Dr Beatriz Martins heads to Nagoya Japan
Jane Mussared, Dr Ivanka Hendrix and Prof Renuka Visvanathan at the 2017 Research Showcase
Recipient of the Beacon of Enlightenment PhD Scholarship, geriatrician and international PhD Student.
Dr Beatriz Martins, recipient of the Beacon of Enlightenment PhD Scholarship, is currently doing a Joint PhD Program between the University of Nagoya and the University of Adelaide. She began her studies in Adelaide during 2016 with supervisors and CRE investigators Professor Renuka Visvanathan (director A&ECS, GTRAC and lead investigator CRE Frailty & Healthy Ageing, University of Adelaide) and Dr Helen Barrie (Centre for Housing, Urban and Regional Planning, School of Social Sciences, University of Adelaide). The aim of her research is investigating if the development of frailty is correlated with the environment of older adults. In Adelaide, she conducted a cross sectional study looking into correlations between the perceptions of the built environment and frailty status, physical activity levels and body composition.
With the CRE Frailty and Healthy Ageing, Beatriz had the opportunity to recruit study participants, and conduct with clinical assessments and body composition analysis with recently bought Bio-impedance Analyser. This analysis will enable to make comparisons between the Adelaide’s sample of participants and a Japanese cohort of older adults. During her time in Adelaide, Beatriz had the opportunity to engage with consumers through community talks, a radio interview and scientific presentations that truly helped improving the quality of her research and shape the project to meet with local interests.
In February this year she (along with her husband and 2 well-travelled cats Hiro and Aiko) will move from Adelaide to Nagoya, Japan. There, she will complete the final part of her study Physical Activity and Frailty: Exploring Cross- cultural and Neighbourhood Influences. She is most looking forward to experiencing the ancient Japanese culture, and learn from the older country in the world. She will definitely miss the friends and colleagues she has met in Adelaide.