Larissa Santos Pinto Pinheiro

Junior Researcher

Larissa Pinheiro (1989) is a Physiotherapist in the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil, working in the Physiotherapy Department and also in the Sports Training Center (CTE-UFMG). Larissa is also a member of the National Society of Sports Physiotherapy and Physical Activity (SONAFE-Brazil). She is a PhD student from Rehabilitation Sciences Graduate Program in the UFMG. She is currently studying part of her PhD as a visiting researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Her main research topic is the prevention of injuries in Paralympic athletes.

If you want to know more about her research and publications, it might be worth checking out her Orcid profile.

Carlos Jimenez

Junior Researcher

Carlos Jimenez earned his bachelor’s in health sciences and a doctorate degree in physical therapy from Florida International University (2012). He is currently the director of rehab/sports medicine at Canyon Ranch, health, wellness and performance-focused company located in Arizona, USA. His PhD research focuses on a mixed methods approach to improving athlete health and performance. Carlos has worked as the women’s national team physical therapist at the US Soccer Federation. Before this, he was a High-Performance Health Care Services Provider in the Sports Medicine Clinic for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. And before working for the USOPC, Carlos spent many years in South Florida developing a strong soccer background through his work with both academy and professional-level soccer teams, including the Fort Lauderdale Strikers FC. Additionally, Carlos worked internationally with soccer teams, including the Venezuelan men’s U-20 and senior national teams and the Legia Warsaw FC in Poland.

Isabela Rossi Portes

Junior Researcher

Isabela Rossi Portes (1983) is a PhD candidate at the Amsterdam University Medical Centers (location VU Medical Center). Her promotores are Prof. Dr. Evert Verhagen and Dr. Caroline Bolling. Her PhD project is focused on managing the Health and Performance Teams in Elite Sports. This project aims to explore the challenges of Sports Organizations Managers in monitoring the health and performance departments in elite sports.

She holds an MBA degree (2015) in Management and Leadership of High-Performance Teams from UNA and an MSc degree (2011) in Sport Sciences from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, both in Brazil.

She was a sports physiotherapist with 10 years of professional experience with high-performance athletes in Minas Tenis Clube (Brazil), especially with swimming. After that, she coordinated the health and performance department of 16 Olympic sports teams and 3 Paralympic sports teams in Esporte Clube Pinheiros, the largest multi-sport organization in Latin America. She currently works at Max Recovery, a more dynamic company that meets all sports' high-tech equipment needs.

Pablo Stegerhoek

Junior Researcher

Pablo Stegerhoek (1997) is a human movement scientist and PhD candidate at the Amsterdam Movement Science research institute at Amsterdam University Medical Centers (Amsterdam UMC). His promotores are Prof. Dr. Evert Verhagen and Dr. Paul Kuijer. His PhD project is focused on work ability in Dutch military police personnel. The aim of this project is to develop practical interventions that promote durability for the personnel in the Dutch military police.

Oriol Bonell Monsonís

Oriol Bonell Monsonís (1992) is a sports physiotherapist from Andorra. He obtained his master’s degree in Human Movement Sciences at Maastricht University. As a sports physiotherapist, he has more than seven years of experience working in clinical practice and supporting different National teams from Andorra at international events, such as the Andorran Rink Hockey and Football federations. Currently, he is a PhD Candidate at the Amsterdam University Medical Centers (location VUmc), focusing on injury prevention in the elite alpine skiing context.

Raven Chriscendo Schippers

Raven Chriscendo Schippers studied Sports Science and Biokinetics at The University of the Western Cape and obtained degrees in B. Sc Sport Science, B. Sc Biokinetics, and MSc Biokinetics. After working a qualified Biokinetics in private practice for 9 years he joined The Department of Sport, Recreation &Exercise Science at The University of the Western Cape (UWC), South Africa) in April 2019 as an Associate Lecturer. He fulfills teaching duties to undergraduate students in Impaired Motor Control (Adapted Physical Activity and Disabilities) and Biomechanics, as well as Motor Control to both Sports Science and Biokinetics Honors groups.  He supervisors and co-supervisors various Honors and Masters research projects in Sports Injuries and Prevention of sports injuries in various prioritized sporting codes at the university level.

Raven is currently enrolled as a full-time Ph.D. student at The Department of Sport, Recreation &Exercise Science at The University of the Western Cape (UWC). His Ph.D. studies focus on developing a university-based injury-monitoring system for prioritized sporting codes competing in Varsity Sports in South Africa, under the Guidance of Prof L. Leach, Prof B. Andrews, Prof Evert Verhagen, and Prof Roman Meesun. 

He enjoys and plays 5 -a-side soccer, running, curating music, and photography in his free time. 

Simone Ferreira

Simonè Ferreira (1990) is a registered Biokineticist and lecturer at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), South Africa. She sits on the Undergraduate Research Ethics Committee (UREC) and the Quality Assurance Committee for clinical practice at the UJ, and she is the programme coordinator for the Biokinetics qualification. 

Her main research topics are: 1. Prevention of sports injuries, specifically rugby and long-distance running, and 2) Gamification (4IR) in the Health and Rehabilitation setting, with specific focus on the training of students using gamification and 4IR to supplement traditional pedagogies. She supervises several Master’s projects across these fields, as well as orthopaedic assessment and rehabilitation techniques. Within the Department of Sport and Movement Studies at UJ, she teaches mainly the senior Biokinetic students, as well as the students in the Higher Certificate of Sports Coaching and Exercise Science. 

If you want to know more about her research and publications, it might be worth to check out her Orchid  (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1446-3458) profile. 

Saskia Gladdines

Saskia Gladdines (1993) is a physical therapist and completed her master in physical therapy sciences at Utrecht University. During her work as physical therapist in a private practice in Breda she is focusing on the rehabilitation of golf, sport and general injuries. She has a great clinical interest on the complex movement of the golf swing and injuries related to golf. Saskia’s PhD project is about the prevention of golf related injuries with a warm-up program and the implementation of the program.

Lervasen Pillay

With an MBChB from UP and MSc(Med)Sports Medicine Wits, he has 4 private practices around Johannesburg and involved with high performance athletes in Football, Cricket, Rugby and Athletics for over 18 years. Presently he is the Central Gauteng Lions Cricket head of medical, a lecturer, examiner and researcher at Wits (WiSH), CESSM and UP, the TUEC Chairperson, a SASCOC accredited provider, Occupational Health, a permanent impairment evaluator and the CMO for a paramedic company. Previously he was the SA CMO at World Champs in 2011, Africa Champs in 2012, AUSC games in 2016, Bidvestwits FC and the DCO for the 2009 Confederations Cup at Loftus Versfeld stadium.  His special interest in long term athletic development medical care.

Johan Le Roux

Johan le Roux is a researcher, registered clinical psychologist and multi-award winning rugby broadcaster in South Africa. He completed a master’s degree in clinical psychology in 2021 at the Nelson Mandela University. He also holds two honours degrees (both Cum Laude), a bachelors degree and was awarded the Dean’s Merit Award by the University of the Western Cape in 2019. 

He runs his own clinical psychology practice in Somerset West where he works with adults, adolescents as well as elite and amateur athletes. As a rugby broadcaster he provided coverage for South Africa’s national broadcaster at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and has provided lead commentary on multiple rugby test matches across the African continent. 

Alex Walinga

I’m Alex Walinga (1993), a Medical Doctor since Augusts 2020. During my master of medicine, I started out as a research fellow at the department of Orthopaedic Surgery in Amsterdam UMC. This resulted in a position as PhD-candidate under supervision of prof. dr. Kerkhoffs in team Nano. My main research focuses on the management of bacterial arthritis with a recent technical innovation called the NanoScope, a 1.9-mm diameter needle arthroscope. Additionally, my interest also lies in other surgical or diagnostic options with the NanoScope.

Quinten Rikken

Junior Researcher

Quinten Rikken (1996) is a clinical researcher based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and currently active as a MD/PhD student at the department of orthopaedic surgery at Amsterdam UMC. His research predominantly focusses on (sport) injuries of the foot and ankle.

After completing a research internship at the foot and ankle division of the department of orthopaedic surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston (USA), he continued his PhD research in Amsterdam, focussing on the diagnosis and treatment of cartilage injuries of the ankle under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Gino Kerkhoffs and Dr. Sjoerd Stufkens.

Quinten is a member of the European Society of Sports Traumatology, Knee surgery and Arthroscopy (ESSKA), a web-editor of the Journal of Experimental Orthopaedics (JEO), and a peer-reviewer for KSSTA and a number of orthopaedic and non-orthopaedic journals. He happily enjoys his scientific and clinical work and is motivated by sports.