Awards
Promising Scientist Award
Promising Scientist AwardThe Promising Scientist Award acknowledges those who have performed superior research in Posture and/or Gait early in their career. It entails a certificate as well as an amount of $1000 (USD) for travel expenses to attend the ISPGR World Congress.
The awardee is expected to give a 25 minute plenary presentation +5 minutes of questions at the ISPGR Congress. Priority will be given to young scientists with more established, independent careers with regular ISPGR status.
2023 Winner
Toby Ellmers
Imperial College London
Dr Toby Ellmers’ research explores the psychological factors that affect balance, gait and fall risk. He received his PhD from Brunel University London, under the supervision of Dr Will Young. His thesis explored the cognitive and emotional factors influencing the visuomotor control of gait in healthy and clinical populations. He then completed an ESRC-funded postdoctoral fellowship focused on developing a new conceptual framework to account for how fear of falling affects fall risk. He was recently awarded a prestigious Wellcome Trust Fellowship to join Prof Adolfo Bronstein at Imperial College London, where he is investigating the neuro-cognitive factors influencing the perception of self-motion and dizziness in older adults. Along with Prof Kim Delbaere, he is currently the Co-Lead of the ‘Concerns about Falling’ Working Group within the recent World Falls Guidelines global initiative, which provided new guidelines for the assessment and management of concerns (‘fear’) about falling.
Requirements:
To be eligible for the award, a candidate must (please declare the requirements in your submission):
- be an ISPGR member in good standing
- must have been awarded a PhD at the time of submission
- be no more than six (6) years post PhD degree on January 1st 2023 (documented parental/sick leaves will be taken into consideration)
- submit all required supporting documentation listed below before the submission deadline
Supporting Documentation
Prior to the application submission deadline, each candidate must:
- submit her/his/their full curriculum vitae
- submit up to three 1st author papers (pdf format)
- provide an interpretative summary (one 8” x 11” page limit) describing their research contribution to the field of Posture and Gait including a statement on the impact (clinical/translational/scientific) of their work and their level of independence
- Documentation of dates and duration of leave(s), if applicable
Award submissions are open from October 3, 2022 – January 6, 2023. Please submit required documentation via email to
Past Winners
2022 Montreal, CAN: Kaylena Ehgoetz Martens, University of Waterloo
2019 Edinburgh, GBR: Jennifer Yentes, University of Nebraska at Omaha
2017 Ft.Lauderdale, USA: Sjoerd Bruijn, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
2015 Seville, ESP: Melvyn Roerdink, MOVE Research Institute, The Netherlands
2014 Vancouver, CAN: Ross Clark, Australian Catholic University, Australia
2013 Akita, JPN: Alain Frigon, Universite de Sherbooke, Canada
2012 Trondheim, NOR: Dan Marigold, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Emerging Scientist Award
The Emerging Scientist award acknowledges those who have performed superior research in Posture and/or Gait early in their career. It entails a certificate as well as an amount of $1000 (USD) for travel expenses to attend the ISPGR World Congress.
The awardee is expected to give a 15 minute plenary presentation +5 minutes of questions at the ISPGR Congress.
2023 Winner
Paulo Henrique Silva Pelicioni
University of New South Wales
Dr Paulo Henrique Silva Pelicioni, he/him, completed his Bachelor’s of Physiotherapy, at Anhanguera College, Brazil, in 2010. He studied Postgraduate Certificate in Motor Learning at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, in 2012; and undertook his Master’s in Human Movement Sciences at the São Paulo State University, also in Brazil, in 2015. During his Master’s, in 2013, Paulo took an internship at the Falls, Balance and Injury Research Centre, at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), under Professor Stephen Lord’s supervision. In 2016 Paulo returned to Sydney, Australia, to study for his PhD, which was completed with the Falls, Balance and Injury Research Centre (NeuRA) in 2020 under the supervision of Professor Stephen Lord and Dr Jasmine Menant.
In 2020 Paulo took a research fellowship at the Division of Health Sciences, at the University of Otago, in New Zealand, before taking his current appointment in August 2022 as a lecturer at the University of New South Wales, Australia and an honorary research fellowship at NeuRA. Paulo teaches and convenes the courses: research project, movement analysis and instruction, and neuromuscular rehabilitation. Paulo conducts interdisciplinary research at the intersection of physiotherapy, human movement sciences and neuroscience, focused on preventing falls in people with neurological disorders. His current areas of interest include understanding the mechanisms of falls in older people and people with Parkinson’s disease; seeking equity in Parkinson’s care; understanding the function of healthy and pathological brains; and using coronial data to understand how to reduce deaths from falls.
Requirements:
To be eligible for the award, a candidate must (please declare the requirements in your submission):
- be an ISPGR member in good standing
- must have been awarded a PhD at the time of submission
- be no more than three (3) years post PhD degree on January 1st 2023 (documented parental/sick leaves will be taken into consideration)
- submit all required supporting documentation listed below before the submission deadline
Supporting Documentation
Prior to the application submission deadline, each candidate must:
- submit her/his/their full curriculum vitae
- submit up to three 1st author papers (pdf format)
- provide an interpretative summary (one 8” x 11” page limit) describing their research contribution to the field of Posture and Gait including a statement on the impact (clinical/translational/scientific) of their work
- Documentation of dates and duration of leave(s), if applicable
Award submissions are open from October 3, 2022 – January 6, 2023. Please submit required documentation via email to
Past Winners
2022 Montreal, CAN: Riona McArdle, Newcastle University
2019 Edinburgh, GBR: Deborah Jehu, University of British Columbia
2017 Ft. Lauderdale, USA: Patrick A Forbes, Erasmus Medical Centre
Best Talk and best poster awards
Best Talk and best poster awardsBest Poster Award for Postdoctoral Fellows
In addition to the Aftab Patla Innovation Award, awarded to student poster presenters, ISPGR also offers two best poster awards for Postdoctoral Fellows. One award will be for basic science and one for clinical science. Recipients will be chosen from a panel of researchers based on several criteria including:
- creativity and originality of research
- clarity of presentation
- level of understanding
REQUIREMENTS:
To be eligible for the award, a candidate must:
- be an ISPGR post-doc member in good standing
- present a poster presentation to the award reviewers (may be anonymous)
Note: The Best Poster Award for post-docs is for poster presentations only. If you apply for and are selected for an oral presentation, you are not eligible for the poster award but will be in contention for the Best Talk Award. Winners will be announced onsite at the World Congress.
Past Winners
2022 Montreal, CAN
Basic Science
Martin Zaback, Temple University
“Changes to cortical potentials time-locked to discrete postural events during postural threat exposure”
Catherine P Agathos, Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute
“Eccentric viewing shifts subjective visual vertical perception”
Clinical Science
Tyler T Whittier, Colorado State University
“Bayes’d and Confused: Bayesian inference reveals decreased sensorimotor uncertainty as a result of Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation (TENS)”
Best Virtual Poster Award for Postdoctoral Fellow
Basic Science
Mark A Laylor, University of Waterloo
“Markers of reactive control in stance”
Sean D Lynch, Jewish Rehabilitation Hospital
“Perceiving virtual human emotional gait is task specific for individuals following moderate-to-severe TBI”
2019 Edinburgh, GBR
Basic Science
Lorenz Assländer, University of Konstanz
“A balance control model for vestibular loss subjects balancing on a tilting support”
Clinical Science
Lisa Alcock, Newcastle University Institute for Ageing
“The effect of walking speed on cortical activity in young and older adults”
Honourable Mention:
Clinical Science
Samuel Stuart, Oregon Health and Science University
“Cortical response to open and closed-loop tactile cueing during walking and turning in Parkinson’s”
2017 Ft. Lauderdale, USA
Basic Science
Hendrik Reimann, Temple University
“Phase-dependency of the balance response to Galvanic vestibular stimulation during walking”
Clinical Science
Lisa Alcock, Newcastle University Institute for Ageing
“Effect of obstacle contrast on visual behaviour in Parkinson’s disease”
Honourable Mention:
Basic Science
Douglas Martini, Oregon Health and Science University
“The interaction of cholinergic activity, gait, balance, and attention in mild cognitive impairment”
Best talk by a trainee award
One best talk award will be awarded to a student/post doc member of ISPGR who presents an individual oral presentation at the World Congress. Recipients will be chosen from a panel of researchers based on several criteria including:
- creativity and originality of research
- clarity of presentation
- level of understanding
REQUIREMENTS:
To be eligible for the award, a candidate must:
- be an ISPGR student/post doc member in good standing
- present an individual oral presentation at the World Congress to the award reviewers
Note: The Best Talk Award by a Trainee is for ISPGR student or post doctoral member individual oral presentations only. The winner will be announced onsite at the World Congress.
Past Winners
2022 Montreal, CAN
Meghan Kazanski, The Pennsylvania State University
“Probability of Instability: A new statistic that resolves the margin of stability paradox”
Alejandro J Lopez, Emory University
“Descending cortical modulation of spinal sensorimotor circuits is reduced in neurotypical older adults during postural and volitional muscle activation”
2019 Edinburgh, GBR
David Cole, Utah State University
“An invisible hand: Automatic preparation for arresting a fall when viewing a handrail”
Honourable Mention:
Maarten Afschrift, KU Leuven
“Deficient tibalis anterior activity following inward perturbation during walking predisposes elderly to use stepping rather than ankle strategies to control balance”
2017 Ft. Lauderdale, USA
Robyn Mildren, University of British Columbia
“Learning to balance on a slackline: Kinematic and spinal reflex adaptations”
Aftab Patla Innovation Award
The ISPGR Awards Committee will offer two student poster presentation awards in honour of Dr. Aftab Patla. One award will be for basic science and one for clinical science. Recipients will be chosen from a panel of researchers based on several criteria including:
- creativity and originality of research
- clarity of presentation
- level of understanding
Requirements
To be eligible for the award, a candidate must:
- be an ISPGR student member in good standing
- present a poster presentation to the award reviewers (may be anonymous)
Note: The Aftab Patla Innovation Award is for student poster submissions only. If you apply for and are selected for an oral presentation, you are not eligible for a poster award but will be in contention for the Best Talk Award. Winners will be announced onsite at the World Congress.
Past Winners
2022 Montreal, CAN
Basic Science
Laurence Lai, Concordia University
“Age differences in working memory and cue utilization during postural recovery”
Clinical Science
Olivia Samotus, London Health Sciences Centre
“Neuroimaging and neurophysiological changes associated with freezing of gait and visual-motor performance improvements following spinal cord stimulation therapy in Parkinson disease patients”
2019 Edinburgh, GBR
Basic Science
Wouter Staring, Donder Institute, Radboud University
“Does transcranial direct current stimulation improve reaction times of people after stroke during balance perturbations, gait initiation, or voluntary movement?”
Clinical Science
Bryant Seamon, Ralph H Johnson VA Medical Center
“Influence of body weight supported treadmill training parameters on muscle coordination in hemiparetic walking”
Honourable Mentions:
Clinical Science
Janis Kim, University of Illinois at Chicago
“The frequency and circumstances of falls reported by unilateral lower limb prosthesis users”
2017 Ft. Lauderdale, USA
Basic Science
Hikaru Yokoyama, The University of Tokyo
“Cortical processing underlying split-belt treadmill gait adaptation: an EEG study”
Clinical Science
Savitha Subramaniam, UIC
“Dance for Stroke: A virtual-reality dance based exercise to increase cardiovascular fitness and community ambulation in individuals with chronic stroke: A preliminary study”
Honourable Mentions:
Basic Science
Stuart Mackenzie, University of Birmingham
“Differential Effects of Vision Upon the Accuracy and Precision of Vestibular-Evoked Balance Responses”
Trina Mitchell, McGIll University
“Comparison of the neural correlates of complex walking in healthy young adults and middle-aged adults during real locomotion”
Clinical Science
Alberto Fung, University of Houston
“Smarter Balance System: Smartphone-based biofeedback technology for clinical and/or home-based balance rehabilitation”
2015 Seville, ESP
Aftab Patla Award Clinical Science
Winner: Niklas Lofgren – ‘Construct Validity of the Mini-BESTest in mild to moderate Parkinson’s Disease’
Honorable Mention: Julian Luppo – ‘Perceived Timing of Auditory and Inertial Cues During a Fall’
Honorable Mention: Jennifer Wong – ‘The impact of falls on functional recovery after discharge from in-patient stroke rehabilitation’
Aftab Patla Award Basic Science
Winner : Aurelie Fontan – ‘Cerebral network subtending proprioceptive processing in children from 7 to 10 years’
Honorable Mention: Whitney Cole – ‘Bouts of Steps: The Organization of Infant Walking’
Honorable Mention: Eric Beck – ‘Gaze behaviour in freezers may relieve processing demands’
2014 Vancouver, CAN
Aftab Patla Award Clinical Science: Courtney Pollock, University of British Columbia, Canada for the poster ‘Anticipatory postural reactions and arousal state during external perturbations are altered in people with stroke’
Aftab Patla Award Basic Science: Zoe Miranda, Université de Montréal, Canada for the poster ‘Presynaptic control of balance in healthy subjects’
2013 Akita, JPN
Aftab Patla Award Clinical Science: Hideki Nakano, Kio University, Japan for the poster ‘Effect of a plantar perceptual learning task on walking stability in the elderly; a randomised control trial’
Aftab Patla Award Basic Science: Taku Kitamura, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan for the poster ‘Phase modulation of corticospinal excitability for forearm muscle during voluntary leg stepping’
2012 Trondheim, NOR
Aftab Patla Award Clinical Science: Takashi Yoshida, University of Toronto, Canada for the poster ‘Cardiovascular response of individuals with spinal cord injury to dynamic functional electrical stimulation under orthostatic stress’
Aftab Patla Award Basic Science: Anahid Saradjian, Laboratory of Neurobiology and Cognition, France for the poster ‘Facilitation of somatosensory potentials depends on the balance constraints during motor preparation of a step: A microgravity and normogravity study’
2009 Bologna, ITA
Aftab Patla Award Clinical Science: Michael Schwenk, University of Heidelberg, Germany for the poster ‘Dual task performance can be improved in patients with dementia’
Aftab Patla Award Basic Science: Chantelle Murnaghan, University of British Columbia, Canada for the poster ‘Feedback during COM stabilization does not prevent exploratory COP behavior during upright stance’
Travel Stipends
Travel StipendsISPGR is pleased to announce travel stipends for ISPGR trainee members (students and post-docs) who are presenting an oral or poster presentation at the ISPGR World Congress. Awardees will receive the funds through wire transfer upon check in at the registration desk at the World Congress.
The Travel Stipends consist of:
Australia/International*: $750
Low-income developing nations (as per National Science Foundation of World Bank Organization): $1,500 + complimentary Congress registration
*outside of the low-income developing nations
Requirements
To be eligible, a candidate must:
- Be either a Student or Post Doc Member in good standing with ISPGR at time of application
- Be presenting either a poster or oral (individual or symposium) presentation at the ISPGR World Congress
- Submit all required documentation through the online application form before the deadline.
- Answer three short questions regarding participation in the ISPGR World Congress, specifically related to the applicant’s contribution to the ISPGR World Congress and alignment of their research with the Society as well as the applicant’s plans/objectives for maximizing the impact of attending the ISPGR World Congress on the trainee’s career/development trajectory.
Deadline for applications was April 16th at 23:59CDT
Past Winners
2022 Montreal, CAN
Alexander Kvist, Karolinska Institute
“Validation of algorithm using wearable accelerometers for measuring spatiotemporal gait parameters during straight walking and continuous turning”
Andrew Monaghan, Arizona State University
“The effectiveness of reactive step training in people with Parkinson’s Disease and postural disturbances”
Alejandro Rubio Barazano, University of Bradford
“Assessing gaze via 3D motion-tracking of the visual target in the heads reference frame: Agreement with eye-tracker”
Jenny Sedhed, Karolinska Institute
“Feasibility of an eHealth intervention to train motor-cognitive function in the home environment with Parkinson’s disease”
2019 Edinburgh, GBR
Annike Bekius, Vrije Universiteit
“Muscle synergy complexity in children with cerebral palsy during the development of walking”
Sarah Hemler, University of Pittsburgh
“Influence of required coefficient of friction on rate of shoe wear”
Janis Kim, University of Illinois at Chicago
“The frequency and circumstances of falls reported by unilateral lower limb prosthesis users”
Rosie Morris, Oregon Health and Science University
“Comprehensive measures of balance and gait in GBA mutation carriers and non-carriers in Parkinson’s Disease”
Sutton Richmond, Colorado State University
“Bridging the callosal gap in gait: a mechanistic evaluation of white matter’s role in bilateral coordination”
2017 Ft. Lauderdale, USA
Desiderio Cano Porras, Sheba Medical Center
“Gait adaptation to conflictive visual flow in virtual environments”
David Conradsson, McGill University
“Dynamic stability limits during walking turns in Parkinson’s disease”
Milou Coppens, Radboud University Medical Center
“The effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on gait initiation in people after stroke”
Moria Dagan, Tel Aviv University
“Potential of non-invasive brain stimulation to ameliorate freezing of gait in Parkinson’s disease: A deep repetitive TMS randomized, double-blinded, cross-over pilot study”
Kimberly Lang, Emory University
“Antagonist muscle activity in postural responses to support-surface translations in exercise-study-eligible people with Parkinson’s disease and neurotypical older adults”