LISA HARVEY

Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney

Professor Lisa Harvey (PhD) has 20 years clinical experience in spinal cord injuries. She currently holds an academic position at Facutly of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney where she teaches, runs her own research program and supervises PhD students. She has over 200 publications which include clinical trials and systematic reviews. Most of her research has focused on putting an evidence base to widely administered rehabilitation interventions following spinal cord injury. She is currently principal investigator on the SCI-MT Trial which involves 15 sites across 8 countries. She teaches widely both nationally and internationally, and is recent past Editor-in-Chief of Spinal Cord.

Danny chan

Professor & Director, School of Biomedical Science, University of Hong Kong

Danny Chan is a professor and Director of the School of Biomedical Science at the University of Hong Kong, and Assistant Dean for research and research postgraduate studies at HKUMed. He graduated from the University of Melbourne, with BSc(Hons), MSc and PhD. 

His research interest is in skeletal biology, focusing on development, growth, and degenerative processes of the skeleton. He has a particular interest in rare diseases.  His research has contributed to key understandings in cartilage/bone development and growth, in health and disease. The emphasis is on genes regulating the linear growth of long bones, the formation of a synovial joint, and the intervertebral disc of the spine. The approach is to identify novel disease genes and to model the disease in mice to define the precise molecular and developmental changes. He leverages on the scientific discoveries to formulate therapeutic strategies in stem cell and regenerative medicine.

He is passionate in community outreach, supporting patients with rare diseases. He and his research team helped to initiate “The Little People of Hong Kong” Foundation in Hong Kong, an NGO for the patient groups, and to increase the community’s awareness of their needs. He is also a council member of Rare Disease Hong Kong (RDHK), advocating for the needs of all rare disease patients in our society.

Claire jones

Associate Professor, University of Adelaide

Associate Professor Claire Jones is a research and teaching academic in the School of Electrical & Mechanical Engineering, and the Centre for Orthopaedics & Trauma Research, at The University of Adelaide. She is an affiliate Research Fellow at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, and the Royal Adelaide Hospital. A/Prof Jones obtained her PhD in biomechanics from the University of British Columbia, where she initiated the development of the UBC porcine model of spinal cord injury.  At The University of Adelaide, A/Prof Jones leads the Adelaide Spinal Research Group, a multidisciplinary research team that brings together engineers, medical scientists and clinicians to study the biomechanics of the neuro- and musculoskeletal systems, with a primary focus on spinal column and spinal cord injury, and brain injury. Her research platforms encompass human volunteers, pre-clinical large animal models and cadaver models of trauma. A/Prof Jones’ research has, in part, been funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, and the Australian Research Council. She is passionate about working with research students and staff to build a team environment that fosters inclusion, provides meaningful development opportunities and motivates research excellence.