The University of Queensland has a list of experts available for comment on issues relating to the Olympic Games Rio 2016.
History and societal context of the Olympic Games/Performance enhancing drugs
Dr Ian Jobling, i.jobling@uq.edu.au, 0417 192 531.
Dr Jobling is the Director of UQ’s Centre for Olympic Studies and has a wide breadth of knowledge and photos pertaining to past Olympic Games. He was recently awarded by the International Society of Olympic Historians for his article on the history of homosexuality at the Olympic Games. He also specialises in attitudes to performance enhancing drugs, the impact of the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games, the rise of female participation and Australian IOC members.
Dr Gary Osmond, g.osmond@uq.edu.au, 07 3346 7591.
Dr Osmond is another award-winning historian who has a particular focus on race, culture and the societal impact of sport, in particular pertaining to Indigenous Australians. Of late Dr Osmond has become interested in how modern technology, such as the internet, affects the way we record sports history.
Associate Professor Murray Phillips, m.phillips@uq.edu.au, 07 3365 6637.
A senior sport historian at UQ, Associate Professor Phillips is interested in the contemporary and historical aspects of sport and related issues such as military conflicts, gender and coaching.
Nutrition and hydration
Dr Michael Leveritt, Michael.leveritt@uq.edu.au , 07 3346 7768.
Associate editor of Nutrition and Dietetics journal, Dr Leveritt has previously worked with the Australian Institute of Sport and Queensland Academy of Sport. He now applies much of what he has learnt dealing with professional athletes to bettering the lives of chronic disease sufferers and reducing the risks to people in occupational settings. Michael is also principal advisor to two of UQ’s brightest young researchers – Luciana Torquati (Argentinian-born specialist in nutrition) and Justin Holland (expert in hydration).
Female participation and public health
Professor Wendy Brown: wbrown@uq.edu.au, 0401 718 287.
Recently featuring in two Olympic-special research papers for leading medical journal The Lancet, Professor Brown has a strong history of advocating for exercise as a key component of public health. She is Director of the Centre for Research on Exercise, Physical Activity and Health. She can also speak on matters of female participation in sport and the cost of physical inactivity to society.
Sports coaching
Professor Cliff Mallett, cmallett@uq.edu.au, 07 3365 6765.
Recognised as a leading coaching educator, he has coached 15 international athletes to 12 medals, including six Olympic athletes. Professor Mallett has been a past member of the Australian Olympic coaching team in 1996 and 2004, and recently worked with National Rugby League champions the North Queensland Cowboys. He has coached across a number of sports including AFL, rugby union, tennis, triathlon, cricket, gymnastics and kayaking.
Dr Steven Rynne, s.rynne@uq.edu.au, 07 3346 9977.
Dr Rynne has a very broad interest in all sports. He has particular interest in high performance coaching, social benefits of sport and Indigenous programs
Mr Bob Crudgington, bobcrudgington@uq.edu.au, 07 3365 6172.
Mr Crudgington coached the Australian softball team to two bronze medals. He prepared the Australian dive team for the 2004 Atlanta Olympics and has worked at the elite level across numerous sports including softball, diving, shooting, volleyball, basketball, rugby union and rugby league.
Sports psychology
Professor Cliff Mallett, cmallett@uq.edu.au, 07 3365 6765.
Professor Mallett is recognised as a leading coaching educator, he has coached 15 international athletes to 12 medals, including six Olympic athletes. He was a member of the Australian Olympic coaching team in 1996 and 2004. He has recently worked with National Rugby League champions the North Queensland Cowboys and coached across a number of sports including AFL, rugby union, tennis, triathlon, cricket, gymnastics, kayaking.
Dr Stephanie Hanrahan, s.hanrahan@uq.edu.au, 07 3365 6453.
Dr Hanrahan is an expert in the fields of achievement motivation, goal orientation, expectancy of success and the degree of coaching influence on performance. She recently conducted work across Latin America working with orphans and residents of slums where she used psychological skills and games to enhance life satisfaction and self-worth.
Paralympics
Dr Sean Tweedy, s.tweedy@uq.edu.au, 07 3365 6638.
Sports fans would be interested to know Dr Tweedy is the Principal Investigator of the International Paralympic Committee Classification Research and Development Centre. Dr Tweedy has led scientific initiatives to improve the evidence behind paralympic classification systems. He authored the official International Paralympic Committee Position Stand on the scientific principles of classification. Based on outcomes from his research, the eligibility criteria for the sport of athletics were reviewed (then implemented at the London 2012 Paralympic Games) so that they were more credible and defensible. In addition to his scientific contributions, he has been a classifier at the last four Paralympic Games.
Dr Emma Beckman, e.beckman@uq.edu.au, 07 3346 7904.
Dr Beckman's research interests centre on physical activity participation of people with neuro-musculoskeletal impairments. Her focus is on increasing participation in paralympic sports for people with a disability through the development of evidence-based systems of classification and also in health promotion of adults with intellectual disabilities in supported workplaces.
Dr Mark Connick, m.connick@uq.edu.au, 07 3365 6117.
Dr Connick works in the development and evaluation of classification systems in paralympic sport. The purpose of classification is to minimise the impact that impairments have on the outcome of competition. The aim of this research is to develop objective methods for classifying impairments according to the extent to which impairment impacts athletic performances – such as running, wheelchair racing and throwing. This work has been supported by the Australian Research Council, The International Paralympic Committee and the Australian Sports Commission. Dr Connick is also a specialist on the biomechanics of running and cycling.
Zika Virus
Professor Paul Young, p.young@uq.edu.au, 07 3365 4646, 0411 162 577.
Professor Young is professor of Virology and Head of the School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience and is an expert in infectious diseases, specifically in studying the way medically important viral infections such as dengue, Zika, Ebola and respiratory syncytial virus cause disease. Professor Young’s research goals are the development of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for these viral diseases.
Bacteria in Rio waters
Dr Mark Blaskovich, m.blaskovich@imb.uq.edu.au, 07 3346 2994, 0414 955 380.
Dr Blaskovich is from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience is an expert on super bugs (multi drug resistant bacteria) – one of the most serious threats to human health that could take us back to the dark ages of medicine – which have been detected in Rio’s waters.
Brazil/South America international relations
Dr Tom Chodor, t.chodor@uq.edu.au, 07 3365 2090, 04121 16136.
Dr Chodor is from UQ School of Political Science and International Studies and is available to discuss Brazil’s international relations, including its relations with its neighbours in South America, and with other countries such as the USA and its fellow BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries. He can also speak about the current political situation in Brazil, including the political and economic crisis that has resulted in the impeachment proceedings against the president Dilma Rousseff, and the role that big international events such as the Olympic Games have played in Brazil’s rise and potential fall to emerging great power status.
Sports Injury
Professor Bill Vicenzino, b.vicenzino@uq.edu.au, 07 3365 2781.
Professor Vicenzino is Director of the Sports Injuries Rehabilitation and Prevention for Health unit. He is an expert in overuse injuries, which physical therapies work and which don’t, cross-training exercise and strapping for rehabilitation, neuromuscular pain and injury.
Dr Michelle Smith, m.smith5@uq.edu.au, 07 3365 4660.
Dr Smith is an expert in understanding neuromuscular changes that occur due to injury, disease and pain, as well as the risks of injury and re-injury, and the effects these have on physical performance. Researches the efficiencies of exercise, taping and bracing interventions for treatment and prevention of injury. She has also written about “What makes a great footballer” and the trade-offs that occur between athleticism and skill.
