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PhD Candidate
Position Title

Who are you?
My name is Olivia and I am a PhD student in the Injury Prevention and Mobility Lab (IPML) led by Dr. Stephen Robinovitch. My SFU journey started in 2012, as a Kinesiology student and member of the SFU Women’s Soccer team. I completed my BSc in 2018 and immediately started my graduate studies in the IPML. Currently, I examine head impact events in ice hockey. I am amazed by how much we know about traumatic brain injuries in sports, and even more wonderstruck by how much there is still left to know. My curiosity of the unknown motivates my research endeavours.

What do you do?
My PhD work combines quantitative approaches with qualitative methods to provide a comprehensive understanding of modifiable risk factors (e.g. situational, behavioural, and biomechanical) for head impacts in ice hockey. I analyze video and sensor data of head collisions in ice hockey to determine the situational factors (e.g. puck possession, playing zone) most commonly associated with head impacts, and identify the types of collisions that create the most severe loading of the brain.

Any advice you would give to starting graduates?
“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” - Albert Einstein

What is your favorite quarantine snack?
Girl Guide Chocolatey Mint Cookies


This post was originally posted to the SFU BPK Instagram on December 15, 2020. 

PhD Candidate
visibility  185
Mar 3, 2022