People

In the following section are all the people involved in OIBG.

Dr Oxland Portrait

Tom Oxland

Professor

Phone: (604)-675-8834
Fax: (604)-675-8849
toxland@icord.org

Dr. Oxland is co-Director of the UBC Orthopaedic and Injury Biomechanics Group. He is a Professor in the Departments of Orthopaedics and Mechanical Engineering and a Principal Investigator at ICORD. He is also the Associate Head in charge of Research within the Department of Orthopaedics. Dr. Oxland obtained his PhD from Yale University. After his PhD Dr. Oxland worked at a spine implant company, SpineTech Inc. in Minneapolis and then at the Muller Institute for Biomechanics at the University of Bern. In 1997 he moved to UBC and established the Orthopaedic Engineering Research Division within the Department of Orthopaedics. This Division was inactivated in the summer of 2009 at which time the Orthopaedic and Injury Biomechanics Group was founded. His major research interests include the management of bone loss problems, biomechanics of spine fixation systems and spinal cord injury. He is a member of the Orthopaedic Research Society, the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine, the American Society of Biomechanics as well as the Canadian Orthopaedic Research Society. Educational activities include the teaching of a course in Orthopaedic Biomechanics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the regular facilitation of Instructional Skills Workshops within the UBC Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth.

Dr Cripton Portrait

Peter Cripton

Professor

Phone: (604)-822-6629 (at UBC main Campus)
Phone: (604)-675-8835 (at ICORD – VGH)
Fax: (604)-675-8849
peter.cripton@ubc.ca

Dr. Cripton is co-Director of the UBC Orthopaedic and Injury Biomechanics Group. He is a Professor and directs the undergraduate program in the School of Biomedical Engineering, an Associate Faculty Member in the Departments of Orthopaedics and Mechanical Engineering and a Principal Investigator at ICORD, the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility and the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health at UBC. He obtained his PhD from Queen’s University, with postdoctoral work at Yale University. Prior to coming to UBC in 2003 he worked as a consulting engineer at Exponent, Failure Analysis Associates in Philadelphia, PA. At UBC he established the UBC Injury Biomechanics Laboratory. This laboratory was merged into the Orthopaedic and Injury Biomechanics lab in 2009. Dr. Cripton is a member of the American Society for Testing Materials, the Society of Automotive Engineers, the International Society of Biomechanics, the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine, the International Research Council on the Biomechanics of Impact (IRCOBI) council and the Orthopaedic Research Society. Dr. Cripton’s research interests include impact biomechanics and injury prevention of the spine, spinal cord, brain and hip. In addition to developing a helmet to prevent spinal cord injuries during head first impacts in sports and transportation, Dr. Cripton and colleagues perform research focused on preventing hip fractures. Other specific projects focus on improving bicycle helmet performance, developing improved mechanical surrogates for injury experiments (i.e. crash test dummy necks and physical models of the spinal cord), and using advanced MRI imaging techniques to better understand seat belt efficacy and sex differences in seat belt performance.

Alexander Burden

Research Engineer

B.Eng in Biomedical Engineering (University of Victoria)

Phone: (604) 675-8845
aburden@icord.org

Alex Burden is a research engineer and lab admin at the OIBG. He completed his B.Eng in Biomedical Engineering at UVic in 2016. He has previously worked in prosthesis development and computer vision. At the OIBG, Alex manages the histology lab, supports students’ projects, and continues studies on multi-mechanism injury models. His personal interests include board games, reading, traveling, and scuba diving.

Luis Dias Headshot

Luis Dias, P.Eng.

Research Engineer

B.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering (University of British Columbia)

Phone: (778) 953-1801
ldias@icord.org

Luis Joined OIBG after 5 years of working in industry, focusing on research and development of medical devices. His role as a lab administrator is to ensure students have the support they need for their projects, and performs various routine administrative duties for the lab. He also works on his own research projects, largely focused on biomechanics of injury. In his personal life, Luis is an avid outdoorsman and spends much of his time in the BC wilderness.

Vivian Chung, P.Eng.

Research Engineer

M.A.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering (University of British Columbia)
B.E.Sc. in Integrated Engineering (Western University)

vivian.chung@ubc.ca

Vivian has research interests in traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, sports biomechanics, and surgical technologies.  After completing her MASc. in Biomedical Engineering with Dr. Antony Hodgson and Dr. Bassam Masri as an Engineers-in-Scrubs (EiS) fellow, Vivian now applies her engineering expertise on a broad spectrum of academic and industry research projects. Her research at OIBG focuses on helmet sciences. As a co-inventor of Pivot – a helmet technology aiming to prevent spinal injuries in sports, Vivian is working with Dr. Peter Cripton to further the technology in hopes of reducing paralysis in high-risk sports. 

Loay Al-Salehi

PhD Candidate

B.Sc. & M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering (RWTH Aachen)

loay.al-salehi@ubc.ca

Loay is currently pursuing a PhD in mechanical engineering. He completed his Bachelors and Masters degrees at the RWTH in his hometown Aachen, Germany. During his Masters, Loay worked at several labs at UBC, including the OIBG. His PhD work is about neck muscle and intervertebral dynamics in rollover crashes, where he conducts experiments with human subjects to better understand injury mechanisms in head-first impact situations. Besides his work at the OIBG, Loay likes travelling, listening to podcasts, and playing soccer. 

Emily Bliven

PhD Candidate

B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering & M.Eng. in Biomedical Engineering (University of Portland)

emily.bliven@ubc.ca

Emily is pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Engineering. She has experience working in bicycle helmet technology R&D, orthopaedic plating design, and biomechanics research at a trauma hospital in southern Germany. Her PhD involves investigating orthopaedic approaches for mitigating hip fracture in a sideways fall. Outside of work, Emily likes being outside as much as possible and then cozying up with a book when that limit is reached.

 

Iraj Dehghan Hamani

PhD Candidate

B.Sc. (IUT) in Mechanical Engineering, Iran
M.Sc. (SUT) in Mechanical Engineering, Iran

idh@icord.org

Iraj is pursuing a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering under the supervision of Dr. Oxland at OIBG. He got a Master of Science degree from Sharif University of Technology, focusing on biomechanical modelling of the human spine. His doctoral research investigates the role of muscles in spinal loading, with a particular emphasis on the mechanical properties of muscles and the effects of fibrosis on these characteristics. Soccer, reading books, and photography are some of Iraj’s hobbies.

Amir Hossein Borjali

PhD Student

B.Sc. (SRTTU) & M.Sc. (SUT) in Mechanical Engineering

Amir has completed his M.Sc. in Biomechanical Engineering at Sharif University of Technology, Iran. Before joining OIBG, he worked as a research assistant at Sharif Biomechanics Lab. Currently, he is a Ph.D. student at the School of Biomedical Engineering, UBC. His Ph.D. project would be towards an improved porcine model of spinal cord injury (SCI) under the supervision of Dr. Cripton and Dr. Kwon. He loves soccer, watching movies, having adventurous journeys, and savoring nature in his leisure time.

 

Jade Levine

M.A.Sc. Student

B.A.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering (University of British Columbia)

jadelvn@student.ubc.ca

Jade is currently working on creating a visual analytics tool to investigate implant kinematics using high-speed x-rays and will be shifting her work to help on the Pivot helmet project in the future. Outside of work, Jade is likely to be found on a bike, climbing, or somewhere in nature.

Sabiha Sultana

Assistant Research Engineer

sabiha98@student.ubc.ca

Sabiha is currently pursuing a B.A.Sc in Biomedical Engineering from the University of British Columbia. She works on researching and developing a novel omnidirectional biofidelic surrogate neck (ODN) for automotive crash test dummies and helmet testing. She co-leads a biomedical engineering student design team- UBC Enable, where she and her team builds custom assistive technology for clients in the community. She is a strong advocate to make STEM education accessible for young girls in developing countries. Sabiha enjoys spending time outdoors in nature, listening to music, and audiobooks in her free time.

 

Dean Harris

Assistant Research Engineer

Dean is currently pursuing a B.A.Sc in Biomedical Engineering and is studying at Capilano University. He is currently working on designing biofidelic Intervertebral discs to be used on an omnidirectional surrogate neck for crash test dummies, which are used in automotive safety testing and helmet testing. Dean likes to spend his free time with friends, 3D printing, or snowboarding. 

 

Benjamin Dourthe

Postdoctoral Fellow

M.Sc in Mechanical Engineering (ENIM, France)
M.Sc in Science, Technology and Health (University of Lorraine, France)
PhD in Biomedical Engineering (KU Leuven, Belgium)

benjamin@dourthe.tech

Benjamin Dourthe completed his PhD in Biomedical Engineering and Data Science at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven, Belgium) in 2017. Over the last 10+ years, he has contributed to a variety of academic and industry projects in the fields of medical imaging, computer modeling, biomechanical engineering and machine learning. His current focus consists of developing deep learning-based image processing algorithms to automate the extraction of patient-specific data from various medical imaging modalities, therefore enabling treatment customization and enhancing clinical planning for better surgical outcomes.

Paris Vakiel

Postdoctoral Fellow

B. Eng (McGill University)
PhD (university of Calgary)

Dr. Paris Vakiel obtained her PhD from the University of Calgary in 2019. The focus of her PhD was knee biomechanics specifically changes in mechanical stress following ligament injury and it’s effects on articular cartilage health. Her current focus is on head and neck kinematics and understanding the biomechanical differences between the female and male response
to head impacts.

 

 

 

  • Jackie Soicher, M.A.Sc
  • Robyn Newell, Post Doctoral Researcher Fellow
  • Vanessa Thomson, M.A.Sc
  • Tim Bhatnagar, Ph.D
  • Carolyne Albert, Ph.D.
  • Sebastián Arboleda, Research Engineer
  • Oscar Ariza, M.A.Sc.
  • Chris Bailey MD, Surgeon Collaborator
  • James Boak, M.A.Sc.
  • Doug Bourne
  • Jason Chak, M.Eng., Consulting Engineer
  • Kinon Chen, Post Doctoral Researcher Fellow
  • Jesse Chen, Orthopaedic Surgeon from China
  • Anthony Choo, Ph.D.
  • Christopher Dennison, Post Doctoral Research Fellow
  • Seth Gilchrist, Ph.D.
  • Lynne Feehan, Ph.D.
  • Hanspeter Frei, Ph.D.
  • Miranda Jamieson, M.A.Sc.
  • Claire Jones, M.A.Sc., Ph.D.
  • Shannon Kroeker, M.A.Sc., Ph.D. Candidate at University of Washington, Seattle, WA
  • Chadwick Larson, M.A.Sc., Research Engineer
  • Kelsey McGivern, M.A.Sc
  • M’Beth Schoenfeld, M.A.Sc.
  • Thomas Whyte, Ph.D.
  • Ingmar Fleps, Ph.D.
  • Murielle Vuille, M.Sc.
  • Sandeep Sadaramsand, M.Eng.
  • Zelalem Abebe, M.Sc.
  • Liam Sharkey, M.A.Sc.
  • Masoud Malakoutian, Ph.D.
  • Carlos Antonio Sanchez, Post Doctoral Research Fellow
  • Shun Yamamoto, MD, Surgical Fellow
  • Josh French, B.A. Sc., Research Engineer
  • Gabrielle Booth, B.A.Sc., Research Engineer
  • Kurt McInnes, M.A.Sc., Research Engineer
  • Heather Murray, M.A.Sc.
  • Tim Nelson, PhD, Research Engineer
  • Dr. Tianlin Wen, Visiting Scientist from China
  • Danmei Lui, Post Doctoral Researcher
  • Allon Messenberg, M.A.Sc.
  • Kevin Ming, M.A.Sc., Ph.D. Candidate at University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
  • Philip Morley, M.A.Sc., Research Engineer, Stress Engineer in Metal and Mininig Industry
  • Christina Niosi
  • Colin Russell, M.A.Sc., Research Engineer
  • Amy Saari, M.A.Sc., Consulting Engineer
  • Maryam Shahrokni, M.A.Sc.
  • Simon Sjovold, M.A.Sc.
  • Carolyn Sparrey, M.A.Sc.
  • Meena Sran, PhD.
  • Fabian Steiner, M.A.Sc. (University of Bern, Switzerland), Engineer, Mathys AG Bettlach, Switzerland
  • Juay Seng Tan, Ph.D.
  • Derek Wilson, M.A.Sc.
  • Carolyn Van Toen, Ph.D.
  • Qingan Zhu, Ph.D. Visiting Scientist from China
  • Caron Fournier, Research Engineer
  • Angela Melnyk, M.A.Sc., Research Engineer
  • Hannah Gustafson, Ph.D.
  • Stephen Mattucci, Ph.D.
  • Bartholomew Scicchitano, M.A.Sc.
  • Cameron Stuart, M.A.Sc.
  • Jason Speidel, M.A.Sc.
  • Jenn Dowling-Medley, M.A.Sc.
  • Justin Yu, M.A.Sc.
  • Graham Fonseca, M.A.Sc.
  • Sarah Romani, M.A.Sc.
  • Anoosha Pai S, M.A.Sc.
  • Nikoo Soltan, M.A.Sc.