailty and osteoporosis. Yet these results failed to promote a nation-wide movement of physical therapy services into the community. We, PTs in Taiwan, are on the way to community.

Thailand Dr. Chulee Jones, Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Khon Kaen University