Injury Prevention: spinal cord injury to pregnant vehicle occupants using injury biomechanics
MIE Department Seminar
April 22, 2025
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM America/Chicago
Presenter: Peter Cripton, PhD, University of British Columbia
Location: ERF 1043
Abstract: In this presentation I will provide an overview of the injury prevention work we have focused on at UBC. These projects span hip fracture prevention and the prevention of spinal fractures and spinal cord injuries occurring from head first impacts in sports (such as mountain biking, motocross and horseback riding) and in automotive rollovers. We also work towards preventing head injuries through helmet evaluations and the development of animal models with high-fidelity to human brain injury mechanisms. Another area of focus is the development of improved protection for vehicle occupants in automotive collisions with a concentration on challenges associated with female and pregnant occupants. While providing an overview, I will also review oner or two projects in detail.
Speaker Bio: Dr. Peter Cripton is a principal investigator at the International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD, a spinal cord injury research centre). He is a professor and was the founding director of the undergrad BME program in the School Biomedical Engineering, an associate faculty member in the Departments of Orthopaedics and Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC), as well as co-director of the UBC Orthopaedic and Injury Biomechanics Group.
Cripton has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and mechanical engineering from Dalhousie University and the Technical University of Nova Scotia, respectively. He has a master of science and doctor of philosophy in mechanical engineering from Queen's University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University and spent three years consulting with engineering and consulting company Exponent in Philadelphia prior to moving to UBC. His work focuses on using the principles of biomechanics to prevent injuries through work known as injury biomechanics. This is the field principally involved in the design of safety devices such as helmets, airbags, seatbelts and ski bindings. He works specifically on novel methods to prevent hip fractures, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and to make seat belts as effective to prevent injuries for women and pregnant women as they are for men. Cripton led the trauma evaluation of the Whistler sliding centre after the fatality that occurred there in the run up to the 2010 Olympics and he has been awarded a best of what’s new award from Popular Science Magazine for a novel helmet design.
Date posted
Apr 4, 2025
Date updated
Apr 4, 2025