Dr. Benita Olivier holds the position of Professor of Rehabilitation in the School of Sport, Nutrition and Allied Health Professions at Oxford Brookes University, along with the Allied Health Professions Research Lead role at the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom. Additionally, she serves as the co-director of the Healthy Living Research Centre within the Oxford Institute of Applied Health Research (OxInAHR). Benita also a visiting professor and acts as the Director of the Wits Cricket Research Hub for Science, Medicine, and Rehabilitation at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Her research focus centers on mitigating injury risks in sports, particularly within cricket. Having supervised many postgraduate students and published multiple research studies, Benita is committed to developing critical thinking, research skills, and a passion for scientific discovery among emerging scholars. She is the founder of the Research Masterminds Success Academy, a membership platform for postgraduate students to boost their research productivity, academic skills and work-life balance. Benita’s work is driven by a core mission: to effect change by inspiring others to become the best version of themselves.
Dr. John Orchard is a distinguished Sport and Exercise Medicine Physician with a multifaceted career encompassing professional sports team care, sports administration, clinical sports medicine practice, and research. Although he graduated from the University of Melbourne Medical School, he has predominantly worked in Sydney throughout his career. Holding an Adjunct Professor position in the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, his research primarily focuses on sports injury epidemiology and prevention, boasting over 300 publications and an impressive H-index of 70. Since 2014, he has served as the Chief Medical Officer for Cricket Australia. With two decades of experience across various professional football codes, his contributions to sports medicine were recognized with the award of a Member of the Order of Australia in 2020 for his significant service, particularly in cricket.