Speakers

Jon Adams was originally trained in health social science and has over 30 years of experience in public health / health services research and research capacity building. His research and leadership excellence have been recognised via a number of national and international awards including Public Health Association of Australia National Mentor of the Year, 3 consecutive NHMRC/ARC Fellowships and a Fulbright Senior Scholarship. Jon has designed and led a suite of international research leadership programmes over the last decade which have mentored over 100 early-career and mid-career researchers to date.

Julie Fritz is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy & Athletic Training at the University of Utah. Dr. Fritz's research career has focused on developing and evaluating nonpharmacologic interventions for patients with chronic pain. She is currently a Principal Investigator for clinical trials investigating nonpharmacologic interventions for persons with chronic musculoskeletal pain funded through the NIH-VA-DoD Pain Management Collaboratory, the NIH HEAL Pragmatic and Implementation Studies for the Management of Pain to Reduce Opioid Prescribing (PRISM) and Back Pain Consortium (BACPAC) programs, PCORI, and the Department of Defense. Federal agencies have continuously funded Dr. Fritz's research since 2008, and her work has included rigorous clinical trials published in high-impact journals. In addition, these studies have provided Dr. Fritz with the opportunity to engage with interdisciplinary teams of physical therapists, physicians, behavioral health specialists, informaticists, biostatisticians and healthcare economists. Her experience and expertise in developing and evaluating interventions for persons with chronic pain, and leading inter-disciplinary teams conducting clinical trials will be invaluable in the role as a Principal Investigator for the University of Utah Program to Provide Pain Research Knowledge (UP3RK) along with Dr. Adam Gordon.

Deborah Falla is an expert in rehabilitation science and musculoskeletal physiotherapy. Her research utilises state of the art electrophysiological measures to evaluate the control of human movement and how it is affected or adapted in response to various states including pain, injury, fatigue and training. Her research interests also include optimising the management of musculoskeletal conditions with a particular interest in neck pain, low back pain, whiplash and headache.

Her journey as an advocate began following a life-altering car accident in 1998. Experiencing life as a wheelchair user firsthand revealed the systemic and daily accessibility barriers faced by individuals with disabilities. Over the past two decades, she has dedicated herself to creating change, serving as Chairwoman of the Direction Association for the Handicapped, contributing to numerous government advisory panels, and currently serving as Vice-Chair of the Joint Council for Persons with Disabilities (PWD).

As a designer, she approaches design as a tool to solve everyday challenges and elevate quality of life. Through her project, Sense Idea, she leverages human-centered design to foster personal independence and shift societal mindsets toward disability.

She advocates for a holistic model of disability support: while medical physicians facilitate initial healing and allied health professionals guide functional recovery, policymakers must transition from a charity-based mindset to a rights-based framework. She believes that true inclusion requires this multi-sector collaboration.