As per the bylaws, the World Falls Prevention Society (WFPS) will be conducting elections for its Executive Council before the upcoming World Falls Congress in Manchester later this month. Elected Executive Council members will serve for a six-year term, while the elected student/early career researcher will serve a three-year term. Elected positions to be voted on include two Executive Council members from both Europe and the Asia Pacific and one Early Career Researcher member.
All full members will receive an email with a unique link by which they can place their votes for the different positions available. Voting will close on Wednesday the 24th of June at 5pm (British Summer Time).
The successful candidates will be announced at the WFPS Annual General Meeting which will be held at 5.30pm on Thursday 25th of June at the World Falls Congress venue. All members are encouraged to attend.
Africa WFPS Executive Council candidate (one position available)
| Nkiru Jibuaku, Nigeria | I am a physiotherapist based in Lagos, Nigeria, with over two decades of clinical experience and a strong focus on healthy ageing, falls prevention, and rehabilitation. I hold an MSc in Physiotherapy and a master’s degree in Healthy Ageing and Rehabilitation, both of which have shaped my commitment to addressing the growing burden of functional decline and disability among older adults. My clinical work spans musculoskeletal and neurohabilitation, older adult mobility, and community-based physiotherapy, with a particular emphasis on fall-risk reduction, long-term care, and enabling ageing in place. I am currently the physiotherapy manager and head of rehabilitation at Evercare Hospital, Lekki, Lagos. I have contributed to professional discussions on strengthening rehabilitation systems in low-resource settings and have engaged in scholarly activities through physiotherapy webinars, educating on key ageing issues that remain largely unaddressed in Nigeria. I contributed to the World Physiotherapy Conference in 2025 through presentations focused on contextualising global falls prevention guidelines within the Nigerian context. In addition, I serve as the Nigeria Country Representative for IPTOP, the International Association of Physiotherapists working with Older People, a World Physiotherapy subgroup focused on older adult health, healthy ageing, and rehabilitation. Yours sincerely, Nkiru |
Asia Pacific WFPS Executive Council candidates (two positions available)
| Anne Tiedemann, Australia | I wish to nominate for re-election to the World Falls Prevention Society Executive Council. Since 2023 I have served as an active member of the World Falls Prevention Society Executive Council and chaired the Communications Committee. In this role I established and managed the LinkedIn page, growing our followers to over 500 from across the globe in the past 8 months, and have produced biannual (or more frequent) newsletters to our members. I am committed to continuing this contribution, to growing the Society membership, and to promoting fall prevention research. I am an internationally recognised leader in falls prevention research for older adults, focused on developing and implementing scalable, cost-effective exercise and physical activity strategies. Ranked #6 worldwide for research on accidental falls (194 peer-reviewed publications, H-index 56), I contribute to major international and national guidelines, including the World Falls Guidelines and Australian falls guidelines, and my expertise informs policy and practice globally through roles such as Cochrane review co-author, injury prevention advisor, and chair of an international ageing research group. I am also an Executive Committee member of the ANZ Falls Prevention Society, hosted its 2025 conference, and have attended and presented my research at every ANZ Falls Prevention Society conference, including invited keynotes in 2018 and 2023 (co-hosted with the World Falls Society). If re-elected to the World Falls Prevention Society Executive Council, I will use my strong global networks, including with the WHO, policymakers, professional bodies, health services, and media, to elevate the visibility and impact of falls prevention research and to drive the translation of evidence into policy, practice, and meaningful outcomes for older adults worldwide. |
| Jagadish K. Chhetri, Nepal | I write express my willingness to stand as an Executive member of The World Falls Prevention Society – European Region for the period 2026 – 2032. I have been researching the psychology of falls and their prevention since my postgraduate studies in 2003 (MSc, PhD). Over two decades, I have published work that has examined older adults’ uptake and adherence to fall prevention interventions, behaviour change techniques that facilitate participation in exercise-based interventions, Tai Chi for improving balance and preventing falls among older adults with dementia, and more recently, concerns about falls as a member of the World Falls Guidelines Working Group on Concerns About Falling. I have enjoyed international research collaborations and acted as behaviour change consultant on projects led by colleagues in Australia (randomised controlled trial and systematic reviews), Malaysia (observational cohort study), and Sweden (feasibility study). I was lead editor for The Palgrave Handbook of Ageing and Physical Activity Promotion (2018, pp.758), and Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Aging and Physical Activity (2020-2022). I am committed to falls prevention research and acting as an executive member would facilitate my plans for continuing and expanding international research collaborations and becoming more involved in the work of the Society, particularly with the World Falls Guidelines. |
| Maoyi Tian, China | My name is Professor Maoyi Tian. I am a current member of the World Falls Prevention Society and currently serve as Vice Dean of the School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, China. I also serve as Director of the Institute for Endemic Fluorosis Control, Center for Endemic Disease Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Director of the NHC Key Laboratory of Etiology and Epidemiology. My research has focused on the prevention and management of chronic diseases and injuries in primary care and community settings. Over the past years, I have led and contributed to large-scale population-based studies and public health intervention research, with a particular interest in improving health outcomes in aging populations and low-resource communities. My work has been published in leading international journals, including JAMA, The New England Journal of Medicine, Circulation, The Lancet Public Health, and JAMA Cardiology. I also serve in several national academic societies related to general practice, injury prevention and control, and healthy aging. I would be honoured to be considered for the WFPS Executive Council. If elected, I would hope to contribute my experience in public health research, injury prevention, primary care, and population health to support the mission of the Society. I am also eager to help strengthen capacity building and collaboration between WFPS and researchers, practitioners, and institutions in the Asia/Pacific region, particularly in China and other low- and middle-resource settings. |
| Maw Pin Tan, Malaysia | Professor Tan Maw Pin is a consultant geriatrician and Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Malaya with an internationally recognised track record in falls prevention, syncope, healthy ageing and frailty research. Trained in the United Kingdom and Malaysia, she previously served as Consultant Geriatrician with a specialist interest in Falls and Syncope at the Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Foundation Trust before returning to Malaysia to establish the first dedicated Falls and Syncope Service at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre. Professor Tan has led and collaborated on numerous major ageing and falls-related research programmes, including the Malaysian Falls Assessment and Intervention Trial (MyFAIT), the Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research (MELoR) study, and the AGELESS programme. She was a contributing author to the World Guidelines for Falls Prevention and Management for Older Adults and continues to contribute actively to global falls prevention initiatives and implementation research. She is the founding secretary, former president and current Committee Member of the Malaysian Society of Geriatric Medicine, and currently serves as Council Member of the College of Physicians of Malaysia. She also played a founding role in establishing the Malaysian Falls Prevention Network and the Asian Falls Network, and was Organising Chairperson of the inaugural World Falls Congress 2019 held in Kuala Lumpur. Her work focuses on translating research into practical, scalable approaches to falls prevention and healthy ageing across low- and middle-income settings in Asia. |
Europe WFPS Executive Council candidates (two positions available)
| Chris Todd, UK | Chris was Director NIHR Policy Research Unit Older People and Frailty, and is Co-Director NIHR Healthy Ageing Policy Research Unit. He co-led NIHR Applied Research Collaborations National Priority Area in Healthy Ageing, Dementia and Frailty, and led Healthy Ageing, NIHR ARC-Greater Manchester. Until recently he led the Healthy Ageing Research Group at The University of Manchester. Chris is a NIHR Senior Investigator, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and a Former Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge. Chris leads the Vivensa Foundation/NIHR/University of Manchester Healthy Ageing Research PhD pro-gramme. During the COVID-19 pandemic Chris sat on the UK Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) Social Care Working Group. Chris led the ProFaNE- Prevention of Falls Network Europe and the ProFouND- Prevention of Falls Network for Dissemination EC funded networks and the team that developed the Falls Efficacy Scale-International FES-I fear of falling measure. He was a co-author of the 2007 WHO Global Report on Falls Prevention in Older Age, and a member of the World Falls Prevention Guidelines Working Party which published the Global Falls Prevention Guidelines in 2022. Chris’s work is broadly Health and Care Services and Policy Research related to promoting healthy ageing. Projects include fall prevention, promotion of resilience and activity promotion amongst older people, including the use of technologies in support of interventions with older people. His work spans international stage (working with WHO and EC), national (working with Department of Health & Social Care), and local (working with Greater Manchester and northern region to implement evidence and produce resources to improve the lives of older people). Chris obtained BA, MA, PhD in Psychology from Durham University, and prior to being appointed to his Chair in Manchester worked in Ulster University and University of Cambridge (where he led Health Services Research Group). Over the last 30 years Chris has been Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on more than 100 grants and fellowships worth approximately £60 million. He has more than 380 peer reviewed research publications and more than 65 reports to government and statutory agencies etc. He has been invited to speak at more than 100 international/national conferences. For a decade Chris was Director of Research for his School at The University of Manchester and led it through two research assessment exercises ensuring top results within the subject areas (RAE2008:UoA11, Results click here; REF2014 UoA3 Results click here). He has sat, and continues to sit, on several UK, European and international advisory and funding panels. Chris is an experienced PhD supervisor with 45 former PhD students, and two ongoing. He is a foundation executive member of the World Falls Prevention Society and a founder member of the European Falls Festival congress. He is on the organising and scientific committees of the World Falls Congress 2026 to be held in Manchester. Over the years he has served on numerous scientific and advisory committees. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/chris.todd.html http://www.opfpru.nihr.ac.uk https://arc-gm.nihr.ac.uk/healthy-ageing https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/healthy-ageing/ |
| Jesper Ryg, Denmark | Professor Jesper Ryg is a consultant geriatrician and Clinical Chair Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen University Hospital Herlev & Gentofte. He is internationally recognized for his research within falls, fractures, frailty, and deprescribing, ranking among the top 0.25% of experts worldwide in falls prevention and currently the highest ranked Danish geriatrician within this field. He has authored more than 180 peer-reviewed publications and has played a central role in several international initiatives related to falls prevention, including serving as steering committee member and co-author of the World Falls Guidelines, as well as contributing to the Danish translation of the guidelines as senior author. Professor Ryg is a foundation Executive Council member and current Secretary of the World Falls Prevention Society (WFPS), and has actively contributed to the society through participation in executive activities and the organizing and scientific commit-tees of the World Falls Congress 2026. He previously served as co-chair of the European Geriatric Medicine Society (EuGMS) Special Interest Group on Falls and Fractures and is co-founder and board member of the Danish Fragility Fracture Network. Over the years, he has served on numerous national and international scientific and advisory committees within geriatrics, falls prevention, osteoporosis, and healthy ageing. |
| Jodi Ventre, UK | I am a dedicated fall prevention researcher and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Bradford, UK. Since completing my PhD in 2022, which focused on identifying fall risk factors in middle-aged and older adults and exploring the wider consequences of falling, I have maintained a strong commitment to reducing falls and improving quality of life for at-risk populations. In recent years, I have begun to establish an independent programme of research that advances understanding of fall risk factors, evidence-based intervention strategies, and implementation practices across both healthcare and community settings. Alongside my research activities, I have actively taken on leadership responsibilities, including serving as a member of the Falls and Bone Health Special Interest Group for the British Geriatrics Society and contributing directly to the work of the World Falls Guidelines Concerns About Falling Working Group. Through these roles, I have supported strategic planning, encouraged interdisciplinary collaboration, and worked to translate research evidence into practical approaches aimed at reducing falls and associated harm. As an early career researcher committed to advancing fall prevention research and practice, I would welcome the opportunity to contribute further by serving as a member of the Executive Committee for the European Region. |
| Samuel Nyman, UK | I write express my willingness to stand as an Executive member of The World Falls Prevention Society – European Region for the period 2026 – 2032. I have been researching the psychology of falls and their prevention since my postgraduate studies in 2003 (MSc, PhD). Over two decades, I have published work that has examined older adults’ uptake and adherence to fall prevention interventions, behaviour change techniques that facilitate participation in exercise-based interventions, Tai Chi for improving balance and preventing falls among older adults with dementia, and more recently, concerns about falls as a member of the World Falls Guidelines Working Group on Concerns About Falling. I have enjoyed international research collaborations and acted as behaviour change consultant on projects led by colleagues in Australia (randomised controlled trial and systematic reviews), Malaysia (observational cohort study), and Sweden (feasibility study). I was lead editor for The Palgrave Handbook of Ageing and Physical Activity Promotion (2018, pp.758), and Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Aging and Physical Activity (2020-2022). I am committed to falls prevention research and acting as an executive member would facilitate my plans for continuing and expanding international research collaborations and becoming more involved in the work of the Society, particularly with the World Falls Guidelines. |
| Toby Ellmers, UK | Dr Toby Ellmers, Research Fellow at Imperial College London, is Co-Lead of the “Con-cerns About Falling” working group within the World Falls Guidelines recommendation committee. He is a leading authority on how psychological factors influence the brain’s control of balance and contribute more broadly to falls risk. He has led seminal re-search that has transformed our understanding of how best to assess and manage these risk factors in clinical settings. Dr Ellmers also serves on the board of the Interna-tional Society for Posture and Gait Research (ISPGR) and is excited to bring his exper-tise, leadership, and passion to the World Falls Prevention Society. |
WFPS Student / Early Career Researcher candidates (one position available)
| Cameron Hicks, Australia | I am a PhD candidate at the Falls, Balance and Injury Research Centre at Neuroscience Research Australia. My research is currently focussed on the validation of the World Falls Guidelines Fall Risk Algorithm and what are the best simple tests for predicting falls in community-living older adults. I hold a BSc in Health and Exercise Science and previously worked clinically as an Exercise Physiologist, working with older adults living in aged care facilities. I have 16years experience working in Fall Prevention Research, investigating physiological fall risk factors and interventions to prevent falls. I currently work as the Project Officer for both the World Falls Prevention Society (2024-present) and Australia New Zealand Fall Prevention Society (2023-present) and was the previous Project Officer for the NSW Fall Prevention and Healthy Ageing Network (2019-2022). Additionally I am the co-chair the Early to Mid-Career Committee at Neuroscience Research Australia and was the previous secretary for this committee (2023-present). These roles have provided opportunities to organise conferences, webinars and networking events for clinicians and early career researchers alongside relevant falls academic experience (e.g. contributing to the 2023 update of the Australian Falls Guidelines). |
| Junyi Peng, China | My name is Junyi Peng. I am currently a student member of the World Falls Prevention Society and a PhD candidate in Epidemiology and Health Statistics at the School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, China, under the supervision of Professor Maoyi Tian. I am writing to support my nomination for the position of Student / Early Career Researcher Representative on the Executive Council of the World Falls Prevention Society. I received five years of undergraduate training in Preventive Medicine at Harbin Medical University. In September 2022, I began my postgraduate study in Epidemiology and Health Statistics, and in September 2024, I continued in the same program as a PhD candidate through the master-doctoral program. My research mainly focuses on healthy aging, rural population health, and disease prevention in low-resource settings. In particular, I am interested in the prevention of falls and fall-related injuries among older adults living in rural communities in China. Falls are an important cause of injury, disability, loss of independence, and reduced quality of life among older people. This problem is especially challenging in rural areas, where health resources and access to preventive services are often limited. These challenges have motivated me to develop and evaluate practical, scalable, and community-based fall prevention strategies for older adults in rural China. During my master’s and PhD studies, I have participated in several epidemiological studies related to rural health, healthy aging, multimorbidity, chronic disease prevention, and injury prevention. These include studies on falls among older patients with hip fracture, multimorbidity among rural adults, and chronic disease risks among middle-aged and older adults in cold and low- resource areas. Based on these experiences, I further designed and led a large cluster randomized controlled trial among older adults living in rural communities across several Chinese provinces. This study evaluates a comprehensive fall prevention intervention based on exercise, supported by community-based health education, and integrated with the primary health care system. Through this work, I have gained experience in study design, field implementation, community engagement, project coordination, data collection, and statistical analysis. My research outputs have been published in international peer-reviewed journals, including JAMA and BMC Geriatrics. I have also presented my work at international academic meetings, including the Second World Falls Congress and the 10th Australian and New Zealand Falls Prevention Society Conference in Perth in 2023. These experiences have strengthened my commitment to fall prevention research and helped me recognize the importance of international collaboration in improving older adults’ health. I expect to complete my PhD in 2027 and plan to remain at Harbin Medical University to continue my academic career. In the future, my research will continue to focus on healthy aging, especially injury prevention among older adults in rural and low-resource settings. I hope to develop prevention strategies that can be integrated into primary health care systems and delivered effectively in communities. If elected, I would be honoured to serve as the Student / Early Career Researcher Representative. I hope to represent the voices of students and early-career researchers, especially those from low- and middle-income countries and rural research settings. I would also be eager to support communication, collaboration, and engagement among young researchers in the field of fall prevention. I am strongly committed to the mission of the World Falls Prevention Society and would be grateful for the opportunity to contribute actively to its Executive Council. |
| Lotta Seppala, The Netherlands | I am working as a postdoc, at the Amsterdam UMC in the Netherlands. I finished my PhD in 2022 on fall-risk-increasing drugs (FRIDs) and after that have continued research on falls prevention (Lotta SEPPALA | Postdoc | Internal Medicine | Research profile). I was a member of the working group on polypharmacy and FRIDs for the WFG and have co-authored several papers on the implementation of the WFG (Lotta SEPPALA | Postdoc | Internal Medicine | Research profile). I’m also a working group member of the newly established implementation working group of the WFG. In addition, I’m the chair of the European Geriatric Medicine Society (EuGMS) Task and Finish Group on FRIDs and I served as a secretary for the EuGMS SIG on Falls and Fractures (2021-2025). |
| Maria Fernanda Fuentes Diaz, Canada | My name is Fernanda Diaz, I’m a PhD student in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of New Brunswick (UNB), Canada, with a background in kinesiology and physiotherapy. My research focuses on fall prevention among older adults, particularly the implementation of evidence-based exercise programs and the use of digital interventions to support community-based initiatives. I have conducted multi-methods research to enhance participation and delivery of tele-exercise and fall prevention programs, and I am currently involved in developing and testing implementation strategies to improve access, engagement and sustainability of these interventions. My work emphasises collaboration with older adults, exercise leaders, and community organizations to design practical solutions that support healthy aging. I have experience supporting both professional and students’ societies. I’ve been the Secretary of the Communication Council of the Mexican Physiotherapy Organization since 2022, where I have supported the organization’s visibility and communication strategies with our members. Moreover, I am the President of the Interdisciplinary Student Society at UNB where I contribute to initiatives that support graduate student engagement, communication, and community-building within the program. My application is seconded by Dr. Danielle Bouchard, a current member of the World Falls Prevention Society. |
| Sara Vandervelde, Belgium | Dr. Sara Vandervelde is a postdoctoral researcher at KU Leuven (Belgium) specialized in falls prevention and implementation science. With a background in nursing, health care management, and policy, she has extensive experience in developing, implementing, and evaluating multifactorial falls prevention interventions across community and residential care settings. Her PhD (BE-EMPOWERed study) focused on improving the uptake and effectiveness of falls prevention interventions among community-dwelling older adults, securing substantial Flemish Government funding and reaching policymakers, healthcare professionals, and older populations. She has contributed to national guideline development, large-scale awareness campaigns, and implementation projects. Her work is internationally embedded through collaborations with University of Amsterdam and research stays at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) and the University of New South Wales. Sara is actively engaged in the global falls prevention community through conference organization (EU Falls Festival 2022), international presentations, publications, peer review activities, and leadership roles, including co-chair of the WFPS Symposium (EuGMS 2025) and co-chair of the WFPS Working Group on Implementation. Her work bridges research, policy, and practice, with a strong focus on sustainable implementation and real-world impact. |
| Shivam Sharma, Australia | My name is Shivam Sharma, a physiotherapist specialised in sports injuries and geriatric rehabilitation. I hold a Bachelor of Physical Therapy from Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), India and a Master of Sports Physiotherapy from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS-GNDU Department Of Sports Sciences And Medicine), India. My clinical training and professional practice provided me with rich, hands‑on experience in healthy ageing and physical activity. These experiences strongly influenced and shaped my sustained interest in this area. Presently, I am a PhD candidate at the Falls, Balance and Injury Research Centre, NeuRA and Faculty of Medicine and Health, UNSW Sydney. My research focuses on developing low-cost and accessible perturbation training program NeuRA | LEAP Fall Prevention Training | Neuroscience Research… which could help in improving reactive balance, an important component of fall prevention in older adults. These low‑cost methods can be easily implemented in low‑resource settings that often struggle to address reactive balance in their patients. Also, I have a committed interest in interdisciplinary research, knowledge translation into clinical practice and policymaking. As part of my experience to similar societies, I co‑founded the Student Association of Physical Therapy in India and served as its National General Secretary for over 4 years, leading student‑focused initiatives and coordinating professional events, including conferences and workshops. I currently serve as Co‑Secretary of the Early–Mid Career Research Committee (EMCC) at NeuRA, where I contribute to engagement activities for early- and mid‑career researchers at the institute. In addition to that, I am a member of International Association of Physiotherapists working with Older People (IPTOP) and a Life-time member for Indian Association Physical Therapy (Older persons speciality group). I would love to be a part of the vision of WFPS and I believe my passion and capabilities will assist me in contributing as a young team member to the organisation. |
The following members will continue to serve as Executive Council Members:
- Professor Manuel Montaro Odasso, Canada – President
- Professor Stephen Lord, Australia – Past President
- Emeritus A/Professor Sebastiana Kalula, South Africa
- Professor Kim Delbaere, Australia
- Professor Devinder Kaur Ajit Singh, Malaysia
- Doctor Marcelo Schapira, Argentina
- A/Professor Daniela Cristina Carvalho de Abreu, Brazil
- Professor Koen Milisen, The Netherlands
- Professor Nathalie van der Velde, The Netherlands
- Professor Teresa Liu-Ambrose, Canada
- Professor Joe Verghese, USA
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