Lab members
Wayne J. Albert, PhD
Dr. Albert is a Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of New Brunswick. Dr. Albert has a BSc. in Kinesiology from the University of Ottawa, a Master degree from the University of Western Ontario and his PhD in Occupational Biomechanics from Queen's University.
Dr. Albert's research focuses on occupational biomechanics (ergonomics) and the prevention of musculoskeletal injuries in the workplace as well as general low back health. Although his basic NSERC-funding research program has focused on modifications to work technique related to neuromuscular fatigue, the major of his research program has had been applied in nature.
Dr. Albert has been involved in a variety of occupational research projects including focusing on cumulative joint loading, neuromuscular demands and neuromuscular fatigue accommodations in industries ranging from automotive assembly to offshore workers in moving environments to military helicopter pilots using night-vision equipment mounted to their helmets to driving occupations (bus driving; police cruisers; long-haul truck driving).
Dr. Albert has been involved with a New Brunswick manufacturing company in the design of an ergonomically-inspired and fully modifiable seat-design to promote musculoskeletal health and driving vigilance for long-haul truck driving. He has also been worked with WorkSafeNB in an effort to reduce MSI in focus industries such as Waste Disposal and Garage Technicians.
Most recently Dr. Albert research has been focused on the physical demands of patient handling and the assessment of techniques designed to reduce musculoskeletal injury of healthcare providers.
Lab members
Current lab members
- Michael Blanchard | PhD
- Lauren Kelly | MSc
- Madison Holmes | MSc | Shoulder and low back cumulative load using patient transfer technological aid.
- Cynthia Dion | PhD | Injury prevalence among health care providers in both acute and long-term care facilities.
- Justine Henry | PhD | Facilitators and barriers to incorporating technology in long-term care facilities.
- Elnaz Roudi | MSc | A biomechanical assessment of New Brunswick’s patient handling techniques and shoulder load when using a reposition draw sheet or absorbent soaker pad.
- Luke Kell | MSc | A biomechanical assessment of New Brunswick’s patient handling techniques using a reposition draw sheet or absorbent soaker pad.
- Raymond Reza | PhD | Understanding the knowledge translation gap in manual materials handling to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
- Michelle Léger | PhD | Does proper patient handling technique, coupled with new technology help reduce musculoskeletal demands of health care workers?
Past lab members
- Luke MacMillan | MSc | Biomechanical assessment of paced and maximal effort acute symmetrical lifting in Canadian soldiers – a sex comparison.
- Michelle Léger| MSc | Ergonomic comparison of active and passive sitting.
- Bharat Kant | MSc | Evaluation of secondary driving aids.
- Alex Dodgshon (co-supervisor) | Tactical formation matchups associated with the outcome of soccer matches.
- Andrew Cardenas | MSc | Comparison of blood oxygenation between standing work and active sitting.
- Ian Horne | MSc | Age related cerebral cortex blood oxygenation during simulated driving.
- Alex VanIdenstine | MSc | Cumulative loading associated with tire changing at different heights.
- Brett McLean | MSc | The effects of prolonged sitting and vibration on lifting mechanics in emergency medical services (EMS) personnel.
- Michael Tabor (co-supervised with Dr. K. Seaman) | Reintegration of fundamental movement patterns and its effect on dynamic movement function.
- Matt Williams | MSc | Internal hip rotation changes with change in golf club selection.
- Fred Fulton | MSc | Ergonomic assessment of standing driving.
- Mathieu Tremblay | Interdisciplinary PhD | Functional movement assessment to evaluate emergency medical service (EMS) attendants.
- Michelle Cardoso | Interdisciplinary PhD | Ergonomically designed long haul truck seat.
- Michelle Girouard | MSc | Ergonomic assessment of police cruisers.
- Dave Smith | MSc | Repetitive strain in transradial amputees.
- Ken Morrison | MSc | Biomechanical analysis of change in direction in male varsity soccer players.
- Madji Sultan | MSc | Kinematic analysis of lifting technique during symmetrical prolonged lifting.
- Michelle Rae | MSc | Kinematic lifting changes during prolonged asymmetrical lifting.
- Matt Cochran | MSc | Neuromuscular adaptations to local and general lifting fatigue.
- Robin Hampton | MSc | A principal component analysis of lifting technique changes.
- Steve Fischer | Postdoctoral Fellow
- Ken Seaman | Interdisciplinary PhD | Role of exercise in fatigue reduction in patients with a chronic illness.
- Jen Kenny | MSc | Biomechanical assessment of the back in form program for patient transfer activities.
- Donald Everson | MSc | Musculoskeletal health among city transit bus drivers.
- Mike Harrison | Interdisciplinary PhD | The investigation of muscular factors in night vision goggle induced neck strain in Canadian forces helicopter aircrew.
- Kelsey (Kershaw) Forde | MSc | Neck loads and postures experienced by Canadian forces helicopter pilots during simulated day and night flights.
- Nick Weldon | MSc | Sex and experience differences observed in an examination of the effects of posture and cumulative spinal loads on the reporting of low back pain in an automotive assembly plant.
- Fearon Seaman | MSc | Assessment of shoulder loads and postures experienced by automotive seat frame assembly workers in relation to shoulder pain.
- Carolyn Duncan | MSc | Biomechanical adaptations required to maintain postural stability in moving environments when performing manual materials handling activities.
- Steve Fischer | MSc | Cumulative loading of the lumber spine in industry: Understanding the dose response relationship.
- Melissa McKeon | MSc | The efficacy of core stability versus general conditioning exercise for the treatment of lower back pain and function.
- Rob McLean | MSc | Accommodations in lifting technique due to local and general fatigue by a low back pain population.
- Annie McClellan | MSc | Cumulative shoulder loading in an automotive worker.
- Julie Matthews | MSc | Effects of moving environments upon the physical demands of heavy materials handling operators.
- Alan Wrigley | Interdisciplinary PhD | Lifting technique modifications during prolonged lifting tasks.
- Chad Sutherland | MSc | The reliability and accuracy of using postural assessment to determine cumulative exposure.
- John Brown | MSc | A new input device: Comparison to three commercially available mouses.
- Cynthia Babineau | Msc | (accepted to physiotherapy)
- Bill Hogan | MSc | Effects of attention of focus on performance of a simple targeting task.
