Peter Pivonka PhD

Peter finished his Ph.D. with distinction at the Institute for Mechanics of Materials and Structures at Vienna University of Technology (TU-Vienna) in 2001. In 2007 he completed his Doctor of Science thesis at TU-Vienna leading to the award of the Venia Docendi in Continuum Mechanics and Biomechanics. Peter previously held the position of Associate Professor of Surgery at the St Vincent’s Department of Surgery at the University of Melbourne, where he led the Mechanobiology and Musculoskeletal Tissue Mechanics group. Peter is currently the Professor and Chair of Biomedical Engineering and Spinal Disorders at the Queensland University of Technology.

Peter has made significant contributions to musculoskeletal research in terms of establishing mechanobiology and bioengineering as priority research areas, promoting novel inter-disciplinary approaches to orthopedic and bone biology research, and organization of workshops and mini-symposia. Peter’s work on mechanobiological regulation of bone tissue and multiscale modeling of materials is nationally and internationally recognized. His research interests are in mechanobiology, biomaterials, tissue engineering, musculoskeletal diseases (OP, OA, sarcopenia) and clinical interventions, estimation of material properties, multiscale modeling, systems biology, and high-resolution X-ray imaging.

Over the last 5 years Peter has published one book, three book chapters, 25 journal papers, and 25 conference papers covering both theoretical and experimental aspects of biomechanics and mechanobiology. His research publications are in high-impact journals such as Bone, BoneKEy, Journal of Biomechanics, Journal of Theoretical Biology, BMMB, Journal of Engineering Mechanics, PlosOne, and International Journal of Nanomedicine. He has contributed to more than 100 conference abstracts since 2004 and has presented a majority of these papers.