PhD Success at UDOTS

Dr Abdullah Alzahrani has successfully completed his Doctor of Philosophy at UDOTS. His research topic, entitled “The Biomechanical Assessment of Gait for Stroke Patients and the Implications in Diagnosis and Rehabilitation” was supervised by Dr Weijie Wang and Dr Graham Arnold (UDOTS).

Abdulla, who hails from Albaha City in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, began his PhD in October 2016 and has been proactive during his time in Dundee. Earlier this year he presented a scientific poster on his research at the 22nd International Conference on Biomechanics of Human Movement and Sport (ICBHMS), held at Novotel London Wembley on January 20-21st. Abdullah also gave a remote podium presentation at the 18th Staffordshire Conference on Clinical Biomechanics at Stoke-on-Trent campus from April 30-May 2, 2020.

Abdullah’s research won 2nd Prize in the category of Dry-lab/non-lab Poster at the School of Medicine’s 28th Annual Postgraduate Research Student Symposium on June 8th June 2018, at Ninewells Hospital. He also represented international students of the School of Medicine at the interview panel for the new associate Dean (International) and was elected President of the Saudi Students’ Club in Dundee in 2019. He represented School of Medicine at an international exhibition and conference on higher education in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where he introduced the University of Dundee to the Saudi community and offered information for prospective students about the process of acceptance, UK visa, and the life of Saudi students in Dundee.

Abdullah stated:

“My research aimed to study and compare the differences between stroke patients and healthy subjects when they walk and to use the information to create several models of artificial intelligence such as neural networks and principal component analysis. We obtained excellent results in all sections of my project, which could help in future stroke diagnosis and prediction, whilst adding a new understanding of using gait analysis in conjunction with artificial intelligence to enhance the medical services provided to patients. My next step is to return home to Saudi Arabia to work as an assistant professor in the department of physiotherapy at Shaqra University, and I really hope to be able to visit Dundee soon.”

Dr Weijie Wang (Supervisor) added:

“I’m pleased to see that Abdullah has completed his PhD study. With his training background in physiotherapy, he has worked extremely hard to learn a lot of new technologies, such as motion capture, gait analysis, neuro network modelling, and principal components. I hope that this new knowledge and skills will help him to move forward with his career. I also hope to collaborate with him in some way in the future to develop new research projects to be carried out in Saudi Arabia. Abdullah has been a champion of the University during his time in Dundee and all of us at UDOTS would like to wish him every success in his future career. Please do stay in touch Abdullah.”