Kim Delbaere

Professor Kim Delbaere is the Discipline Lead of Physiotherapy at the School of Health Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, where she leads the strategic direction, growth and innovation of physiotherapy education, research and professional engagement. She also holds appointments as Senior Principal Research Scientist at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) and Director of Innovation & Translation at the Falls, Balance & Injury Research Centre. Originally trained in Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy at Ghent University, Belgium, Professor Delbaere completed her PhD in 2005 on falls in older people. In 2006, she moved to Australia to join NeuRA, where she began pioneering work on fear of falling in older adults. Her multidisciplinary research has since transformed our understanding of the physical, psychological and cognitive contributors to falls, and how these factors can be targeted to improve health, independence and quality of life in ageing populations. Over the past decade, she has led the development of validated digital health interventions and assessment tools that are now used globally in clinical trials, health services and policy. Her work has been cited in international clinical guidelines, informed government strategies and influenced the design of commercial health technologies adopted by industry leaders. Professor Delbaere is committed to translating research into real-world solutions that make a measurable difference to people’s lives. She leads large-scale clinical trials, works closely with health services and aged care providers and engages with policymakers to embed evidence-based fall prevention into practice. Her contributions to medical research have been recognised through multiple NHMRC excellence awards and sustained success in securing competitive research funding. healthy ageing, physical activity, clinical trials, chronic disease management, health belief and behaviour change (e.g. physical activity behaviour)