Conjoint Senior Lecturer
Dr Jasmine Menant
Medicine & Health
School of Population Health
Dr Menant is a Research Fellow within the Falls, Balance and Injury Research Centre at NeuRA and a Conjoint Lecturer within the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at UNSW. She has a PhD in applied physiology / biomechanics from UNSW. Her research aims to investigate and improve balance, mobility, physical function and falls in ageing and clinical populations with motor and cognitive impairments. To this aim, she conducts experimental trials, longitiudinal studies and randomised-controlled trials.
Dr Menant is also actively engaged in research translation. She sits on the Executive Board of the Australia New-Zealand Falls Prevention Society and is currently leading the update of the Best Practice National Falls Prevention Guidelines for Community settings. She is also the co-editor of the International Society of Posture and Gait Research online Blog.
Research Interests:
Her research interests are threefold: (i) understanding risk factors for falls in older people and clinical groups; (ii) investigating sensory, cognitive and neuromuscular factors contributing to postural stability, stepping and gait in aging and clinical populations; (iii) undertaking clinical trials to determine the effects of exercise interventions on falls and other health outcomes in ageing and clinical groups.
Broad Research Areas:
Ageing, Physiology, Neuroscience, Gerontology - Geriatrics, Biomechanics
Qualifications:
BSc Hons, PhD
Specific Research Keywords:
Falls prevention, Sensory Mechanisms, Balance, Biomechanics, Human Movement and Sensation; Gait; Ageing;
Phone
93991267
E-mail
Location
Falls, Balance and Injuries Research Centre, NeuRA
- Publications
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
2021
Multiple Sclerosis Research Association Project Grant (Hoang, Lord and Menant) ($240,000) (2021-2023), “Tailored exercise targeting identified weak muscle groups and impaired gait to maximise mobility in people with Multiple Sclerosis”
2020
UNSW Research Infrastructure Scheme (Butler …, Menant et al) ($151,845)
2018
UNSW Cancer Clinical Academic Group Seed Grant (Goldstein, Park, McCrary, Menant, Harris and Simar) ($200,000) (2019-20), “Exercise rehabilitation for cancer survivors with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: Impact and mechanisms”
SPHERE Age and Ageing Clinical Academic Group Project Seed Grant (Lord …Menant) ($44,433), “Implementation of a novel exergaming system for improving balance and mobility in aged care rehabilitation”
2017
UNSW Major Research Equipment and Instructure Initiative grant (Lord, […] Menant […]) - ($ 404,120), “Perturbation treadmill and Laboratory Manager”.
Parkinson's NSW Research Grant (Lord, Sturnieks, Okubo, Menant) ($ 48,143) “Reactive and volitional step training to reduce risk of falling in people with Parkinson’s disease: A randomized controlled trial”
2015
UNSW Major Research Equipment and Instructure Initiative grant (Lord, […] Menant […]) - ($ 218,097), “Movement Analysis System”.
2014
NHMRC (National Health & Medical Research Council) Project Grant – CIB (Sturnieks, Menant, Valenzuela and Delbaere) – ($ 1,558 415) (2015 - 2019) “A randomised controlled trial of cognitive-only and cognitive-motor training to prevent falls in older people: understanding physical, neuropsychological and neural mechanisms”
2013
APEX Foundation Research grant – CIC (Porter, Hocking, Menant) – ($ 17,857) “Exploring attention and motor control in Williams Syndrome””
France-Australia Science Innovation Collaboration Program – Early Career Fellowship ($ 4,800) “– collaboration with Dr C Assaiante, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, University Aix-Marseille on neuroimaging studies in children and adolescents.
2012
NHMRC Project Grant - CIB (Lord, Menant, Migliaccio, Titov, Close and Delbaere) – ($ 589,772) (2012 - 2015) “A randomised controlled trial of dizziness interventions based on a multidisciplinary assessment in older people: towards the development of a multiple profile assessment of dizziness – the MPA-D”
APEX Foundation Research grant – CIC (Hocking, Porter, Menant et al) – ($ 20,140) “Exploring the cognitive-motor profile in individuals with intellectual disability”
France-Australia Science Innovation Collaboration Program – Early Career Fellowship ($ 5,777) – collaboration with Dr C Assaiante, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, University Aix-Marseille on neuroimaging studies in children and adolescents.
2010
UNSW Medicine, Early Career Researcher grant - ($ 20,000), “Sensory and neuromuscular mechanisms underlying the relationship between body composition and physical function in older people”
My current research projects include:
Randomised-controlled trials
- An interactive step training RCT to reduce falls in people with Multiple Sclerosis
- SAFE-PD (Stepping to avoid falls events in people with Parkinson’s disease)
- Cognitive-only and cognitive-motor training to prevent falls in older people
- Exercise rehabilitation for cancer survivors with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: Impact and mechanisms
Mechanistic studies
- Mechanistic studies investigating the role of visuo-spatial working memory in balance and gait control in ageing, fall risk and Parkinson’s Disease
- Muscle contributions to gait pattern in in people with Multiple Sclerosis
My Research Supervision
Masters: Angeliki Stivactas: “Lower limb strength contribution to gait patterns and stability in people with Multiple Sclerosis”