Dr Yoshiro Okubo

Dr Yoshi Okubo completed his PhD (Sports Medicine) at the University of Tsukuba, Japan in 2015. He is a Senior Postdoctoral Fellow at Neuroscience Research Australia and a Conjoint Senior Lecturer at UNSW Sydney, School of Population Health. His research interest includes falls, balance/gait, exercise, task-specific training, augmented and virtual reality. Dr Okubo has developed an innovative Trip and Slip Walkway which is a breakthrough approach for elucidating the mechanisms of trip- and slip-induced falls, effective stepping strategies and motor skill learning fundamental to effective fall prevention in older adults. His studies have demonstrated reactive stepping at the critical moment of an unexpected trip or slip can be regained in older age and people with Parkinson’s disease. This training principle has been adapted into a novel reactive balance training program ReacStep designed for clinical settings. As senior author, he led global experts in developing a consensus review article that provides guidance for researchers and clinicians interested in reactive balance training for fall prevention: “Perturbation-based balance training: Principles, mechanisms and implementation in clinical practice”.