SPEAKERS.
​MEET PROF. AMIT GEFEN
Prof. Amit Gefen received the B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Tel Aviv University in 1994, 1997, and 2001, respectively. During 2002-2003 he was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. He is currently a Full Professor with the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering of Tel Aviv University.
The research interests of Prof. Gefen are in studying normal and pathological effects of biomechanical factors on the structure and function of cells, tissues and organs, with emphasis on applications in chronic wound research. In 2007-2008 he was a visiting scientist at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, where he developed tissue-engineered model systems to study pressure ulcers.
To date, Prof. Gefen published more than 180 articles in peer-reviewed international journals, many of which on mechanobiology, cell and tissue biomechanics.
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He has been the President of the European Pressure Ulcer Society (the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel, www.epuap.org) in 2013-2015.
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In 2015, he was awarded the Editorial Excellence Award by the Annals of Biomedical Engineering and the Biomedical Engineering Society in the USA.
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Prof. Gefen is advising and reviewing for funding bodies worldwide including the European Commission. He also serves as the Chair of Scientific Advisory Boards of large international corporates.
​MEET
AMY DARVALL
Amy Darvall is the Co-founder/Director of Holistic Nursing Solutions in QLD. Amy is a Registered Nurse who has a masters in wound care and has a special interest in the prevention and management of wounds with people who have acquired catastrophic injuries eg SCI.
Amy is an active member of Wounds Australia and has been an AWMA committee member in both the NSW and QLD.
She has given clinical presentations both national and internationally and recently participated in the guideline development of the 2014 International Prevention and management of pressure ulcers: Clinical practice guidelines.
​MEET
MALCOLM TURNBULL
In January 1980, at age 19, Mal Turnbull was in a passenger in a motor vehicle accident which resulted in a complete spinal cord injury at T5 level. The experience of the acute post injury care, the subsequent rehab period and exposure to the real life impact of pressure injury left a deep and abiding impact and has helped determine how he looks after his health and more specifically skin.
As a wheelchair user Mal has seen many improvements in equipment and treatments over the years, but some basic daily care routines have stayed the same.
Mal has led an active lifestyle and has managed to be largely pressure injury free. His work roles have spanned many disciplines, from working as a mechanical engineer, a computer programmer and consultant, playing wheelchair basketball in the UK/Europe for a couple of seasons, 16 years running a business that specialised in assistive technologies and now working with Permobil.
With extensive work, travel and life experience as a wheelchair user Mal brings 36 years of lived insights into pressure care, managing pressure injury risks and maintaining an active lifestyle.
