Dr Fiona Knapman

Fiona Knapman is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Biomedical Engineering at UNSW Sydney.

Fiona's research career commenced following her undergraduate studies at the University of Sydney (B.Eng (Biomedical, First Class Honours) / B.Sc (Neuroscience)), when she joined Prof Lynne Bilston's group at NeuRA as a Research Assistant, contributing to large clinical studies investigating obstructive sleep apnoea phenotypes and predictors of oral appliance therapy success. She then pursued her PhD examining the use of optogenetics to restore upper airway muscle function as a therapeutic approach for obstructive sleep apnoea, where current treatments are often limited by poor tolerance and unpredictable efficacy. Fiona continues this work as a Postdoctoral Fellow at UNSW and NeuRA, with the goal of progressing towards clinical translation.

Looking ahead, Fiona's interests lie in applying the optogenetic and gene therapy tools developed through her research more broadly, with the potential to restore neuromuscular function in other conditions where neural control is impaired or lost, such as spinal cord injury and motor neuron disease.