GERONTOLOGICAL PHYSIOTHERAPY IN FALLS PREVENTION AND PREHABILITATION
With
Dr Rik Dawson,
Gerontological Physiotherapist &
Postdoctoral Researcher,
Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney &
National President, Australian Physiotherapy Association
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Sydney, Australia | August 2026
Dr Rik Dawson is a gerontological physiotherapist and health leader dedicated to improving healthy ageing through evidence-based physiotherapy, digital health and health system reform. As a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney, and President of the Australian Physiotherapy Association, he combines research and policy to improve access to high quality care for older people.
With more than 30 years of experience across clinical practice Dr Dawson founded Agewell Physiotherapy, growing it into one of Australia’s largest aged care physiotherapy providers before selling the business in 2020. He now leads TOP UP Therapy, a digital health company translating his PhD research into practice through an evidence-based strength and balance exercise platform that demonstrated that physiotherapist led telehealth exercise can improve mobility, reduce falls and help older people remain independent.
Dr Dawson provides national leadership in aged care, workforce and primary care reform and serves on several Australian Government advisory committees, including the Strengthening Medicare Implementation Oversight Committee. He is also a member of Falls Prevention Alliance Australia and the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance. His research has attracted funding from the Medical Research Future Fund, ARIIA, Dementia Australia and the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases, with collaborations across Australia and Brazil.
Outside work, Dr Dawson is a trained opera singer with a Bachelor of Creative Arts, a certified yoga instructor and a regular volunteer leading singalongs in residential aged care. He is married to a physiotherapist, has a daughter who is a physiotherapist and a son studying psychology.
Source: Supplied
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9652-4711
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Investigating new approaches to target plaque inflammation in atherosclerosis
Associate Professor Peter Psaltis is an Academic Interventional Cardiologist who holds Level 2 NHMRC Career Development and National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowships. He has Faculty positions within the University of Adelaide, Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) and South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). Within SAHMRI, he is the Co-Theme Leader of the Lifelong Health, Program Leader of Heart and Vascular Health and Co-director of the Vascular Research Centre in the Lifelong Health Theme.
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ROCK-induced early-onset bowel cancer progression
Professor Michael Samuel is a cell biologist whose research interest is in understanding how cancer mechanobiology influences the tumour microenvironment, thereby promoting tumour progression. He is Professor of Matrix Biology at the University of South Australia, Adelaide and heads the Tumour Microenvironment Laboratory at the Centre for Cancer Biology and the Cancer Mechanotherapies Laboratory at the Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Health Research.
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Next generation nanomedicine and radiopharmaceuticals to treat cancer
Finding better ways of treating cancer, aside from finding a cure, aim to provide a better quality of life for those who suffer from it.
Professor Thurecht’s work focuses on nanomedicine and spans across the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and the Centre for Advanced Imaging, at the University of Queensland in Australia.
