BRL News

UOW PhD Student Catherine Wild Judged “Best of the Best”

Professor Julie Steele, Catherine Wild with the ASICS Medal, and Mr Mark Doherty,
General Manager of Product, ASICS Oceania

Catherine Wild, BRL PhD, has just returned from Western Australia, having been awarded the premier prize at the prestigious Australian Conference of Science and Medicine in Sport, held in Fremantle.  Catherine was initially awarded the Asics Award for Best New Investigator – Lower Limb, for her paper titled “Does higher anterior knee joint laxity alter landing biomechanics in pubescent girls?”.  The top papers from each of five categories within the conference (Clinical Sports Medicine, Exercise & Sports Science, Injury Prevention, Physical Activity, and Lower Limb) are then invited to re-present their papers in a plenary “Battle of the Best” session, which showcases the best research presented during the conference.  An esteemed panel consisting of the keynote speakers from the conference then judge the premier paper from this elite group to determine the recipient of the ASICS Medal for the best conference paper overall.  Although still a new investigator, Catherine’s paper was deemed the best in her category and she was therefore given the opportunity to re-present her paper against some of the most experienced researchers in their fields within Australia.  Announcing the winner of this prestigious award at the conference closing banquet, a shocked but delighted Catherine, was presented with the ASICS Medal (and her $3,000 prize) by Mr Mark Doherty, General Manager of Product, ASICS Oceania.  As the best new investigator, Catherine was also awarded a presentation package to attend the prestigious American College of Sports Medicine Meeting in 2012. The presentation package includes a registration waiver and support for travel expenses ($3,000), together with a guaranteed place in the American College of Sports Medicineprogram.   

As her supervisors, Bridget and I are extremely proud of Catherine's amazing achievement.