Organising Committee
Professor Ruth Hubbard
Professor Rob Daly
Professor Andrea Maier
Andrea is Professor of Gerontology at the VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Divisional Director of Medicine and Community Care, Royal Melbourne Hospital and Professor of Medicine and Aged Care at the University of Melbourne. Her research is driven by her passion to unravel ageing mechanisms and the interaction of ageing and age-related diseases, with a particular focus on sarcopenia.
Associate Professor Simon Stebbings
Associate Professor Simon Stebbings' research has focused on ankylosing spondylitis and spondyloarthritis. Through national collaboration he established the multicentre Spondyloarthritis Genetics and the Environment Study (SAGE), which included a longitudinal study of outcomes in spondyloarthritis in New Zealand.
Through his membership of the International Genetics of Ankylosing Spondylitis study group he has contributed to the study of the genetic background to this common inflammatory arthritis.
Associate Professor Stebbings is a member of the Assessment in Spondyloarthritis International Society (ASAS) and has contributed to the development of an ASAS Health Index. He is a member of the working group on management guidelines for axial spondyloarthritis for the Asia Pacific League Against Rheumatism.
Associate professor Stebbings has strong research links with the Department of Psychology and the School of Physiotherapy. Through collaborations with colleagues his research has investigated the importance of fatigue in rheumatic diseases, and the effectiveness of complementary therapies. He has been involved in research into the effects of smoking on arthritis and ways to encourage smoking cessation.
Dr Jon Cornwall
Dr Jon Cornwall is currently Education Advisor to the Centre for Early Learning in Medicine, at Otago Medical School. A physiotherapist by training, he has for many years studied skeletal muscle function, and has an interest in how age-related changes manifest in skeletal muscle with a particular interest in how such changes affect the spinal muscles. His other research interests relate to bioethical considerations of posthumous human assets, such as body and organ donation.
Dr Lynnette Jones
Dr Lynnette Jones is a Senior Lecturer in Physical Activity and Health at the School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences and has held an academic position since 2002. She graduated from the University of Otago with a first class honours degree in Physical Education (Exercise Physiology/Metabolism) in 1997 and completed her BSc in Biochemistry in 1999. Lynnette joined the staff at the School of Physical Education as a Teaching Fellow in Exercise Prescription in 2000, and completed her PhD in Biomedical Science in 2003.
Lara Vlietstra
After successfully graduating as a physiotherapist in 2014, Lara Vlietstra decided to pursue two postgraduate degrees - in Clinical Health Sciences and in Geriatric Physiotherapy - at the Utrecht University/University Medical Centre Utrecht and Avans+, the Netherlands. Soon, Lara was struck by the phenomenon of sarcopenia, and after working toward her Clinical Health Sciences master thesis during an internship at the University of Otago with Debra Waters and Kim Meredith-Jones, she decided to submit a PhD proposal within the sarcopenia research area, which successfully got accepted. By the 1st of February 2018 she will hence start her PhD within the Department of Medicine and School of Physiotherapy at the University of Otago, again working with Debra Waters and Kim Meredith-Jones.
