BIOSKETCH
Professor Johan van Heerden is a seasoned Human Movement and Sport Scientist with over 30 years of academic experience and 17 years of service at UKZN. He has made significant contributions to the field through his authorship and co-authorship of scientific publications and presentations at local and International conferences, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2930-2315. Prior to joining the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), he spent a decade as a senior lecturer at the University of Pretoria in the Department of Biokinetics, Sport, and Leisure Sciences. There, he led the Natural Sciences work group and served as the research coordinator for the Institute for Sport Research. Since joining UKZN, Professor van Heerden has held several leadership roles, including Head of the School for Physiotherapy, Sport Science, and Optometry, Academic Leader for Sport Science, Academic Leader for Research and chair the Research Ethics and Higher Degrees Committee in the School of Health Sciences. His expertise and leadership extend beyond academia, as a co-founder of the World Federation of Athletic Training & Therapy; as a Past-President of the Biokinetics Association of SA and former member of the Standards Generating Body and Education Committee for the Board for Physiotherapy, Biokinetics, and Podiatry of the HPCSA. Professor van Heerden’s teaching areas are Research Methods, Clinical Exercise Studies, Biomechanics and Ethics. His primary research interest is Sport and Exercise Epidemiology and he has supervised 15 PhD students to graduation across the spectrum of sport and exercise science. He serves as an NRF SARCHI assessment and research rating panellist, and reviews for a number of local and international scientific journals such as the SA Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation; Health SA; SA Journal for Sports Medicine; Journal of Sport Sciences; International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching; and the International Journal of Human Movement and Sports Sciences.